Vintage Racing Services Inc: Update 2008

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For our VRS team the 2007 race season came to a close with two great events that left a very positive taste. La Carrera is the most grueling of all the events we service. This year saw Bill Shanahan and Murray Smith up to their usual tricks in their Corvette; 1st in class and 5th overall while Dave Gussack on his first Carrera, ran well though he lost a head gasket about 2 hours from the end of this 7 day race. Then it was onto Sebring at the end of December to finish our ever longer vintage race season. The Gaston Equippe all ran well as did Jim Lenehan with Carrera Corvette winners Bill/Murray again on track testing the new Ford Falcon. It’s rewarding when the cars go well, the drivers drive well and everyone has a good bit of fun. Thanks from all of your wrenches to those on track for doing so well and making this another good season…not to mention the fact that the bills you guys paid kept the jeans clean and the cheeseburgers coming.

This annual recap is our chance to visit all the issues the season unearths for timely addressing. We made a number of procedural changes going into 07 to correct operational and cash flow issues. For the most part, these changes did the job and solved problems, but as is always the case, there remains room for improvement. Our biggest problems remain late date cancellations of support weekends and delays in work approvals that make deadlines hard to meet. In addition to these, our race weekend deposit system created some negative responses among the group. We apologize, but our rates can only be maintained if we can realize the efficiencies created by advance planning. Changes cost us and the others attending the event money. It is simply not fair that they or we pay for unused airfare or hotel rooms because one or more in our group had a change in schedule. We ask your understanding in covering these costs from the preseason deposits we require and will do all we can whenever we can to avoid these sort of charges.

We have new systems for a number of operational issues with which we need not bore you. We have made changes in the interest of better service and we are certain you will approve. We had some annoying problems on a car or two in 07 that proved hard to diagnose/repair anywhere but trackside. For this reason we now have an agreement with a rolling road facility about a mile from our shops. We used this tool several times toward the end of 07 with good result.

The cost and delay caused by our “Post Race Report/approval prior to working” system did not operate seamlessly for us in 07. This was In part due to our busy summer and moving, but also due to the time this takes for both parties involved. These necessary between event maintenance tasks tend to be relatively similar on well sorted machinery. What we plan to do in 08 is have drivers preauthorize the cost for the basic work with a reasonable cushion for routine discoveries and component change costs (as and if needed) for each vehicle. This will be our cap and we will not endanger your financial well being beyond that number without prior approval. This number will be based on the average of the last 5 between race (vs. seasonal) reports. We will send an authorization form along with a completed typical post race report to each of you for approval. We will continue to provide post race reports with all the details included and these will contain any discoveries and the basics but they will not necessarily arrive immediately after each event. The fact that we can “get on with it” and get the car ready even when you are off on business, vacation or ?? will help us keep things moving and do a better job.

In 2007 we tried to organize a VRS track party at Roebling Road in Savannah in mid-October surrounding Brian Redman’s Targa event. We would very much like to get the group together and do some speedy motoring. Please give it some thought and let us know if you can attend.

Our new facility is state of the art and far more efficient; if you haven’t already, please stop by and see what we are up to. We appreciate all of you and the consideration so often shown in all the situations that naturally develop in an endeavor such as racing. Thank you for your constructive approach and again for a memorable 2007 season. We look forward to 2008 and seeing all of you with us and on track moving the machinery around with grace and style. As always, we are all committed to doing all we can to ensure that your 2008 season is full of safe fast fun.                                                                  See ya @ the track,

Kent, Andrew, Brian, Tim, Andy, Jim and the crew at Vintage Racing  Services, Inc.

VINTAGE RACING SERVICES RACING SCHEDULE

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Click VRS Racing Schedule 2008

1. THE BASICS FOR 2008
Terms & Conditions

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SCHEDULE: The 2008 schedule is the second page of section 1, The Basics.

FORMS: Can be found on the pages following the Schedule in section 1 or as PDF downloads on our website.

SHOP RATE: $85.00 per hour

VRS TRACK PARTY: ROEBLING ROAD!! MID-OCTOBER!! We tried to get to together in 2007 without much luck...let’s make it happen this year! Please let us know by February 15 if you are interested and we’ll get it done.

TRACKSIDE SUPPORT RATES

• VRS shop supported car – 450.00 per day (events with 4 cars or more)
• See SECTION 4, F; SINGLE CAR AND LOW PARTICIPATION EVENTS for details
• Enduros @ 200.00/hour – if you opt out trackside, this charge still applies. Staff is already on site.

TRANSPORTATION

• Race car transportation in our tractor trailers per the rate charts in Section 5, TRANSPORTATION
• Pit scooters, engines, large spare package surcharges apply per details in Section 5.

 DEPOSITS & INCENTIVES

• Deposits are 50% of projected event cost 60 days prior to each event with balance due on invoice receipt.
• We request that deposits be made via pre-approved credit card charge.
• Cancel within 21 days of event; 50% of deposit refunded.
• Cancel within 10 days of event, deposit is not refunded.
• Our 2008 race schedule defines deposit amounts and dates.
• 5% discount will be applied to those who commit early, pay deposits and stick to the plan

PRE APPROVED RACE PREPARATION CAPS BETWEEN EVENTS

• We use a system of pre-approved race preparation authorization to speed flow during the season.
• Details can be found in 2008 TERMS AND CONDTIONS, Section 3, D, PRE –APPROVED DISCRETIONARY REPAIRS.
• Please sign and return this agreement for each vehicle prior to 2/15/2008.

EVENTS

• We service VRS Recommended events per the 2008 schedule included at our regular rates.
• We will service any event requested, but rates may vary. Cost estimates on request.

ACCOMODATIONS

• We reserve blocks of rooms wherever possible available on a first come first served basis.
• We do not reserve rooms for hotels that require cash deposits up front or maintain 24 hour cancellation
• We will only hold rooms for you on your credit card.
• When we make a reservation for you, you are responsible for any cancellation. If we have to pay no show charges or early departure penalties they will be invoiced to you.

RELEASES & INSURANCE

• As a condition of providing service we require that customers sign and return all four releases.
• Releases can be found as a printable PDF on our web site following this document on the FORMS page or immediately following the schedule enclosed in our packet.
• We require you to insure your race car while in our possession for service. We maintain liability coverage but any number of things can occur for which our coverage would not be useful.

COMMUNICATION & CONTACT

• We need to limit our phone time in the shop. We have instituted a message/call back system. We or someone who has an answer will call you back. The shop checks messages twice a day.
• Please call: Donna for all invoice race/schedule/ accommodations 203-377-6745 x 20.
• Andrew for sales and advice at extension 19.
• Kent for problem resolution or advice at extension 16.
• Brian or Tim at the race shop when a operational question/problem that only they can address:
  203-377-7324 Extension 36 for Brian, 33 for Tim

2008 VRS CHARGE AUTHORIZATIONS

Download PRINTABLE PDF of VRS CHARGE AUTHORIZATIONS (2 pages / 340KB)
Open FORM PAGE in new window for electronic submission of VRS CHARGE AUTHORIZATIONS
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OVERALL CHARGE AUTHORIZATIONS

EVENT DEPOSIT AUTHORIZATION

I, ___________________________________, hereby authorize you to charge my (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) card per the rates indicated on the 2008 Vintage Racing Services Inc. event schedule 60 days prior to my participation in each event I plan to attend per the terms and conditions stated.

STORAGE DEPOSIT AUTHORIZATION

RELEASES OF LIABILITY

Download Printable PDF of I, Releases of Liability (5 pages / 350KB)
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Dear Vintage Race Customer,

We enjoy the vintage racecar preparation and restoration part of our business. We do our best to practice our craft in a reasonable, professional and thorough manner. Racing of any vehicle, especially older “vintage” vehicles, is an inherently dangerous activity. This danger can create liability problems for us, which we must address if we are to continue our vintage activity.

Below you will find a Release of Liability document. Please sign this and have it witnessed by someone over the age of 18, returning the spare signature page to us. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to call and we will be happy to discuss them. Should you choose not to sign this release, we cannot continue to work on your vehicle and require that you make other arrangements to have your vehicle(s) serviced.

Sincerely,
Brian Rechtiene
President, Vintage Racing Services

PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN All Releases along with your completed schedule

RELEASE 1

RELEASE OF LIABILITY FOR VINTAGE RACING SERVICES, INC.

The use of a motor vehicle on a track is an intrinsically dangerous activity. Older or vintage vehicles are less reliable, more prone to breakage and component failures than new products. In addition, racing is stressful on these vehicles and tends to create breakage.

Vintage Racing Services, Inc., its officers, employees, and agents do their best to execute all vintage race related work in the most thorough professional manner we can. Failures and accidents may still occur as a result of the types of vehicles and the nature of vintage racing. As a condition of ARI providing services on any vintage-racing vehicle, our customers and we must mutually agree on the following:

A) Vintage Racing Services, Inc., its officers, employees and agents are hereby released from any and all liability, cost or expense (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any accident or mechanical failure (a Mishap) involving a vehicle on which we performed services whether or not the cause of the Mishap is determined to be a result of our negligence or lack of due care) and whether the Mishap occurs on a public highway, while trailering, on a racetrack, on private property or in any other location.

B) Vintage Racing Services, Inc. its officers, employees, and agents are hereby released and held harmless by you, from any liability, cost or expenses (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any third party claim related to any Mishap involving a vehicle on which we performed services whether or not the Mishap is determined to be attributable to our work (even if our work is shown to have been executed negligently or with out due care) and whether the Mishap occurred on a public highway, while trailering, on a racetrack, on a private property or in any other location.

In signing this document the customer agrees to the terms and conditions of this document and assumes solely all vintage-racing risks.

I HAVE READ THE FOREGOING AND AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS STATED THEREIN.

RELEASE 2

VEHICLE TRANSPORTATION RELEASE OF LIABILITY FOR VINTAGE RACING SERVICES, INC.

I understand that the transportation of racecars and other vintage vehicles to and from racetracks and exhibition grounds involves risk to the automobiles. In consideration of your supplying a transport vehicle and services to transport my vehicle(s) to and from race tracks and/or exhibition grounds, I hereby agree to the following:

I release Vintage Racing Services, Inc. its officers, employees and agents (“VRS”) from any and all claims, liability, cost or expense (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any accident, damage or mechanical failure (a Mishap) involving my vehicle whether or not the cause of the Mishap is determined to be attributable to the services provided by VRS (even if the Mishap is determined to be a result of VRS’s negligence or lack of due care) and whether the Mishap occurs on a public highway, while trailering, on a Racetrack, on private property or in any location. In addition, I hereby release and hold VRS harmless from any liability, cost or expense (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any third party claim related to any Mishap or other damages, injury or other liability (other claim), which in some manner was related to, or caused by, my vehicle and whether or not the Mishap or other claim is determined to be attributable to the services provided by VRS (even if the Mishap or other claim resulted from VRS’s negligence or lack of due care) and whether the Mishap or other claim occurred on a public highway, while trailering, on a racetrack, on a private property or in any other location.

I HAVE READ THE ABOVE AND AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS STATED THERIN.

RELEASE 3

RELEASE OF LIABILITY FOR AUTOMOTIVE RESTORATIONS, INC.

The use of a motor vehicle on a track is an intrinsically dangerous activity. Older or vintage vehicles are less reliable, more prone to breakage and component failures than new products. In addition, racing is stressful on these vehicles and tends to create breakage.

Automotive Restorations Inc., its officers, employees, and agents do their best to execute all vintage race related work in the most thorough professional manner we can. Failures and accidents may still occur as a result of the types of vehicles and the nature of vintage racing. As a condition of ARI providing services on any vintage-racing vehicle, our customers and we must mutually agree on the following:

A) Automotive Restorations, Inc., its officers, employees and agents are hereby released from any and all liability, cost or expense (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any accident or mechanical failure (a Mishap) involving a vehicle on which we performed services whether or not the cause of the Mishap is determined to be a result of our negligence or lack of due care) and whether the Mishap occurs on a public highway, while trailering, on a racetrack, on private property or in any other location.

B) Automotive Restorations, Inc. its officers, employees, and agents are hereby released and held harmless by you, from any liability, cost or expenses (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any third party claim related to any Mishap involving a vehicle on which we performed services whether or not the Mishap is determined to be attributable to our work (even if our work is shown to have been executed negligently or with out due care) and whether the Mishap occurred on a public highway, while trailering, on a racetrack, on a private property or in any other location.

Automotive Restorations, Inc. RELEASE

In signing this document the customer agrees to the terms and conditions of this document and assumes solely all vintage-racing risks.

I HAVE READ THE FOREGOING AND AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS STATED THEREIN.

RELEASE 4

VEHICLE TRANSPORTATION RELEASE OF LIABILITY FOR AUTOMOTIVE RESTORATIONS, INC.

I understand that the transportation of racecars and other vintage vehicles to and from racetracks and exhibition grounds involves risk to the automobiles. In consideration of your supplying a transport vehicle and services to transport my vehicle(s) to and from race tracks and/or exhibition grounds, I hereby agree to the following:

I release Automotive Restorations Inc., its officers, employees and agents (“ARI”) from any and all claims, liability, cost or expense (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any accident, damage or mechanical failure (a Mishap) involving my vehicle whether or not the cause of the Mishap is determined to be attributable to the services provided by ARI (even if the Mishap is determined to be a result of ARI’s negligence or lack of due care) and whether the Mishap occurs on a public highway, while trailering, on a Racetrack, on private property or in any location. In addition, I hereby release and hold ARI harmless from any liability, cost or expense (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any third party claim related to any Mishap or other damages, injury or other liability (other claim), which in some manner was related to, or caused by, my vehicle and whether or not the Mishap or other claim is determined to be attributable to the services provided by ARI (even if the Mishap or other claim resulted from ARI’s negligence or lack of due care) and whether the Mishap or other claim occurred on a public highway, while trailering, on a racetrack, on a private property or in any other location.

I HAVE READ THE FOREGOING AND AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS STATED THEREIN.

2 EXPLANATION OF SERVICES 2008 · OVERVIEW

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Vintage Racing Services is dedicated to providing superior quality vintage race car restoration, maintenance and track support. Our goals are to restore, prepare or simply repair your car to a standard that pleases your eye and sense of automotive history while making your race weekends safe, enjoyable, trouble free and competitive. 

To this end, we have spent years improving maintenance and track support systems to eliminate as many of the bugs and thereby DNFs as possible. We provide written post event repair estimates, we maintain and carry an extensive trackside spares inventory, supply trackside shelter lunch/beverages and generally do all we can to make your vintage racing experience as pleasant and stimulating as possible. 

We have also learned the “lay of the land” for numerous events and are happy to help with accommodations, recommendations and advice. We generally save hotel space for the difficult venues and offer these to our customers as a convenience. We book accommodations only using your credit card to reserve. We send you an itinerary detailing any arrangements made on your behalf within non-penalty cancellation windows. Please confirm receipt and review your itinerary promptly. Should you cancel or change your plans thereafter, please advise the hotel or service providers directly, any no show fees assessed are your responsibility.

Additionally we are happy to take care of event entries and sanctioning body interface activity for our customers. We have a good rapport with the various sanctioning bodies and can often get special requirements handled.

If there is something you require not detailed in this letter please ask. You will find us flexible and accommodating. The one proviso is that Vintage Racing Services cannot be responsible for a “no show” or any other charges related to our efforts on your behalf with respect to accommodations, travel, event fees, or other similar expenses.

3. RESTORATION, RACE PREP & REPAIR SERVICES

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A. SHOP RATE – $85.00 per hour

B. SHOP HOURS – Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:30pm; Saturdays (April-November) 9:00am-1:00pm. All other times will be by appointment only.

C. ESTIMATES – We provide written estimates for all individual projects and repair work in addition to major repairs exceeding pre-approved inter-event as detailed following.

D. PRE-APPROVED DISCRETIONARY REPAIRS – Often, we will note something needed in the process of our diagnostic post-race work or substantial disassembly is needed to make the diagnosis. Most often, it is more efficient to fix the problem in this process without stopping, waiting for your OK, and then proceeding. For those reasons, and to help us meet demanding race schedules, we ask you to pre-approve a dollar amount for us to invoke at our discretion under the terms and conditions described. This amount is applied to the entire vehicle and not individual items. It is an authorization to spend up to the cap to undertake work needed to prepare the vehicle for its next event. It includes the labor/parts/materials inherent in our diagnostic format and preparing our in house post race report. It helps us work efficiently; it saves you money, and we will not abuse your trust or the privilege. We will do only that which is necessary to correct wear/damage and make the vehicle safe and reliable for it’s next outing. We will forward a sample post race report with total clearly stated for your approval. This will be placed in your file and used as authorization to undertake basic repair and preparation between events. We will not undertake any work above and beyond this approved cap without your specific approval. Please sign and return the inter-race repair approval form enclosed along with your schedule.

E. SERVICES

• Chassis repair & fabrication.
• Mig/tig/gas welding of all metals.
• Monocoque repair and fabrication in steel/alloy/alloy honeycomb/composites.
• Component repair/fabrication, body fabrication in alloy/steel/composite.
• Plating, powder coating, painting (licensed Glasurit refinishing facility).
• Engine building, flow bench development, dynamometer testing/ development.
• Chassis development/set-up/alignment. General maintenance and all automotive/race related services.
• Driver development and coaching
• Collector services, appraisal/valuation, acquisition search/location and assistance.
• Sales, brokerage consignments.
• Parts stocked for Elva, Lotus, Triumph, BMW, Chevron, Porsche & other race cars.

F. RELEASES – Due to the nature of vintage racing, we require that customers sign releases for both Vintage Racing Services, Inc., and Automotive Restorations, Inc., as a condition of providing service. We cannot service, support or transport your vehicle without signed releases in our files.

G. STORAGE – It cost us a substantial sum to store inactive race cars. The actual cost of space is only part of the equation, as care and custody has several other costly components. This cost is not factored into our labor rates. To do so would unnecessarily punish customers who use their cars regularly. The only equitable solution is to cover these costs for each individual vehicle with credits for usage at events and time in the shop, as our rates for same do anticipate care and custody during the working period. Storage inactivity is only equitably viewed on an annual basis for obvious reasons. Storage charges assessed based on annual compilation as follows:

• Base rate: 220 per month (2640/year)
• Rate Credits (deduct from base rate)
• Event day ( each ) 50
• Invoiced hour (each) 3.00
• Partial Storage years invoiced on a pro-rata basis
• Annual reconciliation in the final month of the year following the final event. Should any vehicle tabulation result in a surplus (IE the total of event days and hours worked exceeds the $2640.00 annual storage cost), the difference will be credited to your account or refunded if no balance exists. Should the final tally negate a portion of the deposit, the same principal applies.

H. SERVICE CHARGES, PAYMENT POLICIES AND SO FORTH

• Invoices are due and payable on receipt. We assess finance charges for late payment as defined on our invoices.
• We accept payment by check, credit card (Visa, MC, AmEx), cash, wire transfer, and bank debit card. Ours is a specialty business with problems unique to its nature. We have a short letter on the subject aptly entitled “On Doing Business.”
  

4. TRACK SUPPORT SERVICES

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1 – GENERAL STRUCTURE (how and how much)

• Support Labor – We assign 50% of a mechanics’ time per day for each car. In addition to our capability & expertise as a group, a helper’s or helpers’ time for cleaning, fueling, and the like are included in our base labor fee of $450/day. If your vehicle demands, or if you prefer, we can provide 100% of a technician’s time at $900/day. If you prefer or if your vehicle demands 2, 3, or even more full-time technicians, we can provide accordingly at 900.00 per man/day.
• Deposit – We require a deposit for each event you schedule to attend prior to rendering trackside service. We require that you maintain and approve a credit card on file system. We charge your card the deposit amount indicated for each event on our schedule 60 days prior to the event. If you cancel less that 21 days before the event, you forfeit 1/2 of your deposit. If you cancel within 10 days, you forfeit the full deposit.
• Late Booking – We charge a 20% surcharge if you schedule 21 days or less from the event’s start date. This is to cover the added cost involved in late date planning and logistics.
• Transportation – We charge on a flat rate basis for car and basic spares per the rate chart included in this package. We can accommodate other destinations, please call for rates.
• Expenses – We invoice crew accommodations, travel time at $450 per day plus out of pocket expenses associated with travel activities. These costs are divided equally among the customers attending any given event.
• Hospitality – We provide trackside hospitality in the form of beverages and lunch at most events. Your guests are certainly welcome. Please let us know when guests are expected. We charge for this service to cover our cost on a per person basis.
• Medical Forms – Please complete/sign SVRA & HSR medical forms & return them to us with releases so we can get your cars through tech before you arrive.
• Event Invoicing - We invoice each event separately immediately following the event. We define THE EVENT as the period of time the sanctioning body (HSR, SVRA, VSCCA, HMSA, etc.) included at no additional charge in your entry fee. It is not possible to bill you for only the days you are able to attend a given event. Though you may only be able to attend Saturday and Sunday, we will be there for the duration and must charge for the entire period. We do our best to accommodate pre-event practice days, but must know well in advance if you plan to attend. The per diem rate for a practice day is the same as an event day to which we add your share of shared crew expenses.
• Event Deposits - We require pre-event track support deposits via credit card 60 days before the first day of each event per our Deposits bullet point following. Any practice days you opt to attend concurrent to the event affect the 60 day window accordingly. Deposit amounts are indicated on our annual schedule included with this information package.
• Enduros – Races of 45 and over minutes require pit crews and added staff. Additionally, hours of added racing put a greater demand on the crew. Enduros demand later nights and added personnel to assure that we can take care of everyone properly. A surcharge of $200 per enduro hour is added to your bill to cover this effort.
• Tent and Trailer – For customers caring for their own cars who want to take advantage of our services, we offer vehicle transportation, limited spares/tool transport, tent space, and hospitality at the rates posted in our “Truck & Tent Table” in the transport section of this 2008 explanation of services.
• Tent Space – Our support fee includes space under the tent for the car and hospitality space for yourself and friends.
• Pit Set-Up – We generally arrive at events a day prior to the event to allow adequate time to set-up. We invoice pit set-up at cost for the man hours required.
• Driving Gear – We set up a “locker room” at all events in one of our trailers. We transport and care for gear, helmets, log books, and other incidentals. We launder gear between events and maintain zippers and other wear problems. Please let us know when something needs attention.
• Car/Spares Transportation – We load, carry, and care for spares boxes. We also carry wheels and tires, spare engines, and other components. We allow 25 cubic feet per car for spares boxes and one set of wheels/tires. This can include tools for Tent and Trailer customers. This does not include driver’s gear which is soft and generally stored in your vehicle during transit. Additional items will incur added transportation and handling costs per our “Basics” rate sheet enclosed.
• Your Tools - When a car needs a very special tool or two, we ask that you own it and keep it with your spares.
• Spares Care - We inventory and restock after each race as part of the post-race check. We invoice our time as it is part of our post-race routine.
• Materials, Parts and Supplies – We bring it all unless you need Castrol R or other special material, in which case we ask that this become part of your vehicle spares kit.
• Holdover – If two events fall one week apart such that it is most efficient to hold the crew in the locale and have them prepare the cars for the next weekend, there are added charges for those attending both events. Holdover time is invoiced on an at-cost basis with time billed at the $800 per man/day rate (where days off, comp. time, or field service of the cars is not applicable). Out-of-pocket expenses are billed at cost. The total is equally shared among all participants on a per-car basis. This is only employed at events where the cost of crew transport back & forth for the holdover period exceeds anticipated holdover cost or other when extenuating circumstances make it a logical decision. In many cases, technicians take comp time and all we need invoice is the expense to feed and house personnel away from home.
• Crew Preservation – Providing support and getting to the races can unduly tax the crew. There is always more to be done. We need to balance this with the need to get through the weekend, next week, and the season healthy, alert and attentive. We limit the support day to 7:30am-6:00pm for this reason. Bear in mind that accommodations are often a distance from the track. The math indicates this is a 10-1/2 hour work day (lunch is generally 10 minutes and the 6:00pm stop time is often a fantasy when your weekend will be compromised if we don’t put the extra effort in).

2 – ENTRIES & ACCOMMODATIONS
We are happy to do event entries and make customer accommodation reservations. A service fee of 7.5% is applied to offset the time and cost of this service. We book reservations, rental cars, golf carts, hospitality pavilions and other event services under your name using your credit card. Please provide us with this information if you want us to do this for you. We email or fax itinerary once the booking is made. Please acknowledge receipt of your itinerary. Please review it and correct any errors immediately. Vintage Racing Services cannot be held responsible for any no show or cancellation charges.

3 – HEWLAND GEARS
Some of our customers have a few sets. Some have fairly comprehensive ratio packages. Some sets are new. Some are well used & others worn and useful only for the last event or two of their life. Almost no one has every ratio they need, and carrying each person’s full inventory to each event makes little sense. Keeping it all straight and doing our best to maintain a quality stock of all the right ratios for each customer has proved a management bear. For these reasons it is easier if we own all the gears. We purchase your ratios at market prices with new ratios at normal retail, good used at 50% of retail and serviceable used at 20%. Thereafter we will fit needed gears prior to and during events at $60 per ratio on an exchange basis. This is not designed to yield a “profit cell.” It is simply intended to streamline operations and allow us to improve service while holding our own financially. We will monitor condition and only fit good, serviceable gears to your transmission. If you “trash” a gear such that it is not re-useable you will be charged the market value of the set based on its condition (new, good, used, and serviceable) at the time it was fitted.

4 – MONTEREY HISTORIC RACES
THOSE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE MONTEREY HISTORICS MUST REQUEST THEIR OWN ENTRY FROM GENERAL RACING IN JANUARY OF THE YEAR THEY PLAN TO ATTEND (call Steve or Debbie Earl 805-686-9292, Fax 966-5028).

6 – SCHEDULING AND ATTENDANCE
We try to service the events our customers most want to attend. The annual questionnaire helps us to determine demand and plan for events. Please fill it out and return it promptly. The logistics of an endeavor such as this are complex and depend on the cost savings available through advance planning. We are able to offer better service at less cost if we know your intentions well in advance. Cancellations mandated by all of life’s variables cannot be helped, but at least if we know you’re thinking at the beginning of the season, we can structure our activites and workload accordingly.

Cancellations that occur too close to events cost us dearly. For this reason, we adhere to the following:

• We offer a 5% off the top discount on each event you schedule in January 2008 and attend. This is only mitigated by a rash of cancellations (IE, I’m going to everything or almost everything does not count. We reserve the right to use our discretion in this regard).
• We charge your credit card 50% of the anticipated event costs 60 days prior to the first track (includes practice) day.
• Cancellation within 21 days of the first track day results in a forfeiture of one half of your deposit (25% of estimated total event cost).
• Deposit amounts for each event can be found on our recommended event list. This is not the total event cost, this is the amount your card will be charged.

7 – SINGLE CAR AND LOW PARTICIPATION EVENTS

Support at lightly attended events is not economically viable for us at our normal rate. We will advise you well ahead of time if any events you are planning to attend prior to our 21 day window if any events fall below our 4 support vehicle minimum attendance level. .Events with less than our 4 race car minimum are invoiced as follows:

• Events with 1 car attending will be handled by a single technician at $900 per day. Transport surcharges apply as specified in rate information.
  
  
• Events with 2 cars attending will be handled by a single technician, with assistant at $650 per day/car. Transport surcharges apply as specified in rate information.
  
  
• Events with 3 cars attending will be handled by a single technician, with assistant at $600 per day/car. Transport surcharges apply as specified in rate information.

5. TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

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SCHEDULING
Our primary reason for providing transportation services is to accommodate our customers. Transport space is offered on a first-come, first-served basis to all other users. A 50% non-refundable deposit is required of non-customers on reserving, with the balance on pickup. Transport rates do not include tent space at the track (see Tent and Transport rates chart following for this service package. Transport rates include loading and unloading of vehicles.

SUPPORT TRANSPORTATION FLAT RATES (Round Trip)

TRACK	SMALL 13’/under	MED 15’/under	LARGE Over 15’
Barber Motor Sports	$1785	$2048	$2310
Daytona	$1785	$2048	$2310
Elkhart Lake	$1838	$2100	$2363
Laguna Seca	$4410	$4988	$5460
Lime Rock Park	$420	$473	$525
Mid Ohio	$1103	$1260	$1575
Miller M’sport (Utah)	$3675	$3990	$4410
Mont Tremblant	$1155 incl. customs	$1313	$1628
Moroso	$1943	$2205	$2573
New Hampshire Int.	$578	$651	$840
Pocono International	$578	$651	$840
Road Atlanta	$1680	$1943	$2205
Roebling Road	$1680	$1943	$2205
Sebring	$1890	$2100	$2363
Shannonville & Mosport	$1208 incl. customs	$1365	$1628
Summit Point	$840	$998	$1155
Virginia International	$1263	$1575	$1838
Watkins Glen	$630	$787	$998
Texas World	$2835	$3150	$3570

1. Surcharge for vehicle requiring body/wheel Dis/reassembly for transport @ 85hr.
2. X large, over 17’ or large spares by arrangement
3. One way transport by arrangement only at 75% of posted rates when space available
   

Surcharges:

• Diesel fuel if rates vary by more than 10% from 3.20 gallon base line
• Wheel/tire/spares over 70 cubic feet of volume.@ 1 cent per cubic foot/mile = .13 average wheel/tire, .15/mile large wheel/tire, .08/mile for a typical 7.5 cu ft box, .25/mile for an engine.
• All rates are F.O.B. for our shops, Stratford, Ct. Pickup from and delivery to your location can be arranged at extra cost.

TRUCK & TENT TRANSPORTATION FLAT RATES (round trip)

TRACK	SMALL 13’/under	MED 15’/under	LARGE Over 15’
Barber Motor Sports	$2100	$2350	$2600
Daytona	$2100	$2350	$2600
Elkhart Lake	$2100	$2400	$2700
Laguna Seca	$4500	$4950	$5550
Lime Rock Park	$550	$650	$700
Mid Ohio	$1450	$1750	$2000
Miller M’sports (Utah)	$3800	$4100	$4500
Mont Tremblant	$1400	$1700	$2000
Moroso	$2200	$2500	$2800
New Hampshire Int.	$850	$1000	$1150
Pocono International	$850	$1000	$1150
Road Atlanta	$1950	$2250	$2500
Roebling Road	$1950	$2250	$2500
Sebring	$2100	$2500	$2800
Shannonville & Mosport	$1450	$1750	$2050
Summit Point	$1200	$1500	$1800
Virginia International	$1600	$1850	$2100
Watkins Glen	$800	$950	$1100
Texas World	$3050	$2400	$3700

1. Surcharge for vehicle requiring body/wheel Dis/reassembly for transport @ $85/hr
2. X large, over 17’ or large spares by arrangement
3. One way transport by arrangement only at 75% of posted rates when space available
4. Truck and tent Transport rates include

• 2 spares/tool boxes @ approx. 6 sq. ft. each
• Vehicle transportation &, 6x18 event tent space
• Hospitality for driver ( lunch most events and refreshments all day)

Surcharges:

• Diesel fuel if rates vary by more than 10% from 3.20 gallon base line
• Wheel/tire/spares over 70 cubic feet of volume.@ 1 cent per cubic foot/mile = .13 average wheel/tire, .15/mile large wheel/tire, .08/mile for a typical 7.5 cu ft box, .25/mile for an engine.
• ll rates are F.O.B. for our shops, Stratford, Ct. Pickup from and delivery to your location can be arranges at extra cost.

INSURANCE
WE DO NOT INSURE THE VEHICLES WE TRANSPORT. We require that vehicle owners or consigners sign releases and provide insurance to cover the cost of replacement or repair of vehicles damaged in transport. Transportation of cars parts and all personal items is solely at the owner’s or the shipping agent’s risk.

PICK-UP & DELIVERY
We cannot load in multiple locations. We can provide door-to-door service, but use small, single-car transporters to bring vehicles to our central location for loading. Our rates do not include charges for door-to-door transportation services.

All transport rates are based on round trip transportation. We do not offer one-way transport at any lesser cost than round trip transportation. We are happy to transport different cars of similar size at round trip rates. If we can fill your spot for the return trip, we will reduce the bill accordingly. If not you are liable for the entire round trip rate.

6 .ON DOING BUSINESS

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1. ESTIMATES/PROPOSALS/QUOTATIONS & ADDENDUMS
   POST RACE REPORTS – Our reports are just what the name implies. They are not “cast in concrete” and are intended only as guidelines based on inspection and experience. The terms and conditions of an estimate are applicable to post race reports.
2. PRE-APPROVED REPAIRS – To speed & streamline the preparation/serve process we ask that each customer pre-approve an agreed-upon dollar amount to undertake repairs found needed during the diagnosis and evaluation process. This amount varies with vehicle complexity and is in addition to the cost of preparing the post race report.
3. QUOTATIONS – We cannot provide fixed price quotations. A substantial portion of our work requires disassembly and inspection to determine the extent of repair needed. Fixed price quotations cannot apply under such circumstance.
4. ESTIMATES – An estimate is just that. It is our view of the work needed based on experience and available information. It is not a fixed price quotation.
5. ADDENDUMS – Proposals and estimates will seldom foresee every problem inherent in a restoration. For this reason we often must contact customers during the process. These contacts are often timely as we are at the “must know” point with the car disassembled, shop space encumbered and the effort stopped. If you cannot be reached within a reasonable time (24hrs) we must make the decision for you. We prefer to be able to contact you quickly for verbal, email or fax approval during the course of the project. Please let us know how to reach you during the process.

THE NATURE OF OUR WORK

1. Certain operations can be of an experimental nature. Occasionally two tries at problem solution must be made to properly attack a given area. As an example, a carburetor can have a slightly warped upper body causing leakage. The “correct,” but most time-consuming, fix is to disassemble, mill or surface grind the warped area and reassemble. A “quick,” yet effective, fix is to fabricate and fit a thicker gasket to take up the surface’s variations. An invoice might indicate both operations if the quick fix proves unsatisfactory as:
• Disassemble carburetor.
• Fabricate top gasket.
• Reassemble.
• Disassemble carburetor, set up and machine mating surface.
• Reassemble.

This might appear an inefficient use of time. It is not. Most often the “quick” fix will suffice and it is in a customer’s best interest that we attempt the repair this way prior to spending all the time needed for the “correct” solution.

THE BILLING SYSTEM/PAYMENT
2. INVOICING – Unlike general automotive service, race preparation involves a long-term business relationship and financial commitment. Our activities are more akin to home building than automobile service. Some contractors require deposits and progress payments with a 10% holdback until completion/inspection. We prefer to bill only for work done but must ask that bills be paid on receipt. We cannot afford to wait for payment and the cost of waiting is not built into our rate.

3. SUPPORT SERVICE DEPOSITS – Support services demand a substantial amount of “profitless” out-of-pocket, expense. For this reason, we assess a pre-event deposit to be applied to your invoice for each event.

4. FINANCE CHARGES – We assess a finance charge on all invoices not paid within 30 days of the invoice date.

5. FINAL PAYMENTS – Vehicles being collected, shipped or otherwise leaving our care must be paid in full.

6. STRUCTURE – We bill monthly. Stop/start is generally the last Thursday of each month, or when a project is completed. Employees' timesheets often reflect specific tasks which traverse our billing period stop/start cycle. Therefore, one might see similar descriptions on two invoices, though the work is not being double billed. Parts are billed off invoices as they arrive. Occasionally, when an item does not fit or is returned for other reasons, it can appear on two different invoices. We try to catch this before it happens, but, due to the nature of our suppliers, two entries can occur (one may use sill trim while another uses door finisher to describe the same part). Our “cure” is a management project review at key points to identify any such inaccuracies. Corrections are then made and balances adjusted as needed.

7. INVOICE TEXT – Billing descriptions cannot describe all operations and details. Books are the appropriate, illustrative format for verbal description of an engine rebuild or a restoration. If you doubt this, simply refer to even a small task in your car’s service manual. Invoice labor text is only a general description of the area(s) of endeavor and cannot describe every detail.

8. INACCURACIES – Mistakes can and will occur in invoicing. They are honest errors and will be happily corrected. Please remember that “crooks” do not illustrate their deceptions by double billing items in black & white for you to see. Our detailed invoices are for both parties’ protection and the proper way to account for our efforts.

9. QUESTIONS – If you have any questions regarding any invoice please bring them to our attention immediately. The longer you wait the more difficult investigation of the issue becomes. We do not take questions regarding any aspect of our activity as an expression of doubt regarding our ethics. We all question charges from time to time and have every right to do so. We will try to answer all questions cheerfully, clearly, quickly and completely.

PARTS/MATERIALS/LABOR SUPPLIED BY CUSTOMERS
The issue of parts mark-up often occurs during a restoration. Parts acquisition within our industry is a skill unto itself. There are numerous unreliable suppliers & sub-standard reproductions, not to mention the vagaries involved in used parts acquisition. Some items are NOS (new old stock), with others reconditioned and not as reliable as conventionally supplied new parts. We often purchase items from “cottage industry” suppliers without substantial companies backing fit, finish, reliability, and the like. Most items involve shipping costs, many must be returned and some may fail within a short time of installation, even before the car leaves our care. We often purchase items that are installed deep inside a vehicle component and premature failure can be very costly to remedy. In short, it’s a “crap shoot” in which years of experience help us to put the odds on our side.

We mark up parts we supply. This markup covers the cost of the aforementioned vagaries and provides us a profit. We are happy to have a customer supply parts, materials, or subcontract labor thereby avoiding our markup but:

1. We cannot be held responsible for failures related to customer supplied parts, materials, or labor. If corrective work is necessitated, the cost of this work must be borne by the customer.
2. Failures of a given part, material or labor activity may result in damage to other areas (an oil pump failure can destroy an entire engine). Should this occur, all corrective work is the customer’s responsibility. In short, customer-supplied parts, material or labor absolve us of any express or implied warranty unless it can be clearly demonstrated to be only the result of substandard workmanship on our part.
3. Warranty on race cars is a difficult issue. Race parts in general are not warrantied. Some parts manufacturers require releases before sale. Engine builders do not warranty race engines. For this and other reasons, issues of warranty within the racing services industry are far more complex than general automotive service. The only solution is to state that NO WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED FOR ANY RACING OR RACING RELATED PARTS OR SERVICES. This is Vintage Racing Services, Inc.’s policy on all parts and service we provide.
4. Returns, shipping cost and all such related activity are the customer’s responsibility when providing parts/materials/labor.

7. A NOTE ON TOOLS

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As is often said in “Mechanic-dom,” “you can steal my children, molest my wife and insult my mother, but don’t, I repeat DO NOT mess with my Snap On Tools!”

We have heard plenty of dribble about “I put it back,” “never borrowed it,” or whatever, to believe that we are all without integrity when it comes to tracking borrowed tools or more importantly borrowed “Snap On” tools. They are like Woody Allen’s famous “orbs,” and, after only a few seconds of fondling, few of us have the willpower to return them to their rightful owners.

What does all this mean? Simply this, Brian Rechtiene, Harvey Thompson (we didn’t want to leave him out even though his complete tool set costs only $11.98 and he has never sprung for a Snap On tail whistle) and Kent Bain have had enough of replacing all the tools lost during each race season. This costs us a fortune and, though we may lose some (or all) ourselves, we find it convenient to make our customers & friends scapegoats.

As scapegoats we realize that you truly are not getting a fair shake. Who said life was “fair?” We want the opportunity to lose all our tools ourselves. All we ask is that you borrow from our respective boxes on an emergency basis only.

Ah, but there is a reward. If you find one of our tools errantly left in the dirt after daily clean up, you get to keep it. (No, it is not fair to flippantly nudge the wrench into the dirt the “discover” it after dark!) In addition, if you want us to assemble a basic toolbox on your behalf, we will be happy to do so. No, “freebies;” the cost will appear on your personal dedicated billing. Whatever your preference, we would much appreciate your cooperation in solving this problem. If you had to listen to the #! *! *#! I am exposed to as a result of the tool problem, you would be the author of this letter!

Sincere Thanks with Expectations of Some Incredible Cooperation!

Brian, Kent, Andrew, Harvey & The VRS Crew