Manifold

Escalating conflict often doesn’t end well …

One of the two parties needs to concede to the demands of the other, or they need to find a compromise solution.

LuigiVampa

I agree, which is why I offered two very reasonable compromises. In each case there was no discussion or counter offer - I was just told NO.

I'm heavily considering releasing the whistleblower letter, not to escalate the conflict, but in order to get the correct information out there. The way PCA leadership has mishandled this situation leaves me with no trust in getting fair consideration. The letter will get all the facts out there because I think PCA will try to shape the argument in their favor.

Bottom line - they are more interested in being right than in doing the right thing. The ball is in their court.

LuigiVampa

Still thinking it through, and talking about it with some people I trust, but I think I need to release it so that PCA doesn't control the narrative. They have done everything in their power to make me not trust them, so while I would rather give them a chance to respond, I just don't trust them to tell the truth.

Also, this is a MEMBER club. If I want to share it with my fellow members, so that they can be informed about what OUR CLUB is doing, why would that be a bad thing?

dgrobs

It wouldn't.

I am a PCA member, and I am very interested to know what my club is doing, right or wrong, good or bad, shouldn't I know?

LuigiVampa

Please find below a link to my whistleblower letter. I have not included the 29 pages of attachments at this time because there is some personal information which would need to be redacted.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9q9d6...0f0tqjhfq&dl=0

Remember, this all started because PCA said that there was a risk of me falling asleep while driving my race car on track, and they have never backed away from that position. If someone thinks I have my analysis incorrect, and PCA is in the right, I honestly want to know their thoughts.

Nowanker

Kicking asses and taking names....
I like it!

NaroEscape

Remind me to never **** you off! lol

dgrobs

I am even more torn after reading the letter.

I need to read it again before commenting fully.

I will say that this seems like a very simple thing to fix, yet neither side seems to be able to swallow their pride and fix it.

I know that if I was told I can’t drive or instruct with PCA (I‘m not a racer per my families will) unless I provide some medical paperwork to the DE committee, I would just give them what they want and be done with it. I love doing both way too much to let a piece of paper stand in the way.

Todd is a much stronger willed person than I’ll ever be, and probably a lot smarter than me as well. He seems to be fighting his fight for the greater good of all racers where I would just be fighting for myself. For that, I commend him.

I need to read the letter again and then comment further.

Very well written letter Todd.

Veloce Raptor

Quite an informative and entertaining read

Manifold

These PCA people are being extremely unreasonable, but I choose my battles carefully, and weighing all the factors, if I was in Luigi's shoes I would have probably just given them the data they asked for, so they could check the box and feel that their authority was deferred to. This driving and racing stuff is a hobby that we enjoy participating in with our friends, and I'm not sure that the 'principle' being fought for here is worth fighting for. There are a lot of wrongs and injustices one is subject to in life, and I always advise my daughter to be pragmatic in dealing with them. Sometimes it makes sense to fight the good fight, sometimes it makes sense to just bend the knee.

thebishman

You know, wouldn’t that just be the easy thing to do. Todd gives data that is meaningless re: the risk of falling asleep on a race track during a racing activity if you have OSA, and he gets to race. No harm, no foul says you, and perhaps others.

But this intransigence of the PCA Medical Committee and of PCA leadership is indicative of a far deeper problem; that of the Medical Committee being held to account when they are simply wrong about the potential results of driving with a specific medical condition; not being able to acknowledge their poor judgment, and then PCA leadership and legal not overriding the Medical Committee’s abject stupidity. In this regard, Todd is not only standing on principle, but is standing for all drivers in Porsche Club Racing. If the Medical Committee has got this issue so wrong, what’s to say that they don’t enact a future edict about when/how one can either race or participate in a DE because of condition ‘X’; and then a lot more of us in PCA might be affected.

No one has fallen asleep on track because of OSA at a PCA sanctioned event, (if so, prove it PCA), and no other type of Club racing overrides the report of one’s personal Physician signing off that one is medically cleared to participate in an organised racing or high performance track event. We all should be 100% behind Todd in this endeavor and wish him well, not throw up our arms and say, ‘Oh what the Hell, just give them the data’, because in that way, idiocy triumphs over science and data and there’s way too much of that going on lately!

Manifold

Luigi is doing the 'right' thing, and PCA is doing the 'wrong' thing. There's no question about that.

But I'm not sure that what Luigi is doing is in his best interest.

While Luigi is fighting for a just cause on behalf of all PCA members, I think the reality is that, even if the medical committee is disbanded and these particular PCA leaders resign, PCA will generally go along as it has. An organization like this has social dynamics which will inevitably result in some people being mistreated. I've experienced it firsthand in PCA, and have to come to accept that that's just the way it is. I come to PCA events to spend time with my friends, not because I have a strong identity as a PCA member and have confidence in and regard for the leadership.

dgrobs

OK, I read the letter again, and with more understanding of Todds position, so.........................

So wouldn't it be just as easy and clearly MORE productive for Todd to give PCA what they want so he can race, then go after the medical committee post haste?
Bottom line here, the way it is going now, the only thing that will be accomplished is what PCA wants, Todd can't race, period!! Nothing else will happen.
Why not give them the paperwork they want, race, then get a group together and go after whoever you want? A group like that led by someone like Todd might just be able to get things done.
Also, and I have been waiting for this to happen since the beginning, if Todd is so in the right choosing the path he has chosen to go, whether standing on principal or just fighting the good fight, why have no other PCA racers boycotted PCA Club Racing on Todd's behalf. Again, on Todd's behalf.
As far as I know, while not racing is the path Todd chose, he is ALONE in that path. I don't know of another single Club Racer who is boycotting PCA Club Racing because of what they are doing to Todd. Have you? Maybe I missed it? Are there any club racers who have said "I'm cancelling this race because of what PCA is doing to Todd" or "I'm not gonna race with PCA this season until Todd gets some recourse?"

My thoughts, as off kilter as you may think they are, is that Todd should give them the data they need, race all season long, then get a group together to try and make some changes, or truly get some changes made, at the top of PCA. Win win, no?
In that fight, Todd wouldn't be alone, and he can race all season long, including (hopefully) the upcoming race at The Clash at The Glen.
I for one would be happy to join that group led by Todd to get some changes made from a grassroots position.
I would support him 100% and help in any way that I can, and I'm sure I wouldn't be alone in supporting his cause. I would have a vested interest in that fight as maybe PCA Medical is targeting DE next.

All that's being accomplished now this is that Todd can't race. At some point, his nose is going to tell his face to *** off, AND HE STILL WILL NOT HAVE RUN 1 LAP IN 1 PCA CLUB RACE this season.
Todd is a really smart guy. He is also a really stubborn guy. It's a good combination to have, but my feelings are that he can use those attributes in a better way than how he is using them now.

While I 100% support Todds' cause and understand why he is doing what he is doing, he is only hurting HIS cause, not PCAs'.
The medical committee will go on, Todd will continue to fight his fight all by himself, and he will still not be racing with PCA. While he is racing with other groups, which is great and how it should be, his first and true love, just like mine, is PCA, and he WON'T be racing with them.

I hope to see Todd racing with PCA again this season, maybe next weekend even. I hope...........

LuigiVampa

It actually takes a lot to get me to this point, but once I am there, I am like a grenade with the pin pulled.

Something to keep in mind - Porsche Club of America is OUR club, not their club. National has gotten used to treating the members like the proletariat. We're important when it comes time to pay the dues, but otherwise, keep your mouth shut.

I don't think I am fighting PCA because I am one of PCA's members. I am fighting the mismanagement and abuse perpetrated by a small cadre of people at the top who view PCA as their own personal plaything.

Whenever you bend the knee, in the hopes that the person oppressing you will stop, all it does is empower them. I am now way past the point where I will give in.

LuigiVampa

I don't want people to boycott PCA because of me. I want those racers to keep racing, and at every race, tell PCA that they are wrong. There was a group who wanted to boycott and I told them that while it made me feel good, I didn't want it. I don't want PCA to fail - I want it to change.

Many drivers are unhappy with how PCA is run and medical is just part of it. There is now a big spotlight on how PCA operates and I hope that will foster a change.

I guess I just don't understand anyone who gives in to a bully. I hate injustice and would rather never race with PCA again than to submit.

Lastly, I got to race at VIR with PCA this year and that's when it all started. There are actually more races with other organizations than I have time for. I don't need PCA - PCA needs members like me.