I don't know why I am doing this, because usually when I post a rant on these forums, it's not well received...not sure why, but here goes....
Just had to get something off my chest here....CoRe Racing has received a fair number of join applications over the past two weeks, one of which I took some offense to after finding out the true nature of the app. Now, I won't name and shame, but I will divulge the details of the app and the aftermath to illustrate a very important characteristic of CoRe Racing. Just for the record, everything in italics after this have been edited for anonymity.
Date this all started: July 8, 2008
Details of the application:
I did a brief check both at LFS World and here for his LFS username (we'll call him SneakyMan during this expose, mainly because what I want to call him will get me likely banned) to see about his recent posts, LFS Stats, and any teams that he may be (or had been) affiliated with, since CoRe Racing doesn't consider drivers that are currently with other teams. I found a couple posts by SneakyMan that indicated that at some point, he was affiliated with a team (let's call them Team ABC).
At this point, the conversation at CoRe Racing's private area regarding recruiting goes like this:
Banshee56: It appears he is currently with Team ABC. By policy, CoRe Racing doesn't even look at drivers that are with a team and choose to apply to another team, so we'll have to look into the Team ABC thing.
BigTime: Big +1 to that.
B11TME: Anyone asked him his reason for leaving?
Banshee56: At this point, I don't think we've made contact with him. I'll email and find out. EDIT: FYI...I emailed him....waiting for response. I also registered on Team ABC forums and his last activity time was July 1, 2008 and last post was June 18, 2008, with no indication that he was leaving Team ABC.
Banshee56: Um, yeah.....just got a response about the Team ABC thing....
----------------- End of convo @ CoRe Forums ---------------
Now, here is where the "getting this off my chest" starts. Personally, I do not appreciate SneakyMan (and you know who you are) for pulling a stunt like this. CoRe Racing has built itself over the past 3+ years into a strong team because we stick to principles that include loyalty, integrity, and trust. Ben (DWB) and I speak as co-managers on behalf of CoRe Racing because we trust each other, and our guys trust us about the direction and integrity of our team.
Simply put, CoRe Racing DOES NOT STEAL DRIVERS, and I'm appalled that SneakyMan would think this enough to try and "test" us. We take pride in the fact that our team has grown stronger and stronger over the years because we've done it the right way, by being selective on who we ask to join the team. We are proud to consider each and everyone of our drivers as friends, and I can tell you that a guy that pulls a stunt like that has no place on CoRe Racing.
If I had posted this I would have released the driver name and team, since I lost about 95% of the respect I once had for them.
Well the part that really upsets me is the fact that he came to us asking to join the team. Even if we would have allowed him to join, that's not stealing, it's simply accepting... If we would have accepted they would have probably started spamming the forum with a bunch of BS, that in all actuality, they are responsible for.
Personally, I would have been fine if this person would have asked us directly, but I just didn't like that he'd taken the time to fill out an application to try and catch us doing something we wouldn't do anyway.
Not really worth getting all that worked up though.....just felt like posting it.
Exactly. IMO, stealing implies the team makes the first move in pursuing a driver, not the other way around. I'm not saying that accepting a driver who has not yet left a team is right either, but it's more just a very impolite thing to do rather than stealing.