J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

I wanted to share something really interesting that one of my brake customers recently brought to me. He is a tech guy/entrepreneur who loves tracking his GT3 and Supra in his spare time. We were test-fitting our latest rear brake package on his Supra, and I took him and his wife out to lunch while my engineering team was doing their thing with his car. He and I were discussing track cars, and I told him about how I sold my last track car, a C6 Vette, a few years back. He asked why I got rid of it, and I told him because I didn’t have time to work on it, nowhere good to store it, I wasn’t using it enough to justify keeping it, etc. I think those of us who have been in this game long enough probably all know that story…kids, wives, other hobbies, etc. all get in the way of playing with our favorite toy. It becomes harder and harder to justify pouring money into something that is generally viewed by everyone around you as a distraction or nuisance.

His first question was, “If you want to get back on the track, why don’t you just rent a track car and do some arrive-and-drive HPDE or endurance racing (Champ Car, Lemons, etc.)?” I explained that I always felt like it was a hassle to find a car, that it was probably too expensive, too complicated or time-consuming to go through the rental process, etc. Then he told me that he had just created an app to do exactly that, which I thought was a killer idea. As we started discussing the concept further, it became clear to me that this could be a really awesome way for current track car owners to subsidize or even completely cover the cost of their own track exploits.

I told him that I loved the idea and that I would share it in the communities in which I participate…so that’s what I’m doing here. The app is called Kerbz and it works similarly to Turo if you’re familiar with that app. You rent track cars directly from the vehicle owner, and the entire transaction is completed through the app. It is set up so you can find cars in your area to use for autoX, HPDE, time trials, W2W, etc. They even have an option by which you can co-drive your car at an event with the renter, so you can cover your own track expenses while also keeping an eye on your car.

If I still had my vette, I would have definitely taken a long, hard look at renting it out. When I initially bought the car I had planned to go to the track at least a dozen weekends per year. During the three years I owned it, I ended up going to the track four times total…doh. The car just sat in my driveway under a cover and collected dust most of the time. I took it out every two weeks for a quick jaunt to run oil through it, but otherwise it was more or less just in the way. I also had some annoying issues with my Accusump, fuel tank, power steering pump, etc. that I was trying to sort out, so it felt like I was constantly running back and forth to the shop and spending money on repairs despite hardly getting any wheel time in the car. Twenty years ago I may have been a little hesitant on renting out my pride and joy, but after owning several track cars, I’ve accepted that track cars are most definitely a depreciating, commodity-type asset. Anything I could have done to pay for fuel, brakes, entry fees, and those damn 345 rear tires would have been extremely welcome!

From a community standpoint, I also really love the idea of sharing cars or co-driving with someone. When I first got into this sport in ‘99, I met my future best man at an autoX, and have made a bunch of other lifelong friends through motorsports. I think this app could be a great community builder that could get a lot more people out on track who don’t have cars, while also helping those who already own cars pay for their addiction.

The founder is in the Northern Virginia/DC area (Summit Point/Dominion Raceway), and most of the current cars for rent are in that area. He said his main goal currently is to add hosts (people willing to rent their car out) near all the road courses throughout the country.

Anyway, I think this app and idea have a ton of merit and I wanted to float them here for all the track junkies. Hopefully some of you can leverage this app to buy yourself some additional track time and/or reduce the burden of owning your car. At the very least I thought the concept would generate some interesting discussion.

Here’s where to download the app, or just search for Kerbz Adventures in the app store: https://kerbz.app/hosts#individual

Thanks and stay safe out there!

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

While I'm always interested in new ideas, maybe your friend should consider paying to be a sponsor on this site to promote his app. As for the idea of renting your track or race car out, I'd approach this idea carefully. First, the amount of wear (brakes, tires, gas, drivetrain) can vary greatly according to the client. I recently sponsored another racer in my Z and have spent quite a bit of time and money getting my racecar back to baseline. And this was with a talented racer with similar driving style. Beyond that, people should carefully consider the legal complications that will come with possibly writing a car off. What if there's a shunt while the client is driving that writes off the car? What if it's not the client's fault?

I wish things were not so complicated, but reducing costs in racing is one of the more complex topics to consider.