Racer-X Needs Your Help!!!!

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VELOCI_2NR
So I just got some heart-breaking news from one of our very own. Patrick Crider (GTP_SohnVonStig), a.k.a. Racer-X has been deemed ineligible due to discretionary action that was originally allowed by Sony and Nissan. The ruling can be overturned at any time.

We all know he has worked extremely hard for this, just as the rest of the GT Academy Participants have and he deserves the chance to compete along them. If you can, please try to contact some Sony or Nissan representative and tell them that you want Patrick to compete in this year's GT Academy since he earned his spot in Silverstone. Or if you cannot do that, at least leave your support here on this thread.

If you want more info, please contact either Jett (Jett_Racer) or I and we'll inform you more in-depth of this entire situation. We'll be acting as Patrick's contacts to try to ramify this unfortunate event.

Sincerely,
Joey Alves (VELOCI_2NR)

If you can, please sign this petition if you wish for Patrick to get a shot at GT Academy.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-racer-x/
 
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Help support our Racer X by signing the petition! ----->http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-racer-x/<-----


Honestly, people should know what happened in the past, so they can decide whether it&#8217;s a fair call or not. There&#8217;s nothing wrong, the guy has nothing to hide.

About 2 and half years ago, during Pat&#8217;s senior year of high school, just about EVERYTHING wrong could have happened. The main thing started with his girlfriend at the time, cheating on him with his &#8216;best friend,&#8217; REALLY?! I thought this stuff only happened on TV, but it didn&#8217;t stop there. For some reason, Pat didn&#8217;t do anything about it. Seriously? How mad would you be if that happened to you? Yet, that&#8217;s not where the legal background comes in.

So after that, his &#8216;best friend&#8217; and some others were still involved in Pat&#8217;s life. They were telling Pat who he could and could not date at the time, and if he didn&#8217;t listen to them, they threatened to beat him up. Who wouldn&#8217;t be fed up with this at this point?

So Pat finally decides to vent all this anger he&#8217;s had building up to someone. BUT, before I go into that, let me add some other key things that have been piling up in the guy&#8217;s life. There&#8217;s his parents getting divorced, which led to him having to switch schools. His sister was in an abusive relationship. Couple deaths happened, he lost both his 9 month old nephew and his grandfather, and on the day his grandfather died, he broke his ankle. At the time he had a D1 soccer scholarship, but since he broke his ankle, that went out the window. So a lot of stuff happened, and it&#8217;s unhealthy to not vent these kinds of things, and all of Pat&#8217;s friends knew him as a guy who never got mad.

So when the time came to vent, he told this person he was mad, and they wouldn&#8217;t believed him and didn&#8217;t seem to care, since Pat&#8217;s a guy who &#8220;doesn&#8217;t get mad.&#8221; So he really wanted to show them that he was mad, I mean, who wouldn&#8217;t at this point? So he started escalating to show them he was really mad, since they weren&#8217;t taking him seriously at all. So it got to the point where he said he was gonna shoot those guys that pissed him off, just so they can see he&#8217;s ACTUALLY mad. They finally took it seriously, but when they did, they took it too seriously, and decided to take this information to the principal, because the point was lost in translation. So long story short, he got a plea agreement that says all charges will be dropped if he follows the rules of the plea agreement. But basically they were just using him as a poster child.

Since then, he&#8217;s had multiple checkups, there&#8217;s been nothing wrong, and soon they&#8217;re planning on dropping all the charges. So the poor guy&#8217;s been charged for something trivial after going through so much, I mean, for other people that could have ended in so many worse ways. But anyways, with how things are now, regardless, he&#8217;s still not in violations of any of the rules.

To be honest, Pat&#8217;s side of the story was never told or revealed by the media, it&#8217;s all been pretty one sided. But I&#8217;m sure if he actually let his side heard at the time, none of this should have ever happened. But why would he vent that? It was proven that venting only made things worse at the time, sadly.

I&#8217;ve known Pat for a long time now, so I know a lot about the guy. We only Skype every night, it&#8217;s kinda hard not to. He&#8217;s done everything he possibly could to make it into this competition, his life has had a lot of hard times, and he finally managed to get something good goin&#8217; for him. We&#8217;ve spent just about every day practicing for it. He didn&#8217;t make it into the top 32, and we told him not to give up hope, just gotta kill it in the wild card event. So he stayed committed and the practice for sure showed and he killed it at the racer x comp. I dunno about you guys, but I think if anyone else were to be racer x, it would have been very anti-climatic, and I don&#8217;t think they would have made the top 16. So even now, just like back then, we&#8217;re not givin&#8217; up on Pat, he earned his spot, and he deserves to race with us!

So hopefully we can get your guys&#8217; opinions on whether he should be in or not. You know his legal background now, so give us your honest opinion on the subject, and maybe if we get enough people feeling strongly that he should remain in, we could get something to work. Let the man have one thing go right in his life!
 
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Wait what you serious??!?

I've never really expected someone like Patrick to have gone through stuff like this but yet, still have the potential to strive to be a racer.
I know that I've only met him once ( at the Racer X competition ) and that I don't know him fairly well, but one things for sure is that he will go to Silverstone!

When I heard Patrick's sacrifices on getting a plane ticket to San Diego, I had so much sympathy because I know for a fact when someone selling car parts worth $500-$1000 for just a plane ticket to win the Racer X competition, meant almost the world to him and that I probably wouldn't have done myself. It was one of the reasons why I let Patrick keep the Humanchassis frame ( Yes I'm the guy who gave his spot ) for all the stuff that he went through. Even though we made a deal, I know that he deserves that rig, wheel, and the once in a lifetime event that I would kill to go to, Silverstone.
 
This is stupid. If they let him compete in the national finals they can't kick him now. What's in the past is in the past, especially when it's done with. He deserves it, especially with what he's gone through, and this better not hold him down. Everyone needs to rally for him, because he deserves this chance, and I hope people will support him.

Come on GTP community, a friend needs our help.
 
This is stupid. If they let him compete in the national finals they can't kick him now. What's in the past is in the past, especially when it's done with. He deserves it, especially with what he's gone through, and this better not hold him down. Everyone needs to rally for him, because he deserves this chance, and I hope people will support him.

Come on GTP community, a friend needs our help.

I agree and this should be stickied for the time being, until things get straighten.
 
This is crap and needs to be fixed. Pat deserves the opportunity. Is there a contact / email that we can send our concerns to? Does Jason have a contact for us?
 
I have no idea how I could help so I will just post here that I deeply hope you can participate. Sad to hear that background though!

Stand strong, Patrick Crider.
 
Seeing as you have dealt with these people, I'm thinking you can guide as to next steps if you don't get the answer we want.

Actually I have no idea. Mike at Nissan is my inside connection for everything. I hit a road block if he doesn't have an answer.

Edit: actually I could email Brian at the company that takes care of the legal stuff.
 
I should probably stay out of this but I have to say if you read the rules he wasn't qualified and shouldn't have competed. I stumbled across this on the day of Racerx and was pissed off because he was convicted of a felony and knew it but still competed. Having placed 2nd you can understand why. I have nothing against him personally. I thought he was a nice guy and enjoyed talking to him. If he was wrongly convicted I feel bad for him. I have a really good friend who had a felony and it's messed up his life even though he's a good guy. He can't get a good job and there's plenty of other things he can't do till it's off his record. If Pat had come next year with it cleaned off his record he'd be going to Silverstone.

Before anyone jumps on me for my views let me tell you a little about me and why it upsets me. I've been around racing for 17 years trying to get a chance to race professionally. I've tanked my finances more than once to try and get the chance including for Racer X. I lost over 2 grand to do that event. For GT Academy I was trying to qualify in about 6 or 7 hotel rooms over the 2 weeks because I was traveling for work at the time. Can anyone else in the top 100 say they got there in a hotel room? You want to talk about dedication I've dedicated my life to doing anything it takes to race. I've literally starved myself to pay for the next set of tires etc. The point is while I might not have made it through to silverstone I guarantee you I deserved a chance. If I had made it through I wouldn't have had a problem with being in violation of the rules. It appears that Pat is so you can see my upset.

I'm sure some won't like what I've said but if you put yourself in my shoes I think you'll understand. Like I said earlier I have nothing against Pat personally and think he's a nice guy. Just should have read the rules or something.
 
I stumbled across this on the day of Racerx and was pissed off because he was convicted of a felony and knew it but still competed.

But Pat hasn't been convicted of a felony. His court case is still open and all charges are being dismissed in 3 months.
 
You can't compare your personal sacrifices to someone else's, the world doesn't work that way.
 
Jett_Racer
But Pat hasn't been convicted of a felony. His court case is still open and all charges are being dismissed in 3 months.

That's not what I read in the news articles I came across. It said he pleaded guilty to a felony. Is that incorrect? I read at least three articles that said the same thing.
 
Jett- have you asked Jordan if he can help in getting the message to Nissan / Sony/ Kaz.
 
That's not what I read in the news articles I came across. It said he pleaded guilty to a felony. Is that incorrect? I read at least three articles that said the same thing.

You're right, he pleaded guilty as apart to the plea agreement, and in return, there's no final decision until his final hearing when he's 21. As long as he's behaved, which he has, there won't be a conviction.

Jett- have you asked Jordan if he can help in getting the message to Nissan / Sony/ Kaz.

GTP isn't associated with any of them, the best thing we can do is discuss it on the forums and see where it can take us.
 
R1600Turbo
And he doesn't? :odd:

That's not the point. If he's not qualified he shouldn't compete. It'd be like me trying to compete in something with a max age of 20 knowing I'm 32. He's a good Sim racer and if that was the only qualification he deserves the chance for his skill.
 
Jett_Racer
You're right, he pleaded guilty as apart to the plea agreement, and in return, there's no final decision until his final hearing when he's 21. As long as he's behaved, which he has, there won't be a conviction.

If you read the rules then that violates them. It sucks and I feel for him especially if he wasn't really guilty of anything. Anyways I'm going to get out of this now because I don't have anything against him personally just don't like the way it all turned out.
 
I think Jordan would have a few contacts and can get in someone's ear. Also sure he''ll make this front page news on the forum if he finds out.
 
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I just read the rules again, and they say; "Contestant must not have any previous felony convictions, including a reckless driving conviction"

According to what Jett is saying he doesn't violate any of the rules
 
My god man this made my heart sink.

There's just no way we're gonna let Patrick not go, he deserves it, plain and simple. And considering what he went through to get his spot, he deserves it even more. I just can't fathom him not being there with us especially considering all of the press and exposure he's gotten already.

Every one loves racer X and if he suddenly "just" isn't there with us, there's going to be an uproar not only from us, but every one that's even a little serious about this competition.

You guys all know what I'm talking about when I say Nissan and Sony don't want that mess. I have a good feeling about it though, but it's so sad this was even a bump in our proverbial road to England together. First of many, sure, but this can also be seen as a first test.

I'll be here for him all the way and will do whatever I can to help as well, I stuck with him and Joey and Jett and Jeff the whole way on Racer X Thursday and I am not going to have done it for nothing, and that's just a personal thing.

This has to be turned around, or the competition is seriously going to feel like it has a hole in it.

Hold on Pat! We love you buddy, if you can make it through what you've been through already, this is a walk in the park for such a tough young blood such as yourself.
 
So hopefully we can get your guys’ opinions on whether he should be in or not. You know his legal background now, so give us your honest opinion on the subject, and maybe if we get enough people feeling strongly that he should remain in, we could get something to work. Let the man have one thing go right in his life!

I'm being honest, as that's what you are looking for. I know none of you guys so I'm not judging on a personal level.

First, let's start with "That's just life." No matter what your personal business is (Series of tramatic events), you just can't start making talk of threats (According to law). In this case, they could be considered death threats ("Shoot"). Thousand of people die everyday, when it comes down to it, we are just a statistic (Emotions are not shown through numbers). Relationships go to crap everyday. And, people hit rock bottom everyday. Playing the blame game doesn't matter, everyone is rsponsible for themself. S#!+ happens...

Now, you only live once. To threaten anothers life is wrong in so many ways. It could have been all talk and no walk for all we know. But he was caught. He caught the attention of everyone he wanted plus law enforcement. Bottom line, "don't do the crime if you can't do the time." All actions have consequenses, be prepared to face them. Strictly speaking from experience.

Now on the technical side, he is not convicted yet. However, if his plea agreement is "guilty," that's probably "convicted" in the organizer's mind. Keep in mind Sony/Nissan/whoever wants a clean image. In business 0% risk is always a win. Of course, 0% is improbable. There's an amount of uncertainty in Patrick's case, enough for them to deny him eligibility. Allowing Patrick to compete brings risk.

On the plus side, the whole racer x thing was great for publicity. However, rules are rules. If they make an exception here, people may be looking for hand outs later down the road. I'm sure this wasn't an easy decision for the organizers but it's only business. Nothing personal. I'm sure Patrick knew the risks he was taking the whole time he was preparing. If anything, he could of (Or did he try?) requested a rules clarification. That could of saved Patrick and the organizer's time.

So my opinion? Well, I don't like to pick sides. As stated Patrick is not a felon but is facing felony charges. Two different things. Something not outlined in the rules. But you guys are playing in the corporate world now.

Sorry to hear Patrick. Don't let this put you in a crap hole. Life is full of challenge. Work with what you have. And, never give up. At the end of the day, you have your family and friends; that's what is most important. Dreams are not meant to be easy to acheive.
 
I think everyone agrees with his post, but this is about helping a young man to get on a better path and give him the opportunity to change his life. Everyone deserves that and this dream doesn't need to end today.
 
I'm being honest, as that's what you are looking for. I know none of you guys so I'm not judging on a personal level.

First, let's start with "That's just life." No matter what your personal business is (Series of tramatic events), you just can't start making talk of threats (According to law). In this case, they could be considered death threats ("Shoot"). Thousand of people die everyday, when it comes down to it, we are just a statistic (Emotions are not shown through numbers). Relationships go to crap everyday. And, people hit rock bottom everyday. Playing the blame game doesn't matter, everyone is rsponsible for themself. S#!+ happens...

Now, you only live once. To threaten anothers life is wrong in so many ways. It could have been all talk and no walk for all we know. But he was caught. He caught the attention of everyone he wanted plus law enforcement. Bottom line, "don't do the crime if you can't do the time." All actions have consequenses, be prepared to face them. Strictly speaking from experience.

Now on the technical side, he is not convicted yet. However, if his plea agreement is "guilty," that's probably "convicted" in the organizer's mind. Keep in mind Sony/Nissan/whoever wants a clean image. In business 0% risk is always a win. Of course, 0% is improbable. There's an amount of uncertainty in Patrick's case, enough for them to deny him eligibility. Allowing Patrick to compete brings risk.

On the plus side, the whole racer x thing was great for publicity. However, rules are rules. If they make an exception here, people may be looking for hand outs later down the road. I'm sure this wasn't an easy decision for the organizers but it's only business. Nothing personal. I'm sure Patrick knew the risks he was taking the whole time he was preparing. If anything, he could of (Or did he try?) requested a rules clarification. That could of saved Patrick and the organizer's time.

So my opinion? Well, I don't like to pick sides. As stated Patrick is not a felon but is facing felony charges. Two different things. Something not outlined in the rules. But you guys are playing in the corporate world now.

Sorry to hear Patrick. Don't let this put you in a crap hole. Life is full of challenge. Work with what you have. And, never give up. At the end of the day, you have your family and friends; that's what is most important. Dreams are not meant to be easy to acheive.

100% agree with Rated's post and I'll just leave it at that.

Yeah, that's just being matter of fact about it. But there are more details that change the nature of the story and will probably change your opinion a bit too. I won't say what they are myself yet, 'cause I don't know how Pat would want it out but you can PM Jett yourself to really see what's up.

His conviction really was a circus, unprecedented (again, ask about it), and was used as an excuse to take away rights. It fundamentally changed the way an aspect Facebook worked as well, if you can believe that.
 
I think everyone agrees with his post, but this is about helping a young man to get on a better path and give him the opportunity to change his life. Everyone deserves that and this dream doesn't need to end today.

Agreed 100%.

I got an email back from Mike, although I'm not allowed to share anything unfortunately. All I can say is keep up the good work with letting them know he deserves to go. I've let him know that an army is assembling. ;)
 
The real issue is why these things are in the rules. If it's just a random company policy - letters of support could help. If it is a requirement to get a work visa to live in the UK while acquiring necessary licenses - it might be a lot tougher to convince Nissan to allow Pat compete this year.
With that said - I'd be willing to sign a letter of support or smth similar, if that's the point of this thread.
 
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