[Headracer]

The problem is that a waiver can't be construed in such a way as to protect against claims of negligence... Waivers (for the most part) simply release the organizers/owners from any responsibility related to the normal risk of running on a track. Reading the article all the way through, the track owners and the event organizers screwed themselves over on this one by doing things that blatantly fit the definition of negligence. (Like moving a wall from its designed position into a dangerous one near the straight, not enforcing tech inspections, etc.) The driver is liable because he'd been told by a qualified mechanic that the mechanic thought that something was wrong with the car and failed to tell his passenger about it. That's the really interesting part of this case as it applies to road cars: if a mechanic tells you that something is not right with your car (even if its not serious) and you carry a passenger without telling them about it, they legally have every right to clean you out if something happens.