Amen to that. Although the vast majority of my debt has come from my stupid inability to be happy with one car and keeping it long-term instead of swapping them out like underwear at least once a year. Well, that and stupid little emergencies that add up to major costs I cannot otherwise pay for at the time (lost job, medical/dental issues, etc.). This was before I got my current 'Stang, however, and completely fell OUT of love with Arizona; after I sell off the house and pay everything off, I can re-establish myself in the Midwest again and do things as I WANT instead of as I MUST, financially speaking. That is, spending only the money I have instead of relying upon credit, as I'll have plenty to set aside as a safety cushion when I'm not having to make credit card and school loan payments.
I put off getting a credit card for a long time - didn't give in until I was about 22 or so. However, I've found that it's sort of a necessary evil in a way, because there have been a few times I would have otherwise been totally SOL, had I not had that little piece of plastic to swipe and save my butt when my hours were getting cut back on some jobs (or when I had NO hours to work at all) and major crap came up out of nowhere.
A credit line through Summit Racing, however, I would not consider a wise concept. Unless you're a pro racer of some sort and you absolutely positively MUST have financing to buy and install a new engine/tranny in a hurry to win some kind of world championship - like, say, John Force needing a new pair of slicks, or something - then you're better off just saving your bucks the old-fashioned way or, if you absolutely must have a credit card, going with something basic like Visa or BastardCard with a limit of $3,000 or less. The way I figure it, $8k isn't that bad to pay off as a lump sum, but stretch that out with like 18% interest, and it'll be a good 5-6 years before you pay that sucker down to near-nothing.
FWIW, I have no idea what my credit score is, but I've never missed a single payment, EVER, and I'm not maxed out, so who knows. I dunno how that credit rating crap works - I think it's all just a big scam to get people suckered into those stupid "Free" credit report commercials to sign up for a year's worth of whatever. (You've all seen the commercial ... "I'm theeeeeeenking of a number...")
Btw, Henceforward, I'm totally lovin' the new avatar.
