At one point I had a cheap aluminum specifically crit bike. I did it because I didn't want to wreck my "nice" bike. Pretty sure it was someone on here that pointed out that I needed to be racing what I was spending my time riding on. Regardless of how it handles, etc...if you have piles f hours on it then you will know how to make it do what you need it to do. You will also start to realize that certain bikes will just work with you better naturally for your riding style. For me I found I didn't like the geometry or handling feel of Trek and Specialized rigs. I much preferred Giant. (cue someone pointing out they are all the same geometry - womp womp). Doesn't really matter.... where was I?,,
Oh yeah, I found I was riding the alloy crit bike all the time. Pretty soon a couple of seasons had gone by and I hadn't ridden the "nice" bike at all. Sold it at the next swap meet for way less than I wanted to (like $250). Looking back on it - not racing that "nice bike" was a huge mistake. I felt more comfortable on it, it had better racing geometry, etc. It was a race bike that I also happened to enjoy riding for training as well.
Then someone pointed out to me that carbon bikes were more easy to repair than aluminum ones anyway. Couple that with being able to find used frames of both types around the same price as each other anyway. Just ride what you want to ride/race. Life happens. If you destroy it in a race it will suck but if you can't deal with it then you probably shouldn't race it. If you aren't racing it then why do you have it?
Just the way I look at it.