Mazdaspeed Forums - Weird smell, maybe clutch?

First off, this is my first post and hello to you all.

Anywho, I had been drinking the other day and my friend that has some experience with stick shift drove me home. It was a short distance (maybe 2-3 miles) and he did stall about 2x and grind gears a couple of times which wasn't one of my proudest moments with my car, but I had to get home safe. I get home and I smell this burning rubber smell (at least that's what I smelt) but I waited til the next day to take care of it. I am concerned because the smell carried onto the next day after doing some driving around town so I take it back to the dealership (keep in mind I had my oil changed a day prior to that) saying I tink something is wrong with my clutch or possibly some oil was spilt on my exhaust. I was hoping that some oil was spilt on the exhaust during the oil change process and that was the smell, but the service manager was explaining to me that they are "pretty sure" it is the clutch (didn't tell them about my friend driving it btw) and he said there is no certain way to know without getting in there but it would cost me about $1800 + labor (another 500-700) for a new clutch/flywheel. :shocked:

So today is day three and the smell is no longer there so i'm a bit confused; I don't know if this is a good sign/bad sign. The smell was coming from the drivers side above the front wheel and was only noticeable outside of the car, not inside the cab. If it was the clutch I would imagine the smell would be coming from both sides of the car right? I would be smelling it inside my car too I think. Correct me if I am wrong. Basically I would like to hear some input from you guys and see if the dealership is just tring to screw me or if they're actually being legit.

Thanks!