Las Vegas, Nev. (Jan. 21, 2016) – The Sports Car Club of America opened its 2016 SCCA National Convention with nearly 350 people listening intently during the 2016 SCCA Annual Meeting held Thursday night at South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
SCCA Chairman John Walsh opened the meeting with a crisp assessment of the Club’s 2015 successes, which he simply labeled as “awesome.” Specifically, there was a 20 percent growth in the autocross program, record entries at the Solo Nationals, and an absolutely incredible Runoffs experience at Daytona International Speedway.
“We want the same success in 2016 and beyond 2016,” Walsh noted. “We have new ideas. We’re inventing new games for our members to play in. We’re also focusing on new member engagement with programs like SCCA Track Night in America, Rally Sprints and Bracket Enduro.”
Following Walsh’s overview, SCCA President and CEO Lisa Noble stepped to the podium to present the Club’s vision for the coming year. Recognizing that the SCCA is a leader in amateur motorsports, conducting nearly 2,200 events per year, Noble said the Club needs to not only maintain its current status but grow its membership through innovative driving opportunities that engage a larger number of people. And thus the SCCA vision for 2016 is “Mission SCCA: Driving. Motorsport.”
“Yes, the SCCA is about driving motorsport in the United States,” Noble continued. “But we’re also about having fun with cars. Everything we do from competition to volunteers to our experiential programs, it’s about having fun with cars. We are aggressively looking at ways to engage with more people to support the longevity of the SCCA and motorsports in this country.”
With that thought in mind, Noble went on to talk about the SCCA’s new association with GreenpowerUSA, a program giving SCCA members the opportunity to work with students in classrooms to further automotive knowledge and skills. Also, the new SCCA Targa motorsport adventure was announced that will be multi-day, multi-discipline driving challenges that draw from several different forms of SCCA competition.
After Noble’s impassioned presentation, those in attendance heard from SCCA Pro Racing President Derrick Walker, who agreed that the SCCA must be looking ahead to stay relevant and profitable. SCCA Enterprises President Erik Skirmants also reported on the ongoing success of SpecRacer Ford GEN3 and the intent to keep the class viable through product refinement.
To conclude the 2016 SCCA Annual Meeting, hardware was handed out in recognition of hard-working Regions. The Tom Burke Award, presented to Regions for exemplary efforts to activate and grow the SCCA, went to:
Small Region: Arctic Alaska Region
Medium Region: Continental Divide Region
Large Region: St. Louis Region
Jumbo Region: Central Florida Region
Region of the Year Awards were presented to:
Small Region: Southwest Louisiana Region
Medium Region: South Bend Region
Large Region: Texas Region
Jumbo Region: Oregon Region
Additionally, the 2015 Regional Road Rally Achievement Award went to the Milwaukee Region, and the Northern Pacific Division received the Rallycross Division of Achievement Award.
The 2016 SCCA National Convention continues at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas through Saturday, Jan. 23 and concludes with the annual SCCA Hall of Fame awards banquet. For more information, visit www.SCCA.com.
