The past few months have been busy for the Sports Car Club of America®. So, SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb took time Wednesday evening, Aug. 21, 2024, to keep the membership abreast of developments as the Club continues to celebrate its 80th anniversary. The video presentation opened with a reminder that SCCA’s ongoing vision is to be the preferred motorsports community in the U.S. – built on fun, shared passion, and access to an exhilarating motorsports experience.
Members who missed the videoconference can watch the entire presentation online now by clicking here.
Program Updates
Plenty is going on across all SCCA programs, and Cobb touched on a lot of them. For example, SCCA’s in-house MAP registration system has now supported nearly 160 events this year and served about 9,230 SCCA members, be they drivers or volunteers.
As a reminder, MAP was developed to serve as a centralized source for Membership, Licensing, Education, Sanction, and Reporting transactions; all contained within SCCA. MAP seeks a friction-free experience for members, be they event participants or organizers, and holds everything within one system. That allows the Club and all 115 Regions to consume less resources and improve efficiency.
Below is a rundown of some of the program highlights Cobb noted during the presentation.
Solo
An awesome autocross experience in Lincoln, NE, begins with the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo® Championship Finale on Aug. 30-Sept 1, 2024, with the Tire Rack SCCA CAM®/Xtreme Street/Club Spec Invitational Shootout taking place on Aug. 31. The 51st Tire Rack Solo® National Championships is then held Sept. 3-6 – all at Lincoln Airpark.
Too many fun things to mention are on tap at Solo Nats, but Cobb made special note of the Thurs., Sept. 5, Club Spec Demo Day. Also, motorsport VIPs George Silbermann (President of the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States – ACCUS) and Michael Good (President of Performance Racing Industry – PRI), are expected to be on site during the Solo Nats.
Heyward Wagner’s promotion to Vice President of Rally/Solo and Experiential Programs was also recognized during Cobb’s presentation.
Road Racing
The 10-weekend 2024 Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour is complete, and entries were up more than 10% over last year. Certainly, a highlight was the WeatherTech Chicago Region® June Sprints® at Road America, which boasted the largest non-Runoffs Road Racing event ever with 555 entries.
Additionally, Cobb mentioned Hoosier Super Tour (HST) online race broadcasts produced by DriversEye Live continue to draw fans. For 2024, there were more than 235,000 views of HST events, and more than 75,000 hours digested by race enthusiasts. In social media parlance, that resulted in more than two million “impressions” for the year.
“Hoosier Super Tour broadcasts introduce a lot of folks who maybe aren’t familiar with SCCA to who we are, what we do … and the fun to be had with SCCA Club Racing, It’s a great outreach mechanism.” Cobb noted.
Continuing with the “growth” theme, Cobb recognized the impressive performance of Spec MX-5 in its first year as a National Championship Runoffs®-eligible class. It cemented itself as the third-largest HST/U.S. Majors Tour class thanks to an average 22 cars per HST event.
“Spec MX-5 has also boosted the population of younger drivers looking to gain experience in SCCA competition and potentially climb the motorsports ladder to a professional career afterwards,” Cobb added.
Cobb also made mention of recent discussions within the Road Racing community that focused on future Runoffs schedules and car classes. It’s a complex matter, and the best way to get up to speed is learning more by clicking here.
A hearty “welcome aboard” was also offered to Sunoco, which has signed on as presenting sponsor of the 60th Anniversary Runoffs taking place at Road America on Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 2024. The newest Road Racing Department staffer was also welcomed, that being Cory Leon. He joins the team in Topeka, KS, as Assistant Manager/Senior Administrator lending a hand to Road Racing Director Jeff Barrow.
Time Trials, RallyCross, and RoadRally
The Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials National Tour Powered by Hagerty has big news on the horizon, not the least of which focuses on open-cockpit Radical cars. More big news regarding the series will be announced in the coming days at SCCA.com.
As for SCCA RallyCross®, that program has a fun new logo and National Championship event coming up Oct.17-20, 2024, nestled in the mountains of Alabama at Hollytree Off Road Park. This year’s RallyCross National Championship will also have four competition runs over three days, which is a value-added feature as compared to previous events.
“Bottom line; it’s more runs, more fun, and more time in the dirt,” Cobb said. “That is a winning trifecta.”
Cobb also noted the 2024 United States RoadRally Challenge® (USRRC), will be hosted by SCCA’s Cal Club Region Nov. 9-11, in Lancaster, CA. The ‘24 USRRC will consist of two National Tour RoadRallies and a National Course RoadRally®. Teams will be vying for points in each of the three rallies, and the top team in each class will be those with the most points at the event’s completion.
Knowledge is Power
Cobb reported the Club now has 51,603 members, not counting weekend memberships and others. That is an increase of nearly 950 compared to this time last year. Serving that constituency is SCCA Academy, the online training and development tool for those seeking volunteer specialty licenses and more.
Adoption of online education toward license certification continues to grow through SCCA Academy. As of August 2024, nearly 1,800 courses have been completed by members. Corner Marshal/F&C Training is the most robust with 780 completed tutorials.
Building on that success, the SCCA Academy team continues to work on a series of instruction modules designed as a ladder toward IMSA Flagging & Communications education. The goal before year’s end is to further devise quality coursework, which SCCA members can utilize for #funwithcars at IMSA events or perhaps beyond.
Learning has no bounds, which is why Cobb wanted everyone to mark calendars for the virtual 2025 SCCA National Convention. That event will take place online Jan. 16-24 on smartphones, computer laptops/desktops/tablets wherever you may be seated around the globe.
The 2025 SCCA National Convention theme is “Invite” – which postulates the Club can expand by actively inviting new participants and engaging in meaningful conversations that propel growth thanks to sage leadership. National Convention registration for 2025 opens Dec. 2, 2024, and it will be another free event for all to attend. Learn more here.
Cobb also reminded Region partners that quarterly conference calls will resume after Solo Nats. Region stakeholders should keep an eye out for inbox notifications or calendar invites, but important upcoming dates are Sept. 10 for Jumbo Regions, Sept. 12 for Small Regions, Sept. 17 for Medium/Large Regions, and a Dec. 10 call for all Regions.
“Regions, please make sure you have representation at these meetings,” Cobb said. “It’s important because we need to hear from you, and we’ve got important things to share. These will be important conversations.”
Notable Odds ‘n’ Ends
One special item of note is a change to the info-rich Up to Speed newsletter delivered free-of-charge via email to members each Tuesday evening. Moving forward, this weekly communication conduit carrying essential news, schedules, registration instructions, and program updates will be known as SportsCar News.
Those not receiving the free weekly edition of SportsCar News in their email inboxes should sign up by using this link. If you have signed up and are not receiving the weekly email, check your spam/junk email folders and adjust settings as necessary. If none of that works, email marketing@scca.com for help.
Last but not least, it’s election season. No, not THAT election – we’re talking about SCCA Board of Directors selection time. Those interested in a Board of Directors seat must gather 20 member signatures from your Area and submit them to the SCCA National Office prior to the Oct. 1, 2024, deadline. Learn a lot more here.
More info was offered during Cobb’s video presentation, which can be viewed in its entirety by clicking here.
