Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the SCCA® Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame’s class of 2025 includes seven distinguished individuals who helped shape the Club into what it is today. From motorsports efforts that began before the Club’s 1944 founding to a couple who are active to this very day, the SCCA Hall of Fame class of 2025 runs the gamut of motorsports history through the ages, spanning everything from professional road racing to autocross and beyond.
Raleigh and Velma Boreen, Miles and Sam Collier, Bob Dowie, Alex Keller, and Ken Miles will officially join the SCCA Hall of Fame during the 2025 SCCA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which takes place on Jan. 17, 2025, as part of the 2025 SCCA National Convention. The presentation will be streamed on SCCA’s YouTube channel, with members and non-members alike encouraged to view the ceremony.
Below is a summary of accomplishments made by those who will be inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame as the class of 2025.
Raleigh and Velma Boreen
If there was a definition for “SCCA power couple” in the dictionary, you would find next to it Raleigh and Velma Boreens’ picture. The Boreen’s involvement in the SCCA began in Timing & Scoring at Central Division Club races, with their efforts extending to autocross, the SCCA Foundation, SCCA Hall of Fame, and much more.
Club members since 1976, the Boreens discovered the Solo program at the encouragement of SCCA Hall of Famer Roger Johnson, and have been deeply involved in the Central Division and Great Lakes Division Solo Series for over 30 years. They served as Solo Nationals Event Chiefs for decades, and despite their retirement from those duties, they still assist.
Raleigh has served as the banquet MC at numerous Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships, SCCA National Conventions, and Regional and Divisional functions, making those gatherings more fun for the members through his friendly professional manner. Raleigh has also been one of the premier event announcers over the last several decades, with the emphasis on making every driver feel important. At many of those same gatherings, Velma was working behind the scenes tending to operational matters.
The Boreens have been true ambassadors of the SCCA at Formula SAE events for nearly a quarter century, acting as the MC and announcer for dynamic events and, more importantly, presenting a friendly and professional image of the SCCA to auto industry notables. At those same events, Velma was organizing and providing information to help Raleigh “tell the story.”
The Boreens were an integral part of the Region Development Project, which provided materials, mentorships, and administrative structure to assist in Region success. One of their most impactful programs was one that began life as a Region Development tool, incorporating the Pro Touring (muscle car) phenomenon into Region events under the banner of Classic American Muscle (CAM). Many SCCA Regions quickly saw a large number of CAM entries, with the autocross category becoming one of the largest at SCCA Solo events nationwide.
Velma took center stage as co-founder and co-chair of SCCA Women on Track. Today, there are Women on Track programs in all of SCCA’s competition areas. She has developed a well-defined community of women that has resulted in significantly more females participating at a more involved and engaged level.
Beyond that, Raleigh is deeply involved in the SCCA Foundation in a variety of roles, including currently serving on the Board of Directors, while Velma has been heavily involved in the SCCA Hall of Fame, serving on two committees, as well as serving as the secretary for the Foundation Board.
Raleigh and Velma were honored with the SCCA Solo Cup in 2008, with Raleigh being presented with the Club’s Woolf Barnato Award in 2012
The Collier Brothers
Miles and Sam loved race cars – they even built their own racetrack on their upstate New York property. They also introduced the MG brand to America and raced them all over the world. Founding the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) in 1933, they participated in local gymkanas, hill climbs, and road races at tracks such as Bridgehampton, Roosevelt Raceway, Watkins Glen, and even at the 1939 World’s Fair.
ARCA was dissolved at the beginning of WWII, but the brothers reappeared along with Cameron Argetsinger, Bill Milliken, Fred Wacker, and Briggs Cunningham to establish and race in a new sanctioning body: the SCCA. Because these folks were greatly involved with ARCA before the war, SCCA was looked upon by many at the time as an outgrowth of the original ARCA pre-war race sanctioning group.
Thanks to their close association with people such as Argetsinger, Milliken, Wacker, Cunningham, and other well-known racing names of the period, the brothers used their established networks from ARCA for insurance, classing, and regulations to organize and stage SCCA races.
In 1950, the brothers traveled and participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans to promote the SCCA and road racing in America. Sam also worked with Alec Ulmann to establish the inaugural Sebring endurance race, at that time a six-hour race. In his book, “The Sebring Story,” Ulmann gives credit to the brothers, especially Sam, for the service they gave to the sport.
They are also recognized by the North American Motorsports Pages, Hemmings, and the history archives of Watkins Glen (to name a few) to have greatly advanced road racing in America.
Sam was driving in the Watkins Glen Grand Prix in 1950 when he crashed in a borrowed Ferrari owned by Briggs Cunningham, passing away from the injuries. Miles died a few years later from polio.
Bob Dowie
Bob Dowie was an impressive 36-year SCCA member with an equally impressive record of service to the Club. Through the years, Dowie held a Divisional Scrutineer license as well as a Competition License, where he competed in GT-5 and GT-Lite. For 10 years, he served on the Club Racing Board (CRB), with many of those years serving as the CRB chairman. After departing the CRB, Dowie ran for Area 1 Director on the Club’s Board of Directors, serving two full terms from 2016-’21.
Dowie’s involvement with the SCCA began as a spectator in the early 1970s. He then became involved, not surprisingly, by helping racers. After opening his own repair shop in 1980, he then decided he wanted to race.
Always willing to bring new people into the Club through programs like road racing, Track Night in America, Solo, flagging, and more, Dowie, who passed away in mid-2023, is remembered as a fair and valued resource to various Club boards and officials, as well as any member who might ask for his opinion or assistance.
“Being involved with Club Racing for so many years, I’m not sure how I would describe myself,” Dowie once said in an article in SCCA’s SportsCar magazine. “I think I’m a racer first, but I’m also concerned with the nuts and bolts of how the Club works, and I truly enjoyed the decade I spent on the Club Racing Board. Folks ask how I handled being in such a thankless position for 10 years. The fact is that it really isn’t thankless. Serving on the CRB puts you in the position to make positive changes in the program. Yes, you take some heat from members who felt you are not considering their point of view, but you have to keep in mind how passionate our racers are and not take it personally. Yeah, it was lots of work, but if you think about it, how bad is it that you spend a few hours a month on phone calls talking about racecars and racing?”
Dowie received SCCA’s John McGill Award in 2012 and the Woolf Barnato Award the following year.
Alex Keller
Alex Keller began his love affair with racing and the SCCA as a young attorney in Denver. He followed a typical course, driving an Alfa Romeo in races and hill climbs, as well as assuming leadership positions in the Colorado Region. What was not typical was his vision for growing our sport.
Keller was a principle in building Continental Divide Raceway, the first permanent road course in its area. This facility became the anchor for motorsports in the Rocky Mountain Division, hosting both amateur and professional SCCA events. He also was a driving force for creating professional formula car road racing in the United States with the SCCA Grand Prix Championship series. He then joined SCCA’s Board of Governors, where his vision of the sport flourished.
First elected to the SCCA Board of Governors in 1966, Keller became Vice-Chair the next year and between 1969 and 1975 served six terms as Chairman.
One of Keller’s big accomplishments was to move the Club from being a collection of Regions with greatly different membership requirements and racing standards to a national organization with uniform practices and Regional bylaws. At the time, the SCCA had roughly 16,000 members, with nearly one third of them competition license holders.
While Chairman, Keller was central to the establishment of the SCCA Professional Racing management structure, including the policies allowing the Club’s Executive Director to directly sanction events with tracks and promotors. He also was a strong voice for amateur racing, which included the establishment of the Showroom Stock classes. He recognized that the Club’s strength was based on the membership’s participation.
Keller also championed national Stewarding standards, including establishing and serving as Chairman of the National Court of Appeals, which was intended to assure fairness and compliance with the GCR. He was an active Steward working everything from the smallest Regional races to being the Chief Steward of premier U.S. motorsport events. His reputation for competence and fairness put him in great demand.
The late 1960s and early ’70s were a time of awakening for racing safety. Regions were not guided by standardized safety requirements for track design or safety of workers and spectators. Regions were free to organize an event at any venue they could secure access to. As a result, workers operated at track edge, spectators were close to the tracks in unprotected areas, and dangerous obstacles in high impact areas were common. Under Keller’s leadership, the Club established new requirements for roll bars, seatbelts, helmets, fire suits, and many other improvements. He also championed new standards for road courses, including a certification process that included representatives from the SCCA, insurance brokers, and local Regions. Taken together, his work stabilized the SCCA’s insurance market and made the Club a leader in motorsport safety and insurance coverage. The Club’s current GCR requirements are largely based on that work.
Keller received SCCA’s Woolf Barnato award in 1974 and is a member of the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Ken Miles
Ken Miles entered the West Coast racing scene in the 1950s as a driver and fabricator – this was before the formation of SCCA’s Cal Club Region. Although he drove and won many races in Shelby Mustangs and Cobras, his big wins in the 1966 Sebring 12 Hour and the 24 Hour race in Daytona in a Shelby GT40 was the lead into the 24 Hour Le Mans race that solidified his name in sports car history. Carroll Shelby recognized his value to the sport and employed him to promote the Shelby brand and, ultimately, SCCA.
Those racing exploits were portrayed in the 2019 motion picture “Ford v Ferrari,” bringing his exploits to life for those unfamiliar with his racing success.
California played a key role in America’s car culture, and while various types of racing was part of that, road racing’s presence was minimal. People like Miles attracted enthusiasts from the traditional hot rodding and drag racing culture in the 1950s.
Miles was outspoken and brash about the sport, and through his exploits, he became one of the main attractions in Southern California road racing. With this following, he became a cult hero in the sport which later helped make the California Sports Car Club (called Cal Club Region once it joined SCCA) a road racing powerhouse.
Miles was elected three times as president of the California Sports Car Club and had a very important influence in the California road racing scene as an administrator and organizer. Prior to California Sports Car Club becoming an SCCA Region, the SCCA had a reputation of being somewhat exclusive. Miles, meanwhile, was all about inclusion, welcoming drivers from other organizations and encouraging new drivers to participate, even assisting Dan Gurney in getting his start in racing.
One of the stipulations in Cal Club’s ascendance was that the SCCA adopt Cal Club’s car preparation rules. It was a game-changer, opening the door of what had been a gentleman’s sport to a plethora of after-market suppliers, car preparation specialists, and engine builders.
Miles’s voice and influence continued unchecked as he became a multiple year Board member of Cal Club Region. As a well-known driver, his reputation helped to bring his followers under the SCCA umbrella, establishing Cal Club as the racing organization for those who were interested in road racing as a spectator, sponsor, or driver.
Miles set speed records at Bonneville, raced in Nassau Speed Weeks races, and Le Mans. He raced his own designed and built cars as well as Porsches, MGs, and more, but when he began racing Shelby’s Mustangs and Cobras, his fame escalated. Through his partnership with Shelby, driving and designing Ford products and the successful Ford GT40s, Miles brought attention to SCCA and road racing across the country. At Daytona, at Sebring, and certainly at Le Mans, he was recognized by his peers as a great driver, designer, and fabricator.
Unfortunately, shortly after the Le Mans race in 1966, while testing the “J” car, which was to be the successor to the GT40, Miles was killed during a testing accident. In 2001, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the sport, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Photo: (Clockwise, from top left) Velma Boreen, Raleigh Boreen, Miles Collier, Sam Collier, Bob Dowie, Alex Keller, Ken Miles
