As my final year as Chairman of the SCCA® Board of Directors draws to a close, I’d like to recognize some of the many Club members who helped me during my time as a Director, review the many changes that have taken place over the past six years, and share thoughts on changes yet to come.

Thanks to the members of Area 5/Central Division that elected me to the Board of Directors in 2018. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you and all SCCA members. Thanks to all the members that have reached out with comments and suggestions during my time on the Board. Although you may not have received the responses that you hoped for, your feedback was heard and considered. For those members who choose to vent their frustrations on social media, I hope you find another activity that brings you joy. Please spend more time on that activity and less pounding the keyboard. We will all be better off.

Thanks to all the volunteers that serve within the Club and make it possible for all of us to have fun with cars. Thanks to SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb for his leadership and the SCCA National Staff for their dedication and service to the Club. Too often our volunteers and staff don’t receive the credit for the work that they do and are abused on social media for things that are outside of their control.

Many thanks to prior Board Chairmen Lee Hill, John Walsh, and Jerry Wannarka for their valuable advice. I will always be grateful for the perspective you provided on issues that arose during my time as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of SCCA Ventures. Thanks to all the Directors who have served with me the past six years. Special thanks to the guidance provided by Arnie Coleman and the late Bob Dowie when I first joined the Board. I’m very pleased to see Bob being added to the Hall of Fame. Thanks to KJ Christopher for his long service as Treasurer and insightful comments on financial management and organizational structure. The Club is much stronger today than when you joined the Board. You are directly responsible for that. Thanks to Dayle Frame for founding and leading the Electric Vehicle Advisory Committee (EVAC) along with his work as a liaison to the CRB. You have helped the Club prepare for the future in multiple ways. Last, and definitely not least, thanks to Steve Strickland for his valuable advice and work these past four years as Vice Chairman. I could not have found a better partner in leading the Board.

Changes Lead to Improvements

As for the changes that have taken place during the past six years, a major positive has been the improvement in the Club’s financial position. An important contributor to this was the restructuring of SCCA Pro Racing, in particular exiting its role as a promoter of events and shifting to a focus on sanctioning and licensing.

Rapid and agile response to the COVID-19 pandemic was also critical. The Board met twice per week during the height of the shutdown to review the ever changing governmental guidelines and revised financial projections prepared by Mike Cobb and staff. Hard decisions were required to keep the Club afloat. Activities were cancelled, often with short notice. Some members of staff were furloughed, others worked for no pay. Without any exaggeration I can say that the work and sacrifice by the staff during this period saved the Club.

Many lessons were learned during the pandemic, and SCCA became more efficient as a result. The Board of Directors meets primarily via Zoom now, with only two in-person meetings per year, saving on travel costs. The virtual SCCA National Convention, begun out of necessity during the pandemic, has proven to have a broader reach and a much lower cost than in-person National Conventions. Some of the cost savings have been reinvested in the Club through support of Divisional Conventions. While membership initially favored a return to the in-person format for the National Convention, a substantial and growing majority now prefer the virtual format.

Another factor contributing to greater efficiency is continuous effort to automate and consolidate functions. The development of the Member Account Portal (MAP) simplified the membership renewal process for both members and staff. Prior to the development of MAP, I received three versions of my membership card each year: One when I renewed my membership, a second when I renewed my competition license, and a third when I signed my annual waiver at the track. Now I take care of all three in one visit to MAP and I receive one membership card. It costs less to generate and ship one card rather than three. Perhaps more important than direct cost savings is that membership and waiver data are now up to date, accurate, and can be easily accessed and searched by staff and volunteers. Building, literally and figuratively, on the success of MAP, staff has spent the past two years building out the ability to register for events. Last year, registration for all Track Night in America® Driven by Tire Rack and Time Trials events was conducted entirely through the SCCA. This insures better compliance with waiver and membership requirements. It also provides greater insight into what types of cars are growing in popularity and what cars are not. This is information that external registration systems, to this point, have been unwilling to share.

The pivot of SportsCar from print to digital delivery has improved the Club’s efficiency on multiple levels. Eliminating printing and shipping of physical copies saved the Club hundreds of thousands of dollars. These savings have been, and will continue to be, reinvested in the Club, funding a redesign of the SCCA.com website as well as ongoing costs for producing the digital version of SportsCar. In addition to saving money, the shift to digital also results in more timely delivery of information. Rather than waiting weeks after an event to receive printed recaps, stories can often be shared in real time as events are occurring. A number of long-time members had reservations about the elimination of the printed version of SportsCar. It was a difficult decision for the Board. Like all of the Board’s decisions, it had to be made in the best interest of the Club as a whole.

Less visible but equally important, the Club’s efficiency has been and continues to be improved through changes in organizational structure and governance documents. During 2020, the Bylaws of SCCA Ventures were amended to provide the SCCA President direct authority and responsibility for SCCA’s for-profit subsidiaries: SCCA Pro Racing and SCCA Enterprises.

More recently, the Board of Directors revised the SCCA Operations Manual to require that each program board include a National Staff member to ensure greater awareness and cooperation on meeting the needs of each program. A similar effort is currently under way for the SCCA Foundation. In this case, the Foundation Bylaws are being amended to require that SCCA Board liaisons to the Foundation be full voting members of the Foundation Board. The intent is to ensure greater awareness and coordination on Foundation activities. To improve the functioning of the SCCA Board, the Governance Committee recently completed a comprehensive update of the Directors Handbook. The Executive Committee updates and delivers an orientation presentation to new Directors each year. Central to the orientation is the message that Directors must act in the best interest of the entire Club rather than any particular group of members.

The Club has made great strides in communicating with members. SportsCar News provides weekly updates on SCCA activities via email. The marketing staff generates content that is shared on several social media platforms. Mike Cobb delivers a quarterly update presentation to the full membership. He and members of the National Staff also hold quarterly interactive Zoom meetings with Region leaders. With assistance from staff, the Board of Directors has worked to educate the membership on the Board’s role and how to become a Director. These topics have been addressed in sessions at the SCCA National Convention as well as articles on the SCCA.com website.

The Club has also made great strides in fostering a welcoming environment for members and guests. A welcoming environment statement and code of conduct were added to SCCA’s Operations Manual in 2019. Video presentations and FAQ documents detailing acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are available on SCCA.com along with a hotline number and a complaint form to report questionable behavior. Each report is investigated by SCCA staff. Most result in the counseling of individuals by staff to adjust behavior. Some are advanced to the Board of Directors with recommendations for action ranging from suspension of membership to expulsion from the Club.

The Steps That Come Next

Where do we go from here?

Information technology will continue to be a high priority. The Board has authorized the hiring of an Information Technology Director who will supervise efforts to rebuild SCCA.com with enhanced capabilities. The IT Director will also work to expand existing automation of tasks and data collection, with a priority on event registration.

The restructuring of the SCCA Road Racing program will continue with further consolidation of National Championship Runoffs® classes to occur in 2026. Additional classes may lose their Runoffs eligibility. Classes that have lost their Runoffs eligibility may return if they succeed in increasing participation at U.S. Majors Tour® events. New unforeseen challenges will certainly appear.

I am confident that the SCCA Board of Directors, led by its new Chairman Bob Crawford, is ready for whatever lies ahead. As for me, I will be taking an advisory role within SCCA Ventures and spending a lot more time racing my Spec Racer® Fords.

See you at the track!