Nearly one year ago, Jeff Barrow joined the SCCA® Staff as the Director of Road Racing. With an extensive motorsports background that included working at Staubli, Honda, Ligier, and more – not to mention his personal racing history with the Club – Barrow’s hiring brought a new perspective to SCCA’s Road Racing department. All of that said, while Barrow was experienced within the industry as a professional and enthusiast, there was little way he could be completely prepared for everything the SCCA – and its membership – could throw his way.
To see where things stood one year ago for Barrow, and how he sees things today, we sat down with him to get his perspective on the past, present, and future of SCCA Road Racing.
Philip Royle: What surprised you most when you started working at SCCA? What was the biggest task back then, and how have you been working to overcome those hurdles?
Jeff Barrow: The biggest surprise was the shear amount of work the SCCA Staff and volunteers put in. I have been on the commercial side of the industry for most of my career and was blown away with the complexities of the operations side of things at the Club. The biggest task was just getting my arms around the processes and administrative side of things, and that still is high on the priority list. We just filled our open assistant manager admin role, and that will be a huge plus to our effectiveness and efficiencies.
PR: Shortly after your hiring, the concept of “Bonus Majors” was introduced, offering Formula F, Formula Vee®, and Formula 600 racers a place to compete on the National level and earn a qualification for the National Championship Runoffs®, all the while alleviating some of the time constraints felt during a regular Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour and U.S. Majors Tour® weekend. The first Bonus Majors took place on Feb. 8-9, 2025, at Sebring. Did the event live up to your expectations, and the expectations of the racers?
JB: From an administrative perspective, the Sebring Bonus Majors weekend offered a great experience to the racers, providing FF, FV, and F600 drivers with very similar track time found during a typical Majors. We had several great class ambassadors step up in these classes and help promote and support the concept of the Bonus Majors program, and we really appreciate the effort they put in. Tony Steffanelli was instrumental in helping get 11 FFs to the first event in Sebring. That said, we simply do not know what the pluses and minuses will be until we run a few events, but the bottom line is we want to provide opportunities for the small formula group to race at the same bucket-list tracks as the rest of the Super Tour events. One thing I would like to clear up is there are indeed 2 races, just like our HST events, and both races count towards points championships.
PR: Following meetings with the Club Racing Board (CRB) and SCCA Staff, Chicago Region opted for a single-race, double-counted race format for the 2025 June Sprints, allowing the event to fit the FF, FV, and F600 small formula race group into the weekend. Why couldn't the June Sprints run the same schedule as last year to maintain a double race event?
JB: Including all of the same run groups as 2024 has proven to put a massive strain on the events, and that can negatively affect everyone. That’s why the decision was ultimately made to not include the small formula run group at the larger Super Tours. We’ll have the same number of run groups, but with some different class combinations to hopefully cut down on the cleanup and delays we’ve seen the last few years. Put simply, the 2024 June Sprints Hoosier Super Tour at Road America did not go well. This is a very popular event that traditionally has huge fields and packed run groups. With the Runoffs at Road America and the recent track repaving, many drivers wanted to check out the track in 2024; the result led to no room for event delays. Then, unfortunately, mother nature set in, creating big problems with multiple incidents all at once that led to cleanup delays. For these and various other reasons, the result was some sessions were cut short, and the event suffered. No one wants to see that happen again, so Chicago Region asked that SCCA consider a single-race format for the 70th running in 2025. The CRB, Board liaisons, and SCCA Staff discussed the request, and the decision was made to allow an exception if that’s what the Region decided. The Region chose the single race format as this year’s solution. Doubled with the expanded use of the Flagtronics electronic flagging system at Super Tours, we’re setup to not repeat what happened at last year’s June Sprints.
PR: By mid-season, the Flagtronics electronic flagging system will be required in all race cars at Hoosier Super Tours. This is a rollout that began during the 2023 Runoffs and has since extended to being required at the Runoffs and most of the Super Tours this season. How is the rollout going, both from a driver and volunteer perspective?
JB: Safety will always be our number one priority, and because of that, Flagtronics is a valuable addition to the SCCA Road Racing program. Unfortunately, it’s the kind of system where drivers and officials won’t see the true benefits until everyone has the equipment. I would recommend that drivers order and install their units as soon as possible, as it takes a little bit of time to install the Flagtronics unit correctly and get used to it. Extending the effectiveness of the system, Road America will have their Light Panels in place by the June Sprints, and the Flagtronics system ties into that. Furthermore, there’s a big push with other marquee tracks to incorporate Light Panels as well.
PR: Since safety is number one, let’s look to the future of racer education and schooling. The number of Region-led Drivers’ Schools has been decreasing over the years, making it more difficult for drivers to enter the sport with adequate training. At the 2025 SCCA National Convention, there were several sessions that talked about SCCA’s Race Experience program, which has the potential to be both a Drivers’ School and a competition group all wrapped into one. What level of training will drivers receive during a Race Experience weekend?
JB: The Race Experience is many things, one of which is an optional path towards gaining a license, and a really exciting one. Race Experience events provide valuable track time that is required to gain a competition license, while at the same time offering a barrier to entry that is low enough for many people to achieve. Yes, participants still have to have access to a race car that meets the GCR’s safety standards along with all of the required driver safety equipment, but that’s it. The car doesn’t need to be built for a specific SCCA race class, nor does the driver need to have filled out any novice paperwork or had a physical prior to the event. This adapts the “pro school” model for the Regions, incorporating classroom time and instruction with the actual wheel-to-wheel racing that drivers want. At the same time, Race Experiences allow opportunities for existing racers – or racers from other sanctioning bodies – to enter an SCCA event without being required to get a new physical or updating their race car. Race Experiences can be held as standalone weekends or dropped into a Regional weekend as a run group. I encourage all Region leaders to check out the Race Experience page on SCCA.com, and submit a question if they’re interested.
