Much of SCCA’s 80-Plus Years of Success Can be Attributed to Female Leaders

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Much of SCCA’s 80-Plus Years of Success Can be Attributed to Female Leaders

Throughout Women’s History Month, we’ve been bringing you a series of articles covering the involvement of women within the Sports Car Club of America®. From autocross to road racing and beyond, women have played an integral role in this Club –without women in motorsports, SCCA would not be as great as it is today.

If you've been an SCCA® member for any length of time, you have surely noticed that there are a tremendous number of people working in the background to produce every event, every series, and every Regional and National championship. Truth is, many of the people who keep the Club’s Regions and the National organization going have been women – and while you might not know all their names, you've certainly benefitted from their work.

While no list of women contributing to SCCA can ever be complete, the list that follows of numerous SCCA Hall of Fame members is intended to give you an idea of the contributions that have been made.

As a prime example, few have given more to the Club than Patc (Patsy) Henry. Her SCCA career began with a free membership from a car dealer in 1964. When she picked up her Austin-Healey Sprite and her SCCA membership, she met Ralph Barbe, then the Nebraska Regional Executive (RE). Patc began in RoadRally and became her Region's first female RE in 1970. In addition to RoadRally, she served as crew for road racing, in autocross, and more.

Then in 1984, she was hired by the SCCA National Office as the Series Manager for Sports Renault and tasked with leading the new pro series. Her work with Sports Renault, the Playboy Endurance Series, Corvette Challenge, Neon Cup, and more stabilized SCCA’s Pro Racing division and helped to launch the careers of hundreds of professional racers. At a brainstorming session for the next evolution of production car racing, it was Patc who suggested the name “World Challenge.” She went on to serve as head of the Club Racing program and the National Championship Runoffs®, and finally ended up working for ACCUS, the American arm of the FIA. She was inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2019.

From the far southwest, Marge Binks was the Membership Chair and Chief Race Communicator for San Diego Region as far back as 1962. A license holder in virtually every specialty throughout the years, she has served as the Grid Chief for the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Long Beach and Las Vegas, as well as Race Chairman for over a hundred events, including SCCA, Formula 1, IMSA, Champ Car, and USAC. After serving as San Diego Regional Executive, she became SCCA’s first female Chairman of the National Board of Directors during her two-term stint on the SCCA Board of Directors. She was bestowed with SCCA’s highest honor, the Woolf Barnato Award, in 1999 and has also received the San Diego Region Worker of the Year award, the Wolfgang Krause Achievement Award, the Dave Morrell Award, and Cal Club’s Lifetime Achievement award. She was inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2007.

Many Runoffs competitors will recall Sue Roethel, who was Chief Steward at several of the National Championship events at Road Atlanta. Roethel is one of only two members who have earned three of the top awards in SCCA: The Woolf Barnato, Dave Morrell, and John McGill Awards. She served as a Regional leader, then a Divisional leader, as SCCA Runoffs Chief Steward, and finally as an SCCA National Office staff member in the Member and Regional Relations Department. Roethel was a member of the inaugural 2005 class of the SCCA Hall of Fame.

If you've been at the Runoffs in the last couple decades, you may have met Wilma Dunias. She has served a variety of road racing roles, including a very challenging stint serving as gatekeeper for drivers who wish to meet with the Race Director at the Runoffs. In that role, she gained a reputation as a good listener, a calming influence, and an information gatherer prior to the meeting.

Though many know Wilma and her husband Costa Dunias as road racers, the pair also served as co-Event Chairs for the 1977 Solo National Championships, with Wilma holding that position again in 1979.

Velma Boreen, who was inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2025, 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.

There are many, many more women who have been inducted into SCCA’s Hall of Fame or won some of the Club’s top awards, and we encourage you to peruse SCCA’s Hall of Fame & Awards webpage to discover more.

Meanwhile, if you’re a woman looking to get more involved in motorsports, consider applying for one of SCCA Women on Track’s 2025 scholarships. Applications are being accepted for the following scholarships through May 31, 2025:

In addition, donations to the SCCA Foundation can be earmarked for SCCA Women on Track via the Foundation’s website. More information about SCCA Women on Track can be found by heading to the groups page on SCCA.com.

Photo caption: Patc Henry is among the most accomplished leaders in SCCA history.

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