The Sports Car Club of America has long upheld the belief that motorsport is for everyone. Central to that belief is our Welcoming Environment Statement, which affirms our commitment to providing a respectful, inclusive space for all participants—regardless of gender, gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, background, or belief.

Following concerns raised on social media a few weeks ago regarding language in the General Competition Rules (GCR), SCCA staff initiated an internal review and began working with legal counsel and human resources professionals, professional technical writers, and members at large. Concurrently, we benchmarked several national motorsports sanctioning bodies to compare structure and capture best practices.

Based on this due diligence, we have developed a language structure guide—a framework we hope to use moving forward to ensure consistent and inclusive language across all official SCCA documents. The framework centers on using role-based terms—such as Driver, Participant, or Volunteer—instead of gendered language, and supports the use of gender-neutral (they/them) pronouns where appropriate to ensure clarity, consistency, and inclusivity across all official materials.

We’ve retained an outside professional third-party resource to assist with applying the updated language throughout the GCR, ensuring it is used consistently. Once this review is complete, the proposed updates will flow to the GCR Advisory Committee, the Club Racing Board (CRB) and ultimately, the Board of Directors (BOD) for approval.

I will continue to keep the SCCA family informed on progress and timeline updates through my quarterly President’s Updates.

This is just the beginning. In the near future, we will begin formally applying the inclusive language framework to all core documents—including the Bylaws, Operations Manuals, and program rulebooks—to ensure alignment with our values and consistency across the organization.

This work isn’t about simply changing words—it’s about aligning our structure, tone, and language with the culture we’ve been building over the past several years. We know that words matter, and we’re committed to ensuring every member sees themselves reflected in the documents that guide our Club.

We appreciate the patience, input, and support of our members as we take these important steps to ensure that our documents, like our Club, are welcoming and inclusive for all.

For questions or feedback, please reach out to me at president@scca.com.

Michael Cobb
President / CEO 
Sports Car Club of America, Inc.