Kelley Huxtable posted some very nice convention reports on Wheel to Wheel.
I thought some Team.Net people might find a point or two of interest too.
Here is the first of four, and I expect a 5th that has not shown up yet. I'll
forward it when I see it.
--Rocky Entriken
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For those of you who didn't attend the 1999 SCCA National Convention, you
missed a great time! The San Diego Region Convention Committee and members
of the San Diego Region did a wonderful job of making us feel welcome and
showing us the best their city had to offer. (Of course, I had to stay a
couple of extra days to see more sights! <g>)
** DO NOT SHOOT THE MESSENGER ** <vbg>
This is the first in a series of my notes from the Convention. Please
understand these are the things I thought were important (or were able to
jot down as the conversation progressed) and these are just MY opinion.
Additional comments are included in brackets [].
If you wish to excerpt from them, you may. Please give proper credit and I
request a copy of your publication which contains the information. Reply
via private e-mail and I'll send my snail mail address. Thanks!
The Wednesday night welcome party was fun, albeit a little chilly. Those
from the East and Midwest were seen wearing their heavy coats which they
dutifully carried on the plane. The Californians were ready for cool
weather though ... they had tree-like heaters fueled by propane. Many
convention goers were found in little clumps around each of the heaters. No
one was brave enough to check out the pool yet.
The best quote of the evening came from a gentleman from Arizona (sorry,
I'm bad with names ...) and it was "This is like a family reunion, only you
like the family!". A great quote to start the convention as folks were
renewing old acquaintances and making new ones.
Thursday morning began with a call to order of the Annual Meeting at 8:22
AM (fortunately for many of us, that felt like a couple of hours later).
JoAnne Jensen presented Marge Binks with a beautiful flower arrangement in
recognition of Marge's work on the Convention and other programs within the
Southern Pacific Division.
Nick Craw presented the reports about SCCA Inc, PRORacing, USRRC, and SCCA
Enterprises.
Per Nick, we had a "challenging and successful year". SCCA is averaging 150
cars per national event [ed note: I think that's road racing], and the
expanded web site is averaging over 2500 hits per month. ProRally and
ProSolo have been repackaged for better marketing. Three manufacturers
(Subaru, Hyundai, and ???) are going to vie for a manufacturer's
championship in ProRally. Our membership now includes over 1000
SpeedFreakz, with a total membership peak of 55,000+ during the year. SCCA
Inc. is expected to show a $37,000 surplus.
ProRacing has increased its average number of cars to 33 entries per event.
There was a $1.7 million payout over the year. BFG and Speedvision have
joined as sponsors of World Challenge. PRORacing saw a 23% attendance
increase over the previous year. Overall, PRORacing expects to finish the
year with a loss.
USRRC is now headed by KC VanNiman. The organization made positive strides
during the year. The average number of entries is now at 30 per event.
$913,000 in purse money was paid out. There was 9 hours of live coverage at
the recent Rolex24 which showcased 78 entries. The USRRC is budgeted for a
loss this year and will hopefully announce a partner soon. [ed note:
whatever that means]
SCCA Enterprises Inc. is expected to show a profit for the third year. This
year's amout is $102,000. They have now rebuilt, dyno'd, sealed and shipped
100 engines under the "new" program. There are currenly 755 spec racers
sold. Nick presented a ceremonial final payment check to Roush Racing. Dan
Binks accepted on Roush's behalf. Also, former Treasurer Peter Hylton was
presented with a "flying pig" and a ceremonial check for the first $10,000
payment of Enterprises' loan from SCCA.
Jim Dixon (SCCA Enterprises) and KC VanNiman (USRRC) were recognized for
good work during the year.
Chuck Shapiro was next with the Treasurer's report. However, he dashed
through the numbers so quickly, I can't tell which ones are positive and
which ones are negative. So, the next installment will have the financials
in it (after I get them from a fellow conventioneer). The bottom line was a
surplus of $37,689.
ProRally - The ProRally community held 8 national events during 1998, seven
full events and one 60% event. The lowest participation was 26 cars. The
ProRally group showed increases of 21% in entries, 30% in drivers, and 18%
in licenses from 1997. The Rallycross program has taken off, and they are
innundated with sanction applications.
RoadRally - The Road Rally Board put their emphasis on the grassroots level
in 1998. They showed an increase of 4 in divisional rallys. While the
average number of cars dropped from 19 to 14 at the regional level, the
overall number of events went up and the overall number of entries
increased.
Solo Events - The number of Solo II events held in 1998 was 1157, an
increase of 77 events over 1997. The number of entries increased from an
average of 52 to 56 per event. The number of divisional events dropped from
19 to 13, with a corresponding increase in entries from 114 in 1997 to 139
in 1998. The Solo I community increased their number of entries while
decreasing the number of events. The entry range on the National Solo II
Tour was from 98 to 200 cars. There were 880 competitors at the Solo II
Nationals.
Club Racing - National racing in 1998 involved 10,250 entries, an increase
of 11% over the previous year. There were 68 national races held, averaging
151 entries per event. There was an increase of 13% in regionals [ed note:
I can't tell if that's events or entries]. We currently have 50 more
competitors (575 in 1998) than last year. In its debut national season,
Formula Mazda was the 5th most popular class. The production car classes
saw a 22% increase in popularity due to the new IT prep rules. Phil
Creighton (Atlanta Region) is the new chair of the Competition Board.
Membership - In 1998, the club saw a 2.5% membership growth from 53,022 in
January to 54,353 in December. During the year, we hit a high of 55,106.
The Member Services department processed over 40,000 renewals, 12,000 new
applications, collected $1.65 million in dues, processed license renewals
for over 10,000 drivers and 7,500 officials.
Board Elections:
Area 2 - Steve Limbert (unopposed)
Area 3 - Elect 2: Phil Mellor & KP Jones (incumbent)
Area 6 - Ron Franklin
Area 10 - Tom Campbell (unopposed)
Officers: Kathy Barnes (Area 1) - Secretary
Chuck Shapiro (Area 4) - Treasurer
Roger Eandi (Area 9) - Vice Chair
George Bovis (Area 5) - Chair
Bill Bradshaw was recognized for his six years of service on the Board as
outgoing director of area 10.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 AM.
In the next installment ...
SCCA Financials
Town Hall
RE's Town Hall (maybe)
Kelley Huxtable
Des Moines Valley Region
"Worker Bee"
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