With the racing season looming on the horizon, February started getting “real”. Schedules for Club Racing, Pro and Champ Tour Solo, Track Night in America, etc. were coalescing and my summer schedule could start to gel around those dates. Preparation continued for GLDiv Spring Training meeting and I sat in on a few more SCCA Convention sessions and various other meetings.
My tentative schedule for the summer looks like this (for now):
- 4/29-5/2: STC @ PIRC (Super Tour)
- 5/22, 5/23: OVR @ MidOhio (Major)
- 6/4-6/6: Champ Tour Solo @ Grissom
- 6/19, 6/20: WMR @ Grattan (Double Regional)
- 7/16-7/18: Time Trails National Tour @ GingerMan
- 7/24, 7/25: SBR/DET @ GingerMan (Major)
- 730-8/1: Pro Solo @ Wurtsmith
- 8/21, 8/22: WMR @ Grattan (Major)
- 9/6: WMR Solo @ Grattan
- 9/24-10/3: Runoffs @ Indy
- 10/31: MBR Covered Bridges Road Rally
That should keep me busy and off the streets causing havoc. Obviously, this could change for any number of reasons (C-19, weather, “honey do” list, etc.) but I’ll do my best to represent our division at as many different types of events as possible. I need to throw in a Rally Cross event or two as well. If I have time, I may slide over to Lincoln, NE and visit the Solo Nationals…..I’ve never been and I would really like to see this event in person.
By now you should have seen some emails from Val McCammon about the GLDiv Spring Training meeting. She is doing a fantastic job at herding the cats and coordinating this event. You can register for the event through motorsportreg.com (MSR) at this Link (https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/gld-virtual-spring-training-2021-zoom-meeting-scca-great-lakes-division-283923) . Reach out to her via email (pyramid@bluebirdview.com) if you have any questions.
I am also starting to gain some traction in my “Ask the Director” appearances at regional meetings. These are so much fun and this is one of the few upsides to the pandemic. There’s no way I could visit Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, Louisville, Charleston, etc. if these meetings were held in person……but in our new virtual world, it’s as easy as logging into my office PC.
To that end, I was invited to sit in on the NEOhio Region virtual meeting on 2/2. As the convention was going on that evening, their meeting had to wrap up by 8p. This meant my portion was pretty short. But it was productive and that’s all that matters. I look forward to visiting with them at future meetings.
I followed up the NEOhio meeting by sitting in on a CRB meeting later that evening. There was a lot of discussion about Miata front hubs. And since the Miata can compete in so many classes, this was germane to a wide variety of competitors. There were also dozens of other rules debated. For info on what was finalized and promulgated, visit the latest Fastrack update here (https://www.scca.com/pages/cars-and-rules).
I sat in on my first Budget, Finance and Risk management committee meeting on 2/4. This was a very short meeting (15 minutes?) hosted by the Chairman (K.J. Christopher) to let us know about a budgeting issue that had popped up. Nothing serious but he wanted to let the rest of us know about it. I’d try to explain it but I’m only a chemist and I haven’t been allowed near the home checkbook for 30+ years..
We had a BoD meeting on 2/22. It was pretty straightforward with no fires to put out. We were re-introduced to Jeff Dahnert. He is the new financial guru for the Club. As a past President, he certainly knows his way around the “ins and outs” of the SCCA. He gave us a brief overview of the financial status of the Club. Considering all we’ve been through in the past year, the National Staff has done a GREAT job responding to the situation. We briefly discussed and ultimately OK’d one minor rule change for Club Racing (FYI…..I voted for it). We are still trying to coordinate a face to face meeting during the summer.
I also sat in on a RXB meeting on 2/23. The team was working on several ideas on how to grow the sport. They discussed their rules updates, heard from various committees (RallySprint, National Championship, Divisional Stewards, Growth & Development, etc.). They reviewed the presentations made during the SCCA Convention. Everyone was very pleased with the event and the turnout.
March will be busy with a CRB meeting on 3/2, the GLDiv Spring Training meeting on 3/7, a BoD meeting on 3/22 and an RXB meeting on 3/23. I’m sure other things will pop up too.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Dayle Frame
