Author: Official

As we head into the competition season, I am reminded just how busy all of us are.  Not just the competitors who have to get ready for the upcoming season but all the behind-the-scenes folks who make the races happen.  They make the sausage, folks.  They deserve a lot of kudos for all their hard work so the rest of us can play with our cars.  No matter how you help “make the sausage”, your efforts are not forgotten.  The competitors, management of your division and regional officers salute your efforts on our behalf.  And drivers, be sure to thank those folks in person and offer a generous donation to the Worker Appreciation Fund of the events you attend.

I had even more meetings this month for a couple of reasons.  One, a new sub committee was formed under the Club Racing Board (CRB) called the Electric Vehicle Advisory Committee (EVAC) and we held our first meeting on 4/14.  Details about this will be announced later.  Two, an additional meeting was held by the CRB to focus on “strategic planning”.

• CRB on 4/6:  This was a routine meeting and was finished in less than 90 minutes (a new record during my tenure).  Nothing really exciting happened but we’ll see how the driver corps accepts the results (which can be viewed here).
• EVAC on 4/14:  Again, details to be announced later.
• CRB Strategic Planning on 4/22:  Some long-term planning discussions were held.  The Club Racing program is strong but the changing economy, Club demographics and other factors lend uncertainty for its future.  The overarching theme of “how do we make the product better” was applied to a wide variety of topics.  This will be an ongoing conversation so we’re planning on meeting monthy to discuss these issues.
• BoD on 4/26:  I’ll report on this meeting next month.
• RXB on 4/27:  I’ll report on this meeting next month.

My personal travels for race events started this month as I visited my brother in NC for a couple of days before heading to VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) for a Hoosier Super Tour (HST) event there.  Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the race was considered a “private event” by the State of Virginia.  This meant no spectators, no over crew and everyone had to be an SCCA member.  They also limited the entries to 300 plus ‘double dippers’.  It was a very well-run event with nice weather (other than the Saturday night thunderstorms with a tornado watch in nearby counties).  

I’ll be off to Pittsburgh International Race Complex (PIRC) for another HST race on 4/30-5/2 and MidOhio for an OVR Major Club Race on 5/22, 5/23.  OVR could always use more workers.  If you want to sign up, please follow this link.  To view all the SCCA events I’ll be attending this year, visit my schedule which is posted on the GLDiv website.

Speaking of the GLDiv website, I am pleased to announce that the new, revised GLDiv website is now operational.  Many congrats go to the webmaster (Rob Dietz) as he molded the new site into its present configuration.  The plan was to make this site a “one stop shopping” experience for all of our members.  It’s still a work in progress so please feel free to offer constructive criticism, high quality photos for the backgrounds, etc. so we can make sure this site helps all members with their GLDiv needs.  His email address is gldsccaweb@gmail.com.

A quick note to our F&C worker corps, we could use your help with a non-Club Racing event this summer.  Topeka is bringing a Time Trails National Tour event to GingerMan this summer (7/16-7/18).  They could use some experienced corner workers to support the green volunteers at the event.  Please reach out to the Ed Arthur (GLDiv F&C DA) if you can help out.  His email address is flagging_rocks@sbcglobal.net.  I’ll be there and am really looking forward to seeing a TT event in person.

One more quick request for our membership.  The easiest way to get in touch with you is by having up to date contact info in the SCCA database.  Please make sure the SCCA has accurate contact information for you.  Go to my.scca.com, sign in and click on the “Edit Contact Info” button in the “Profile Details” box.  If you have any trouble doing this, please do not hesitate to reach out to the membership staff in Topeka as they will be glad to help you with this.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Dayle Frame

Another busy month as we all get ready for the upcoming season.

Probably the biggest highlight of the past month was our GLDiv Spring Training meeting held on 3/7. Due to continued pandemic restrictions, the event was held remotely. Many kudos go to Val McCammon as she made all the arrangements. She had a lot of help from her husband Pat and Velma and Raleigh Boreen. The four of them acted as moderator and guided a flawless day of sessions. There were over 100 people who attended a session during the day.

Work continues on the revised GLDiv website. If you are an RE, Race Chair, etc. and want your event posted on the divisional website’s calendar, please send the pertinent details (date, location, contact person, registration link) to Rob Dietz (gldsccaweb@gmail.com). He’s the webmaster and will be able to collate the divisional events into the calendar.

The usual monthly meetings occurred in March. It started off with the Club Racing Board (CRB) meeting on 3/2. There was the usual agenda of 100+ letters that the CRB dealt with…..most fairly mundane. The biggest item was the introduction of the tentative schedule for the Runoffs. Eric Prill said a survey of drivers indicated that over 1000 will attend the Runoffs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) this year. This puts pressure on them to generate a schedule that meets a wide variety of criteria (multi-class drivers, track limits, daylight hours, etc.). It has since been released and can be found here. There’s nothing quite like IMS and I know I’ll be there. I had the pleasure of racing there back in 2017 when the Runoffs first visited the facility. Please consider attending in some form (worker, spectator, crew, etc.) as I am sure you will have an excellent time. It’ll be held from 9/28 to 10/3 and other details about the event can be found here.

We had a BoD meeting on 3/22. As usual, there wasn’t anything too flashy that came from this meeting. We discussed the financial report submitted by Jeff Dahnert. Things look pretty good so far this year. The steps taken last spring as the pandemic was taking hold have continued to bear fruit. The President (Mike Cobb) submitted his update to us a week beforehand and we discussed that a bit during the meeting. There were a couple of “hush, hush” items that I cannot comment on at this time. Nothing too terribly earth shattering and I’ll let you in on it when the time is appropriate.

One nice thing to come from the meeting is that we are planning on meeting face to face in late July (7/30 – 8/1). By then, it will have been well over a year since that occurred. We’ll be heading to Kansas City for this, and I can’t wait to see my fellow Board members. I’ve only met four of them over the years (Albin, Dowie, Isley and Jankovskis) so this will be quite exciting for me. Another BoD meeting will take place in December (12/3 – 12/5) and it will also be held in Kansas City.

The next night (3/23), there was a RallyCross Board (RXB) meeting. This group is diligently working on expanding and raising the profile of the program. Among other things, they are working on coordinating their National Championships which will be held in our backyard. They’ll be held in Chillicothe, OH on 10/15-10/17. Details about the event can be found here.

On the next evening (yes…..I had SCCA meetings three nights in a row), we held the first meeting of a committee dedicated to electric vehicles (EVs) and how they will be folded into every level of all competition programs within SCCA. We are charged (get it…charged about EVs….I know, don’t quit my day job) with not only incorporating EVs into competition but also the safety and liability aspects of bringing them into the fold. The SCCA wants to be the leader for the current (yet another pun) and next generation of automobile enthusiast and EVs will definitely be a part of that future. As an EV owner and competitor, I am VERY excited to be in on the ground floor as we move into this realm.

Events of the past month have had an impact on my summer schedule. Here’s my revised (and still tentative) schedule:

• 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
• 7/23 – 7/25: Pro Solo @ Toledo
• 730 – 8/1: BoD meeting in Kansas City, MO
• 8/21, 8/22: WMR @ Grattan (Major)
• 9/6: WMR Solo @ Grattan
• 9/24 – 10/3: Runoffs @ Indy
• 10/15 – 10/17: RallyCross Nationals in Chillicothe, OH
• 10/24: WMR Solo @ Grattan
• 10/31: MBR Covered Bridges Road Rally
• 12/3 – 12/5: BoD meeting in Kansas City, MO

Woof! This will keep me busy. See you at the track.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Dayle Frame

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

It’s time to register for this year’s free Spring Training 2021 Virtual Zoom experience on Saturday, March 6. Register on MSR to get the Zoom link and the recordings for later viewing: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/gld-virtual-spring-training-2021-zoom-meeting-scca-great-lakes-division-283923
We’ll start with a one hour Ask-The-Director session with Dayle Frame, BoD rep. Then, it’s a one-hour Solo session (Ray Jason, Raleigh & Velma Boreen), followed by a short road race preview with Exec Steward Duane Harrington. Be sure to join the 1.5 hour Road Rally Safety Training and a few specialty meetings, including a GLD RE meeting, too. (schedule being finalized)

When you register, you’ll also get info about the Test & Tune Pre-Zoom Session on Wed, March 3, at 7:00 pm. Check your link, learn tips, and laugh with friends and your host Raleigh Boreen!

Because SCCA’s online National Convention covered so much already, the focus of this year’s short meetings will be GLD-centered. Register on MSR to get the Zoom link and the recordings for later viewing: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/gld-virtual-spring-training-2021-zoom-meeting-scca-great-lakes-division-283923

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us using contact us form on our website, or on Facebook.