Member Profile

John Erich (Rick) Pfeiffer, SCCA member #129028, is happy to call North Carolina Region home, but like so many others, he did not start out here.  He did not even start out in the SCCA.  His introduction to sports car competition was when a neighbor, who was a member of the Staten Island Sports Car…

Tim Lyons is well-known among SCCA racers in the Southeast for the roaring red-and-white Mustang he drives in GT1. He’s been a member of the SCCA for over 45 years, but he hasn’t always been a high-horsepower guy. Well, he has, but his cars haven’t. He started autocrossing in a ’64 TR4 while in the Army down in Ft. Hood, Texas.

Question: What do autocrosses, hill climbs, drag races, sprint car races, NASCAR races, SCCA and IMSA sports car races, and measured-mile speed events, all have in common besides cars? Answer: Stephen Shepherd as a major competitor, and sometimes, the victor.

In 2009 NCR presented Jerry Pell with a Lifetime Achievement award for his services to the Club. That’s rather amazing considering that prior to 1990 he’d never been a member, let alone raced a car. In fact, prior to 1990, Jerry’s only connection to sports cars was that he once owned a pretty little ‘57 MGA. It wasn’t even his daily driver, Jerry said.

November 11, 1949 – August 20, 2013

According to the National Office, Phil Hennrich joined the North Carolina Region on April 1, 1974, and from all accounts he volunteered to make it a success right from the get-go. Sam Fouse and Dan Robson, who joined about 18 months later, have said that Phil was the first member they ever met. He was setting up an autocross course in Raleigh, and introduced himself to them when they showed up as newbies, eager to learn the ropes. Within six months of Phil’s joining, he became the guy who towed the autocross trailer to events in Raleigh. Between events, that trailer, with all the cones and timing equipment, lived with him at his mother’s house. Later it would be joined by a race car or two, and all the Region’s radios for use at races.

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It was almost 50 years ago that Fred McKinney joined the NC Region, but he was involved even before then, autocrossing and working races at VIR, Roebling Road, Upper Marlboro, MD, and anywhere else he could manage. Always a busy guy, he joined the Club in 1966, the same year he graduated from NC State, and he got inducted into the Navy for a tour in Vietnam. But before going overseas, he worked as a paddock marshal at VIR (a member of the “goon squad” whose job it was to keep drunk college kids from getting out on the track) and as a corner worker.

Hayden Beatty is one of North Carolina Region’s founding fathers. In 1955, 16 members of the Sports Car Club of North Carolina petitioned the SCCA to become the North Carolina Region and Hayden was one of those.

Celebrating her 45^th anniversary with the SCCA, Bobby (Roberta) Champlin, SCCA member #2741, has been an active participant. She’s been a volunteer at many a race track, but local folks will remember her best for her smiling face on the Grid, or helping out at Registration and with hospitality duties at the Louella Cook Memorial SEDIV Double National or Double SARRC at Roebling Road. That’s no surprise since Louella was one of Bobby’s best friends and an active Club member when Bobby first joined up, back in the day.

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The “Os”, an Ode

Just as the title infers, Mo and Sam Overstreet were and are classic. My personal F&C life was enhanced in 1990 when I worked my first NC Region race at Rockingham, just after moving from the S. Florida area. That first race for me welcomed and made many new friends, which top of the list have become “The O’s”.