Meet the Candidates 2020

December 2, 2020

Each year, the NC Region has 4 office vacancies to fill on the Board of Directors. This year, the offices are Assistant Regional Executive, Treasurer and two (2) Member-at-Large seats. Those elected will serve for 2021 & 2022. Below are the candidates for each office with a description of responsibilities as defined in the Region’s Bylaws.

 

Assistant Regional Executive

“In the absence of the Regional Executive, the duties of that office shall be assumed by the Assistant Regional Executive. Other duties are as provided for in the Bylaws or described in the Operations Manual.”

Blair Deffenbaugh is running for Asst. RE unopposed.

Hi, my name is Blair Deffenbaugh. At 29 years old, I have been a member of this club for nearly 30 years. I have been active in the club from the time I could walk and talk. I started out in timing and scoring, gaining a divisional license with eligibility for a national license. As soon as I reached the age, I went out and started corner working and not long after that I earned my competition license. I am still an active driver, and I have been a Member-at-Large on the NCR Board of Directors for more than 6 years. I am now looking to move up, and take on more responsibility as Assistant Regional Executive.

As ARE, I will have several new duties, not the least of which is Chair of the Competition Board and making sure our events are well planned and executed to a high level. I look forward to this new challenge and making sure we continue to have the top-notch races that you as drivers and volunteers have come to know as NCR events.

Email me with your questions and concerns at: [email protected]

 

 

Treasurer

“The Treasurer shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be made by the Board of Directors, have custody of all monies, debts, and obligations belonging to the organization. The Treasurer shall receive all monies and deposit same to the North Carolina Region, SCCA, Inc. account. The Treasurer, and the Regional Executive, shall have control over and supervision of all payment of true debts and obligations, and shall maintain such records as are in accordance with accepted accounting procedure.”

Sam Fouse is running for Treasurer unopposed.

I am volunteering to serve as Treasurer for 2021-2022. Since financial reporting is important to the decision-making process, my first objective is to make reporting timely and transparent, to the maximum extent possible. Secondly, I would like to broaden the number of volunteers involved with the Treasurer function. We have grown as an organization to where the workload involved cannot fairly be expected of just one person. In the process, recruiting and training potential successors will become an important part of our work. I welcome your support.

My background includes an undergraduate degree in Marketing and Finance, along with 10+ years experience in business management working for others, followed by 27 years managing my own business before ‘retiring’ in 2016. I also have significant experience within SCCA, in SEDIV, with the National office, and with VIR management.

 

  • NC Region member since 1976
  • NCR Solo Chair 1977-1982
  • BOD Member-at-Large 1981-1982, and 2013-2015
  • Regional Executive 2016-2019
  • Currently serving a one-year term on the BOD as Past RE
  • SEDIV ECR Committee Member
  • NCR TCS Administrator
  • Competition license holder and racer since 1985​, competing in SCCA, WRL, and ChampCar​
  • Helped found NCR’s Time Trial program as RE in 2018
  • Have served as an Instructor in Club Racing and Time Trial
  • Prior experience as a flagger, with EV, and as a crew member ​in SCCA, IMSA, Grand Am, and SRO
  • Current NCR Pace Car Team Member and frequent volunteer ​with Time Trial, in Hospitality, Marketing, and Race Administration

 

Members-at-Large

“The Members-at-Large are responsible for providing additional input for decision-making and will endeavor to represent all viewpoints of the membership at meetings of the Board of Directors.”

There are four (4) candidates for the two (2) Member-at-Large seats. They are (in alphabetical order):

 

Cameron Conover

Hello, I am Cameron Conover and I’m running for one of the two Member-at-Large seats on the North Carolina Region Board of Directors.

I first encountered SCCA as a crewmember on an SCCA performance rally team in 2001.  It was through people I met in rally that I ended up getting involved with SCCA club racing.  I crewed for a local North Carolina region Improved Touring racer for a few years as I learned more about road racing and car prep.  I then joined SCCA in September of 2004 in anticipation of my first race as over-the-wall crew during the VIR 13 hour that October.  After that, I crewed for club racing teams for a few years before eventually making it into SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge in 2011.  As crew chief for a PWC TC team, we achieved a win and several podiums on our way to winning Crew of the Year and Rookie of the Year for our driver.  I spent several more years in PWC before moving on to crew and crew chief in several Pro-series, including Grand Am Continental Challenge and GT, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, GMX5, IMSA GTD, and IMSA LMP2.   In 2014, I was honored to receive the NCR SCCA Crew Chief of the year award at the annual banquet.

My participation in many road racing events with many different organizations (including SCCA, THSCC, NASA, PCA, LeMons, SVRA, Grand Am, PWC, and IMSA), gives me a well-rounded perspective on motorsports.  In February of 2016 I finally went to the Roebling Comp School and got my license; I spent a year sharing an SM ride and in March of 2017 I joined the Improved Touring crowd in my newly completed ITS car.  I’ve been having fun developing both the car and myself since and have really enjoyed finally getting on track with SCCA!

I am a small business owner with a somewhat diversified presence in the automotive industry.  My company sells data acquisition systems for racers, I do race car prep work, some limited general service work, and I am a trainer for a company that works with automotive technicians on professional development.  I also serve on the Improved Touring Advisory Committee.

I have previous board member experience; I spent 4 years on the board of one of the largest and most active amateur radio clubs in NC.  I started there as Vice President for two years, then I moved to President for two more years before returning to general member status.  During my service to that club, we completed the process to become an IRS recognized non-profit as well as completing many equipment upgrades to our club’s shared radio equipment.  I believe my experience within that organization would serve me well in joining the North Carolina Region board.

NCR SCCA feels like home to me, and I would really appreciate the opportunity to dedicate some time and effort to maintaining and improving it for the future.  One thing I would focus on if elected is stronger collaboration between regions in the Southeast in order create a better experience for all members.

I would appreciate your vote and thank you for your time.  I look forward to seeing you at an SCCA event very soon!

 

 

Al Heatwole

Hello, my name is Al Heatwole and I am running for Member-at-Large. I have been a member of the NC Region since 2016 when I bought my F Prod Datsun Roadster. Since joining NCR I have worked in F & C and Tech at race events as well as our new Time Trial program when I’m not racing. I have also occasionally helped out Stephen Miller with grilling duties. For the last two years I have served on the board as the Triangle Chapter Coordinator. It has been a pleasure as well as a challenge this year to help lead the region to better serve our membership. I would appreciate the opportunity to continue on the board as a Member-at-Large. Thanks for your consideration.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Spencer

My name is Paul Spencer and I’m running for Member-at-Large. I first experienced SCCA in 2002 as a spectator and after several years in the pits and on the bleachers, I decided to get involved. Like many, I began autox’ing and quickly transitioned to HPDE’s, Time Trials and in 2015 began road racing. In more recent years I have also been competing in Gridlife’s GLTC program and the SCCA Time Trial National events – attending their national championship for the past 3 years.

Recently I decided to become more involved with the club and organized my first event –  the March Kart Enduro @ VIR. After receiving positive feedback from members about their experience, I’m now motivated to continue to use my knowledge and take on a more active role within NCR. Ultimately my goal as Member-at-Large would be to use my experience and member input to improve general operations, enhance club events and ensure an easy point of entry for new perspective racers.

 

 

 

Rob Wilmoth

I’ve been involved with the SCCA for 3 years, starting with jumping into Track Night in America in its inaugural season at Dominion Raceway, hitting 10 events in my first year of track events. I’ve also been involved helping with the Racing for ALS crew, Dave’s Race, and other benefit type track event marketing campaigns. I drive a 2018 Audi RS3, and am well in tune with the European auto sports market in the Carolinas. Recently, I’ve been more involved with the NCR Time Trials, and look forward to helping bring more new drivers to a fun and safe level of competitive experience.

I live in the Louisburg, NC area with my wife and 5 cats and have a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University. I currently work at Red Hat as a Chief Architect.

My goals as Member at Large are simple:

  1. Ensure that our current membership is well represented to keep everybody involved.
  2. Ensure that there is (continued) easy access to Motorsports events for folks new to SCCA, at all levels of competition. I believe the organization has done a great job of this in the recent years that I’ve been involved, and I simply hope to continue the trends of success.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions about how I may best represent you:

[email protected]
919-805-1393

 

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ THIS!
⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓

Only North Carolina Region members are allowed to vote and voting will be done on MotorsportReg.com (MSR).
Voting will begin on December 2nd and end on December 31st.

All votes will be anonymous and MSR will validate that each voter has a valid, not expired, SCCA membership and that they are a member of the North Carolina Region. To do this, each voter will need to have an account on MSR. If you don’t already have one, it’s easy and free to get one. Just go to motorsportreg.com and click on Create Free Account at the top right of the page. Each voting member must have an individual account on MSR.

Each member of SCCA has a unique membership number. That number and the name of the member must be the same on both your SCCA and MSR accounts. For instance, if you used your full legal name when joining SCCA, but then used a nickname when setting up your MSR account, you’ll need to go in and edit your MSR account to match exactly what SCCA has on file for you. If you joined SCCA as William Robert, but your MSR account says Billy Bob, you won’t be allowed to vote without changing it on MSR.

Also, for those of you who have the old-style SCCA family memberships, using the format of 123456_1, your membership number in MSR will have to match exactly. None of the following will work: 123456 1, 123456-1, 12345601 or 123456. So, please make sure that your membership number is entered accurately in MSR and that your membership has not expired.

If you have any issues when trying to vote, please contact Bruce Dover, NCR Office Admin & Registrar, at [email protected] or you can call or text 919-423-6015. If you are a NC Region member, but NCR is not your Region of Record with SCCA, you’ll need to contact Bruce for a link to vote. Likewise, if you are qualified to vote, but did not receive the email sent from MSR with the link to vote in it, click below.

Thanks!

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