BoD Minutes – February 2020

Minutes of NCR-SCCA Monthly Board of Directors Meeting

February 19, 2020

 

Present:  Heather Clark, Anna Crissman, Justin Deffenbaugh, Bruce Dover, Nikki Edwards, Sam Fouse, Al Heatwole, Mark Senior, Chris Schimmel, James Shanks, and Paul Spencer, attended in person; and via conference call, Eric Danielsen, Stephen Miller, Ben Tyler, Megan Tyler, and Kit Williams. Heather Powers did not attend.

  1. The NCR BoD meeting was called to order by RE Anna Crissman at 7:30 PM, on Wednesday, February 19th 2020, at Atomic Empire, 3400 Westgate Drive #14B, Durham, NC 27707.
  2. Eric Danielsen, Ben Tyler, and Megan Tyler, attended as guests by phone. Chris Schimmel and Paul Spencer attended as guests in person.
  3. Motion to approve the January minutes, as posted on the Google drive (Shanks / Senior). Passed.

Order of items below reflects the order of discussion, as nearly as possible; not necessarily as they appeared on the published agenda.

Financial Report.

 None. Treasurer Heather Powers was unable to attend.

Old Business:

  1. Vacant Member-at-Large Seat. The untimely passing of Rex Deffenbaugh left his Member-at-Large seat vacant for the remainder of his term, due to expire at the end of this year. In accordance with the Bylaws, the Board nominated two members of the Region as possible replacements, Blair Deffenbaugh and Joedy Pennington. Blair Deffenbaugh was confirmed by a majority vote of those present.
  2. Jekyll Island Room Reimbursement. All those who were planning to go to the SEDIV Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner, February 1 – 2, were obliged to cancel when our dear friend and colleague Rex Deffenbaugh passed away a few days beforehand. Sam said he was told that the Banquet fees could not be refunded, but the room fees might be, after it was explained to the hotel that the late cancellation was due to a sudden bereavement. Mark said his room, which was at an alternate location, was not refunded when he canceled, but that he would call back and see whether they would agree to do so once he explained the circumstances. The Board agreed by consensus to cover that expense if they did not.

New Business:

  1. Kart Enduro in Conjunction with March into Spring. Justin Deffenbaugh and Paul Spencer proposed that the Region sponsor a go-kart enduro at VIR in conjunction with the March into Spring event. The idea is that we would rent to go-kart track from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Saturday, along with ten (10) go-karts, and allow teams of up to four drivers to participate at $260 per kart (or $65 per driver for a team of four).  This would raise $2600 but the Region would only have to guarantee $2100, to cover the rental and trophies. They had spoken to the Kart Track Manager at VIR, Patrick Eagan, and had verified the rental rate. Eric indicated that Blue Ridge Region, which will be holding a Time Trial on the Patriot Course that same day, was already on board with this idea and had members eager to participate, though they had been talking about a slightly lower rate. Justin and Paul indicated that the excess money from the entrance fee (approximately $500) would be used to offset the cost of the social. They also indicated that the teams would be split by weight class, lightweight versus heavyweight, on the day of the event, in order to even out the competition. Motion to add the $2100 to our bill at VIR, subject to reimbursement once the participants have paid up (Senior / J. Deffenbaugh). Passed. Bruce will put the event on MSR, separate from the March into Spring race itself, as soon as possible. The plan is to have the participants sign up and pay in advance, and get a separate wristband at Registration.
  2. Time Trial Season Update. Stephen Miller participated via phone in this discussion, but the reception on our end was very poor, so much of his information was provided by others. Stephen had attended a seminar at the SCCA National Convention about getting more people to participate in our time trial events by combining them with a track day experience. Basically, the difference is that track day participants would not get official lap times or trophies but could still enjoy the experience of driving their cars at speed on a closed course. Kit explained that there are people who want that experience but shy away as soon as the word “competition” is mentioned, because they are afraid of hurting their cars or negatively impacting their insurance. We could combine a track day experience for them with a time trial by simply leaving them out of the competition results. They would still need to run a transponder, so that we could properly group them and provide them with the best possible on-track experience, and that way everyone else around them could still have a normal Time Trial event. To facilitate this, the transponder rental would be included in the cost of the entry fee, with a rebate offered to those who already have a transponder of their own. The projected price would be $$275 for both days or $150 for just one. In addition, those folks who wanted to be eligible for year-end Time Trial trophies from SEDIV would be charged the ten-dollar ($10) fee per car that SEDIV charges us for that purpose. In a related issue, it was announced that if NCCAR gets their track improvements in place before our August date, and we can photograph and document these for Heyward Wagner of the National staff, he has agreed to sign off on allowing us to run the course in both directions. It was also announced that we were looking into the possibility of adding another event at NCCAR in October which would combine an SCCA Drivers’ School with a Time Trial. Recent changes to the requirements for an SCCA Drivers’ School have made this possible and the consensus among the Board members was that we should try to make this happen if at all possible.

Chapter and Committee Reports: A West Chapter meeting report, submitted by Coordinator Nikki Edwards, for February 2020, was posted on the Google drive. Al Heatwole, Triangle Chapter Coordinator, and Kit Williams, Cape Fear Chapter Coordinator, indicated that they would post a report about their meetings soon.

Motion to adjourn at 8:18 PM (Clark / Senior). Passed.

The three Race Chairs for the 2020 season, Eric Danielsen, Justin Deffenbaugh, and Mark Senior, held an informal meeting to discuss season plans in advance of the March event, following the Board meeting.

Submitted by Secretary, James Shanks.

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