It is tradition each year mid-season that SEDIV calls a meeting of all the RE’s, Area Directors, series officials, stewards, and other interested parties to discuss various topics of interest. Also included in the discussion is a rough draft of the following season’s SEDIV schedule. This year’s meeting was held Saturday, July 16th, at a hotel adjacent to Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta. I attended along with Past RE Rex Deffenbaugh. I want to say a special thanks to Rex for accompanying me on the trip. His intros and insight were valuable. I won’t bore you with all the mundane details of the meeting, but there were several topics of interest to NC Region members that I’d like to share with you.
First is our 2017 schedule. It was requested that I submit our anticipated schedule in advance by July 10th. I’m sure back in the 80’s when regions had great flexibility in setting schedules, it might have been possible to do that with some certainty. That is no longer the case and we are pretty much at the mercy of track owners in fighting for dates. Apparently that’s not unique to VIR anymore either.
Several RE’s expressed the same experience, and while I’m certain VIR is still the most expensive venue in SEDIV, Road Atlanta and CMS are catching up. That can only mean one thing – expect an increase next year for us also. It is a sellers’ (track owners) market right now.
In any event, I submitted a repeat of our 2016 schedule with one significant change. We have requested of VIR a change off of our one-day November enduro date in favor of a weekend in mid to late summer next year. What we do with that weekend is still TBD, but the encouraging thing is that VIR is considering it. We may still have an enduro of some type as part of that weekend, but we could also include a wide range of other newer SCCA offerings such as a Bracket Enduro, a PDX, a Solo, a Track Night, our Region picnic, a Rallycross, a Hillclimb, and maybe even make the weekend part of a Targa. I’m excited about the possibilities. This could even be a special 60th NCR/VIR Anniversary celebration event. NC Region’s first ever race was also VIR’s first ever race – August 1957.
The other exciting news is that we have been offered the chance to hold the 55th Formula Vee Anniversary as part of our SARRC/MARRS weekend in 2018. Apparently, when they have an anniversary event, lots of them actually do show up, so we may have to add a run group to the schedule. I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out and show them some NC Region Hospitality.
Lastly, this is not confirmed yet, but a sixth Majors may be added to the calendar for the July 4th weekend at Roebling. If approved, we will no longer be the SEDIV finale which is sad, but I believe SEDIV is one of the only divisions without a sixth Majors, so it was coming sooner or later.
More immediate is our Hospitality Tent at the IMSA weekend coming up in two weeks. We will be in attendance with a 10’x40’ tent assembly which will include the unveiling of our new NC Region tent. There will be three SCCA race cars on display along with members representing the various aspects of the Region: Drivers, Workers, Autocrossers. The event is being spearheaded by John Lindquist and our objective is to spread the word about SCCA membership. If you attend the event as a spectator, be sure to stop by and say hello.
That’s it for now, but stay tuned.
Small steps, always forward.
Sam Fouse, RE