Divisional Reports
SPORTS CAR CLUB OF AMERICA FEBRUAR Y 2012
UPDATES, STORIES AND NEWS FROM
SCCA’S NINE COMPETITION DIVISIONS
KNEE DEEP IN NEDIV
NORTHEAST DIVISION BY G. W. HENDERSON
TIME TO REEVALUATE,
RETHINK AND REMODEL
First things first – those of you who are regular eaders of this modest column know that I constantly blow up Earl Hurlbut and his “At the
Track Steward’s Town Hall” meetings. I have always said
they are one of the best tools any racer could add to his or
her toolbox. But, in a previous issue, I violated one of my
number one rules (assuming I’m allowed to have more
than one “number one” rule): the P. T. Barnum corollary
(assuming it was, indeed, he who actually said this):
“I don’t care what you say about me, just spell my name
right.” So, apologies to Mr. Hurlbut (not Hurlburt), the
business card helps tremendously.
Speaking of Earl, and also SCCA Chairman of the Board
of Directors Jerry Wannarka, we all had occasion to gather
together on Nov. 4-6, 2011, at the NEDiv convention in
Saratoga Springs, N. Y., hosted by the Mohawk-Hudson
Region for the purpose of teaching and being taught.
Besides the seminars on the new NEDiv Webpage, Timing
and Scoring, Registration, Scrutineering and Flagging and
Communications, there was the seed of a catalytic
movement that is starting to germinate in the Club (dare
I say not just here in NEDiv, but nationally). And it all
started when someone stood up and asked the question,
“What are we doing to propagate SCCA as a Club with the
young people of this country?”
As fate would have it, two of the aforementioned target
group happened to be in attendance at this meeting (it was
the last meeting of the day – all of the other sessions were
done and a large gathering of folks crowded into the
standing-room-only session before hitting the road to
dinner at the very impressive Saratoga Automobile
Museum), and Earl had opened up the floor for discussion.
Both of these young folks had some very eye-opening
things to say about just how the SCCA is viewed by those
who are in a younger demographic than most of us. A lot
centers on just how unappetizing the process of enjoying
membership in the Club is. The acronyms (remember
you’re the acronym primmer from earlier), the confusion of
all the classes, the massive rulebooks and all the
specialties can be overly confusing. What the heck is a
specialty? To an outsider, all of this can appear like
gobbledygook.
And even with all that and the fact that when they go to
an SCCA Club race or Solo event there are 28 people who
all won the race, set FTD or won PAX, it just doesn’t make
any sense. Add in one single experience where some elitist
looks down their nose and sneers at the inexperienced kid
who just worked all weekend to install a suspension kit, a
set of tires and a big exhaust because “that is not allowed
in this class,” and it’s easy to understand why young
members are not beating a path to our door.
Oh, they also said that there are “other” clubs that are
more welcoming out there. If nothing else, this should ring
the wake up bell.
60 february www.scca.com
I have a modest proposal (a few
actually, but let’s start with this one).
Let’s make every member a
“membership chairperson.” Not that
hard. When you become a member of
the SCCA, you get a package with 25
or so youth-oriented membership
tri-fold flyers with what the Club does,
where it does it, who does it and how
you can, too. It’s a self-addressed,
postage-paid mail-in. The potential
member fills it out and receives more
information. Or, how about a member
mentoring program? Are you a driver
in NEDiv? Bring a young person (and
their family) to your events over the
season. Registration can establish
something like a “mentor’s event
membership,” and specialties (you
know who you are) can bring out a
young person to expose what the heck
it is you do! Make it a contest! And so
on and so forth. Let’s make 2012 the
year that the young lovers of sports
cars discover the SCCA.
CONTACT G. W. HENDERSON
(631) 491-4075
geedub@hendersoneast.com
REVVIN’ IN SEDIV
SOU THEAST DIVISION
B Y SUSAN H. YOUNG
CELEBRATING
SEBRING
Over the last 60 years, Sebring has become one of America’s premier motorsports racing
facilities. Nestled among the orange
groves and scenic ranches of central
Florida, it is the oldest permanent
road-racing track in North America,
evolving from a World War II air base.
It is world famous for its annual 12
Hours of Sebring endurance race, part
of the American Le Mans Series.
How many times have you
watched a Sebring race on TV? Did
you grow up sketching racecars on
your notebooks, dreaming of the
day when you’d be designing them?
Maybe you were a racecar driver
for Halloween, or were even in a
soapbox derby. How many of you
had colorful posters of racecars and
drivers in your room, or models of
those wonderful old cars? Were your
favorite movies Le Mans, Grand Prix
and Bullitt Perhaps you drove go-karts or helped your brother fix his
hotrod. You went to sleep dreaming
of racecars under palm trees.
And then one day, you heard about
the SCCA...
“I joined the New York Region in
1957,” Ted Glaser tells us. “Also had a
stint in Los Angeles [1960-’ 62] when
I was in the USAF at Riverside, Calif.
At Sebring, I worked [Flagging and
Communications] in ’ 63 and ’ 64. In
addition to F&C, I also raced a Mini in
the New York Region in ’ 62 and won
the under 1-liter class at the 1964
Bridgehampton Double 500 FIA race
in an H production Bugeye Sprite. You
can find me on pages 546 and 547 of
Janos Wimpffen’s Time and Two Seats:
Five Decades of Long Distance Motor
Racing. For about 10 years I wrote a
monthly column for CFR’s Checker.
I ran race control for Central Florida
Region from 1996-2004.”
“I went to Sebring on Spring Break
as an Atlanta high school kid,” recalls
Geoff Churchill. “Best I remember it
was 1956. I also still have some photos
of one of Atlanta Region’s first races –
it was 1954 or 1955 at the Gainesville
[Georgia] airport.”
Larry Dent simply says, “Yeah, I got
pulled over for doing 120mph in the
Trans-Am car going from tech [which
was in downtown Sebring back then]
out to the track.”
CHECKERED FLAG:
DR. BILL BURROW
Dr. William Booker “Bill” Burrow Jr.
passed away Oct. 31, 2011, at Baptist
Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.,
at the age of 76. Dr. Burrow entered
practice in Whitehaven in 1960, and
was drafted into the U.S. Army
Medical Corps and served as a captain
for two years. Dr. Burrow returned to
Whitehaven for family medical
practice where he practiced and lived
until his retirement in 1988. Along the
way, he developed a love for scuba
diving in the Caribbean and off
Honduras and the Caymans, even
studying underwater medicine with
Buzz Aldrin in Aruba. He also had a
love of motorsports, and competed in
various SCCA classes throughout the
years. In lieu of flowers, donations
should be sent to the Germantown
Animal Shelter.
