I was in attendance as a spectator. Where else can you watch an Audi sedan racing against a X-19.
Photograph courtesy Mazda
Back to the SCCA! After many budget endurance races with Lucky Dog, ChampCar, Lemons and WRL, I got back to my early racing days a few weeks ago, at DAYYY-tona Speedway, at an SCCA Regional. My buddy Jack Goldey, a longtime teammate in my Flyin’ Moose Volvo, offered me a ride in his 2006 Pontiac GTO, a rumbling LS2 V8-powered pony car.
It’s been a while since I ran an SCCA race, I must admit. The usual sprint race format makes finding a ride less likely. The cars are often built and driven by their owners, which I think is really cool–and so “grassroots motorsports.”
I saw a lot of home-garage-built machines there, and I really relate to the efforts made to go racing by people who love it and want it like I do. And SCCA Solo/autocross was the start of my whole dang pro career.
My road racing started at the pro level in the SCCA-sanctioned Volkswagen Cup and IMSA Firestone Firehawk Compact division, in the same 1985 VW Golf, which was featured on a very early cover of Tim and Margie Suddard’s Auto-X magazine, the ancient ancestor of this very publication. I still own that car, and it shall rise again soon. Watch out!
While I was racing pro, I built an SCCA Improved Touring C VW Rabbit or two for Linda Pobst and a Ford Fiesta. Then I started racing SCCA Showroom Stock in a Honda Civic and a Mazda Miata, and I got Linda a Mitsubishi Eclipse turbo, too. Linda, I hadn’t helped with the house payments or groceries yet, but I sure put you in some race cars! Priorities, you know … mine.
So anyway, I have a lot of SCCA history way back, but for many years, other series have taken my time and attention. When I do get to go back, it is really like going home. And I saw many of the same people, looking a lot like I do in the mirror now. Seems real road racers know what they like and stick with it.
Impressions that struck me from my SCCA return:
An old Rabbit and MGs that tugged at my sentiments, real race cars like Formula Ford and sports racers, Miatas of all prep levels everywhere, all the way to a fabulous AMG GT3! SCCA does offer so many classes, sometimes to a fault. But I love that at a Regional event, we could even run the Flyin’ Moose, and I saw a couple cars there that we’d raced against.
Actually, I find it a relief in a way. The races are mostly only 25 minutes or so. Endurance racing offers lots of track time, but 14 hours will also totally wear out your car. And yet I still found the short runs very satisfying to my racing addiction. And you get more time to keep the car running well during breaks between sessions.
SCCA trains its corner workers. Many are very experienced and provide a high level of support and safety to the racers. I was also very impressed with the race stewards I saw, my old friends Sherri and Phil Croyle. Their handling of on-track incidents involved a high level of training and a sense of drivers’ responsibility to each other.
I have long preached that we need to do a much better job of educating racers, both new and old, and the Croyles are providing a valuable service that improves the sport for everyone. They want the Club to put “SCCA racing is a non-contact sport” right in their rule book (no, it’s never been there), and I wholeheartedly agree.
They also emphasize, “Who had the last chance to avoid creating the incident?” Most times, someone could back off a bit or just leave a little more racing room and continue the contest, rather than crashing out while waving their own flag of righteousness.
SCCA is where road racing began in the U.S., and it was so good to be back.
I was in attendance as a spectator. Where else can you watch an Audi sedan racing against a X-19.
I'm an old ex-SCCA tech inspector. Also built an itc Fiesta. SCCA racing is still my favorite motorsport although I don't recognize some of the classes.
36 years with SCCA and still involved in my region.
My whole family was SCCA oriented. I was in DC Region. On Fridays of race weekends the whole family would head to Summit Point. Set up camp in workers camping area with all the other workers. My wife worked registration, I worked tech. My oldest son helped in tech and my youngest just ran around with all the other kids. I'm 81 now and those were some of the best times of my life. I miss them. The SCCA gave us the opportunity to have family time and keep my kids out of trouble.
I met Randy at an SCCA event: SCCA Solo National Tour (or was it a Divisional?) at the Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta. This was like 1992. He ran his Showroom Stock Miata. I think I have the results somewhere.
David S. Wallens said:I met Randy at an SCCA event: SCCA Solo National Tour (or was it a Divisional?) at the Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta. This was like 1992. He ran his Showroom Stock Miata. I think I have the results somewhere.
Hey, that's cheating. I wasn't even born yet. 
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