June 24, 2022
Thursday evening, June 23, 2022, SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb provided SCCA members with a midyear status update on the Club. The address was conducted virtually as a webinar and recorded so members can review the full presentation at their leisure. To access the one-hour video, click here, or login to your account at my.scca.com and click “Annual Meetings & Updates” under the “My Learning” tab.
During the videoconference, Cobb was joined by SCCA Vice President of Road Racing Eric Prill, and SCCA Director of Region Development Chris Robbins. Below is a quick look at some of the important matters discussed.
First, Cobb noted that SCCA’s 2021 financial audit has been completed, with no material changes from the preliminary report offered at the 2022 Annual Meeting, with SCCA Inc., SCCA Enterprises, and SCCA Pro Racing all operating in the black. The complete 2021 financial report will be available for review online at my.scca.com in July.
Next, Cobb revealed that full-time annual SCCA membership is currently at 49,852 people, which is an increase of nearly 4,000 from this time last year, and does not count the tens of thousands of weekend members each year. Additionally, there are 11,944 drivers with competition licenses, which is an increase of 1,585 from this time last year.
“That’s the strongest we’ve been in full-time membership in recent history,” Cobb added.
As an indicator that the Club is still growing, 950 SCCA Road Racing Novice Permits have been issued so far in 2022, which is an increase of nearly 200 over last year. And midyear membership retention numbers remain around 81 percent.
Cobb also provided some information about various SCCA programs. Six months into 2022, the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour has averaged 213 drivers per event, and landed a 95.7 percent “Likely to Refer” rating from participants. Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series is humming along, averaging 163 entrants per event and boasting a “Likely to Refer” rating of 93.4 percent. The Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials National Tour held its biggest event ever in March at Carolina Motorsports Park, with the program currently holding a 98 percent “Likely to Refer” rating. And Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack set an all-time record in June when more than 800 registrations were received in only 48 hours.
“When we work together as partners, when we work together as a team, and we show up as a race family … we all win,” Cobb said in conclusion.
Prill addressed some developments from the SCCA Road Racing department. First, he shared that the 2022 Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour season averaged 249 entries per event and received a 79 percent “Likely to Refer” rating.
That led Prill to then discuss the new Green-to-Checker initiative aimed at reducing the number of on-track incidents and session stoppages during events. In his presentation, Prill said the SCCA National Office is in the process of reviewing reports and compiling data that will allow for better analysis to occur in the future. Still, some actions are already being taken.
“Because there are a lot of things that we have identified as negatively impacting our ability to go Green-to-Checker, we know that there are ways to positively influence it as well,” Prill said. “There are longer-term solutions that will take some time and development … but there are shorter-term opportunities as well. And that’s where we come together as a group, as a team. If every driver, official, volunteer, organizer, team member, and track worker had this goal in mind – to try to cut down on incidents, to try to go Green-to-Checker – then I think we’ve made a good start.”
Robbins opened his presentation by noting a name change for the Region Development department, which will now be called SCCA Member & Region Services. While the name has changed, the department’s mission remains the same: serve SCCA members, as well as those who serve the members.
Organizing SCCA’s annual National Convention is a major focus of the Member & Region Services team, and Robbins offered up plans for the 2023 confab. The past two years saw the SCCA National Convention as a “virtual” presentation, which brought a very substantial uptick in participation. Upwards of 1,000 members connected both years, besting previous attendance by hundreds. Plus, the online “virtual” National Convention saved as much as $150,000 for the Club each year and spared individual Regions and members thousands of dollars in travel costs.
With participation up and costs down – and believing there will be substantial increases in travel costs and conference expenses in the coming year – the 2023 SCCA National Convention will again be conducted online.
However, the SCCA Board of Directors and SCCA National Office recognize there is an intangible benefit when Club members connect in person. So, efforts will be made to conduct in-person SCCA National Conventions for monumental Club milestones, such as in 2024 for SCCA’s 80th anniversary.
While the National Convention goes “virtual” for a bit, Robbins noted SCCA Divisional Conventions will see a ‘boots on the ground’ presence from SCCA National Office staff. Plus, the Member & Region Services department will continue to develop the online SCCA Academy curriculum made possible through grants from the FIA and SCCA Foundation. This will be offered through our new, online, on-demand Learning Management System (LMS) with training to serve:
Robbins noted that other motorsport organizations, such as IMSA, have been part of developing the SCCA Academy coursework to ensure workers, drivers, and leaders receive the most comprehensive education available.
More information regarding the on-demand Learning Management System will be available soon.
A recording of the roughly one-hour presentation can be viewed by clicking the link below.
