A milestone recently achieved by the Sports Car Club of America® highlights SCCA’s continued success in serving automotive enthusiasts, while underscoring the Club’s continued drive to further involvement in amateur motorsports. In February 2023, SCCA’s annual membership crested 50,000, surpassing the 51,000 mark three months later. This achievement comes hot on the heels of SCCA’s latest initiatives, which includes mash-up weekends, Team Enduros, and more, in addition to the Club celebrating 50 years of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships and 60 years of the National Championship Runoffs.
“Growth within SCCA’s membership is more than just a number,” said SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb. “This milestone represents hard work on the part of leaders from all 115 SCCA Regions, the SCCA Staff, and every member who spreads the word.
“Along with this growth comes the ability for the Club to scale, offering more fun with more cars at more places,” Cobb continued. “Exceeding the 50,000 annual member mark is just one way of measuring success – but it’s an important one that helps fuel the entire Club.”
Prior to 2023, the last time SCCA exceeded 50,000 annual members was July 2008 – although none of this counts the roughly 20,000 SCCA weekend memberships purchased each year, making SCCA’s total membership now top 70,000.
Fueling Growth
“A key factor driving growth is SCCA’s collective focus on delivering the best enthusiast experience possible,” Cobb noted. “The Club has seen many of its program ‘likely to recommend’ scores, which measure overall event experience, continue to improve, which in turn supports membership growth and retention.”
One of SCCA’s many strengths is program diversity. Autocross, RallyCross, and RoadRally offer easy access to SCCA competition, with programs like Track Night in America® Driven by Tire Rack enabling anyone with a car and a helmet to participate on track in a no-pressure environment. Here’s an interesting statistic: Roughly eight percent of new SCCA members participated in a Track Night prior to joining the Club.
Drivers itching for on-track competition can set to SCCA’s Tire Rack Time Trials National Tour Powered by Hagerty or the Club’s Summit Racing Equipment Road Racing program, which spans Regional events, endurance racing, the U.S. Majors Tour, Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour, and the Club’s pinnacle of road racing, the National Championship Runoffs®.
SCCA Autocross competition has been on a tear. In 2022, in addition to scoring well on the member-surveyed “likely to recommend” tally, Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series entries averaged a 21 percent per-event increase when compared to the year prior. The number of Regional autocross events jumped 27 percent year-over-year, with annual entry counts experiencing a 22 percent bump.
Work Still To Do
While SCCA is seeing growth, the Club is constantly reaching for improvement. For example, while the number of SCCA Road Racing Competition Licenses is increasing, Novice Permits are not experiencing the same level of growth. The number of Novice Permits increased in 2022 over 2021, but the SCCA Road Racing department knows the importance of introducing new racers to the sport and is working to achieve that goal.
SCCA is also driving to attract new members and increase participation of current members through combo events that showcase a variety of aspects of the SCCA at the same facility during the same weekend. Furthermore, SCCA is building partnerships to advance motorsports beyond the Club’s normal reaches, like with a partnership SCCA is forging with the American Rally Association.
“The SCCA is unabashedly celebrating our 50,000 annual membership milestone, but we’re not ones to rest on our laurels,” Cobb added. “Regardless of how many enthusiasts join us for fun with cars, the SCCA Staff, Region leaders, and volunteers will always push hard to fuel a fast, fun, and memorable motorsports experience that keeps everyone coming back for more.”
Photo by Tradd Slayton
