Sports Car Club of America contingency sponsors paid members more than $2.6 million in cash and product for competition in 2011, with that number expected to march past $3 million in payouts to Club Racing, Solo, ProSolo and RallyCross competitors during the 2012 season.
The money for contingency prizes comes directly from outside partners who reward competitors for using their products or fulfilling the company requirements during competition. Some companies, like Volkswagen of America, pay cash for top finishes, while others, including BFGoodrich Tires, pay rewards in the form of product.
Volkswagen, for example, pays up to $1,000 for winning a race in a Volkswagen at a BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour Club Race and up to $550 for a win in a Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour event. BFGoodrich Tires offers up to four tires for a Club Racing win, and two tires for a Solo victory at the same events.
These payouts directly help competitors to offset the cost of racing SCCA’s most prestigious amateur racing programs, which do not receive purses or prize money.
“When you consider that our members are competing for pride and not prize money, the support they get from our contingency sponsors can be a big part of their racing budget,”said Jeff Dahnert, SCCA President/CEO. “We are all very appreciative of that support.”
Naturally, SCCA’s two largest programs, Club Racing and Solo, pay out the largest sums.
When you total cash and product value from 2011, contingency partners paid out $1,156,000 during SafeRacer National Series races, and an additional $435,500 just during the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. With an approximate 7,500 Nationally-licensed drivers, that averages $212 per racer.
Contingency partners paid the 3,198 unique participants in the Tire Rack Solo Tour, Tire Rack ProSolo Series and the Tire Rack Solo National Championships $664,500 in cash a product value, an average of $207 per participant.
In a positive trend for the SCCA members who receive the benefits, the amount of money pledged has increased by 20% during 2012.
“The numbers shown here only include the programs arranged through SCCA’s National Headquarters that are nation-wide in scope,”Dahnert said. “In addition to these programs, Regions and groups of racers have also put together a number of contingencies for their own local events and Championships through local sponsors, making the actual payouts even larger.”
In the past two years, 54 companies have participated in at least one of the SCCA’s programs by offering contingency prizes to members.
The amount of money available to top finishers in the SCCA programs is staggering. The cash and product payouts come from an available pool of $19,400,000 pledged during the 2011 season, which increases to a potential $23,318,000 in 2012.
In the course of the contingency program, the SCCA administers payouts on some programs, while in other cases, the company itself directly pays the competitors. The payouts administered by the SCCA were used to estimate the total value of all paid programs.
About SCCA:
Founded in 1944, Sports Car Club of America, Inc. is a 42,000-member motorsports organization that incorporates all facets of autocross, rally and road racing at both club and professional levels. It annually sanctions over 2,000 events through its 115 regions and professional subsidiary. Landmark events and series for the Club include the SafeRacer SCCA National Racing Series, which includes the BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour; the Club Racing National Championship Runoffs® at Road America; and The Tire Rack® SCCA Solo National Championships and ProSolo Championship at Lincoln, Neb. For more information, please visit http://www.scca.com.
Altitude Adjustment: This weekend’s Double National has 104 cars on the entry list and some of the best drivers in the middle of the country. With temperatures forecasted to approach triple digits during the weekend, the event will test both driver and machine.
The largest of the six race groups is the final group, featuring formula cars and sports racers — often referred to as the “wings and things”grouping. Five cars each are on the entry list for Formula 1000 and Sports 2000, with four each battling for the podium in Formula Mazda and C Sports Racing.
Point Battle: With just a couple of rounds remaining in the BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour, the point championship is coming down to the wire. A number of Championship leaders are coming to High Plains to fight for the season-long title.
Among the current leaders on this week’s entry list are Jesse Prather in E Production, CJ McAbee in Formula 500, Stuart Rettie in Formula Mazda, Chuck Hearn in Formula Vee, Denny Stripling in Spec Racer Ford, and Jim Place in Showroom Stock C.
Rocky Mountain High: The BFGoodrich SCCA Super Tour returns to the Rocky Mountain division for the second year, this year bringing along the SCCA Majors pilot program concurrently in the weekend. The race is the seventh of nine BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour events on the schedule, with one in each of the SCCA’s geographical divisions in 2012.
The BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour activities will occur during Sunday’s races. Each race winner will be given a victory lap and commemorative checkered flag, and the top three in each class will be treated to victory circle ceremonies after each race. Live Timing is available for those at the track and around the world on both days of the event at SCCA.com.
From The Everyday To The Incredible: The racers at this weekend’s BFGoodrich Tires Rocky Mountain Super Tour are a unique mix of talented drivers. Most are “weekend warriors,”mixing it up on the track on the weekends before heading home to their day-to-day jobs through the week. Some are youngsters with an eye on a professional driving career, honing their craft while looking to the future. The common theme to an SCCA competition is that these are seemingly ordinary people doing extraordinary things with racecars.
How prolific can these drivers become? Start with the motorsports legends — Bobby Rahal, Mark Donohue, Roger Penske, Michael Andretti, and actor/driver Paul Newman got their start in SCCA Club Racing. More recently, you could have seen current stars Boris Said, Graham Rahal, Sam Hornish or Scott Sharp at a Club race.
The Best In Amateur Racing: SCCA Club Racing is the top level of amateur motorsports. Of the 300 Club Racing events held coast-to-coast, 70 of them are designated as “National”events, meaning they are qualifying events for the National Championship Runoffs® and comprise the SafeRacer SCCA National Racing Series. Of these 70 events, only nine are designated as BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour races, bringing the National spotlight to town and making this weekend among a select group of can’t-miss events across the country.
This weekend doubles as the SCCA Majors weekend for those in the Midwest, Rocky Mountain or Southwest DivisionsBoth races will earn points toward the season-long Majors Championship for those in the middle of the country.
Super Sweep Set Up: The BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour events are the qualifying races for the prestigious Super Sweep Trophy. Drivers can earn a Super Sweep trophy by winning a Super Tour Race, the nation-wide point standings, a Divisional Championship, and a National Championship at the Runoffs, all in the same class.
Friends and Fans Invited: Fans are welcome for the event at High Plains, where admission is $10, with children 12 and under free. The gates open for spectators at 8 AM on Saturday and Sunday. Admission includes a free program and a paddock pass allowing spectators into the garage areas for up close visits with the cars and drivers.
Event/Circuit:
BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Northeast Super Tour
Round Seven of Nine
High Plains Raceway
15-turn, 2.55-mile permanent road course
Qualifying:
Saturday Races: Saturday, June 30 beginning at 9:40 a.m. (MDT)
Sunday Races: Sunday, July 1 beginning at 8:00 a.m. (MDT)
Six Group Races:
Saturday, June 30 beginning at 12:50 p.m. (MDT)
Sunday, July 1 beginning at 11:10 a.m. (MDT)
Race Lengths:
Each group runs an 18-lap race
Timing/Scoring: Live Timing & Scoring and lap notes via the SCCA® Pit Board are available for all sessions through http://www.scca.com/sccalive.
BFGoodrich Tires Rocky Mountain Super Tour/Dbl Nat
SCCA workers and volunteers helped with the “dynamic”portion of the Formula SAE Lincoln event, June 20-23, and the University of Kansas took home the top trophy at the event’s first visit to the site of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships.
The 81-team event, made up from college students from around the world, took place at the Lincoln Airpark for the first time. The competition consisted of two separate categories — the static portion, which ranged from the engineering of the car to a business plan and cost analysis from each team; and the dynamic portion of the event, which was based on the car’s performance.
In order to participate in the dynamic portion, each team had to pass an hour-long detailed technical inspection. Once complete, the field participated in braking and accelerating tests, an autocross, and an endurance run.
KU’s Jayhawk Motorsports took the top prize that factored in all portions of the competition.
Each participant was also given a voucher for a free one-year SCCA Membership to continue their motorsports pursuits.
More information can be found at the Formula SAE website, http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/.
Information on Jayhaw Motorsports can be found on their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/JMSTeam
