Sports Car Club of America President Lisa Noble announced today the hiring of Heyward Wagner to head the newly-created Experiential Programs department.
The new department’s primary focus is in the development of entry level programs geared to both new and existing members, and the enhancement of social aspects for those participating in all of SCCA’s programs. The department will act as a research and development program for SCCA members, establishing programs that currently fall outside of the traditional markets served by Club Racing, Solo or Rally. SCCA Region programs to activate membership at a local level will also fall under the new department.
“The Experiential Programs Department will open up SCCA to new members through a mix of new programs and Club enhancements, including elements that fall outside of our traditional window,”Lisa Noble, SCCA President and CEO, said. “Heyward’s enthusiasm, knowledge base, experience and creativity make him a perfect fit to head this new department, and we’re looking forward to the future as we grow as a Club.”
The department is tasked with the development of programs that are driven by experience as opposed to pure competition. Concepts in development include the expansion of the Starting Line Program to offer a wider range of entry-level performance driving l opportunities as well as a program designed to incorporate aspects of Solo, PDX, Time Trial, RallyCross and Rally into a single event. At the same time, the department is working to improve the member experience within the core programs by providing training opportunities and leading the effort to better incorporate technology and social activities into both events and communications.
Rick Myers, SCCA Manager, Region Development, will join Wagner in the Experiential Programs Department. Myers has worked at SCCA for six years and brings both working relationships with Regions and a wealth of knowledge in the implementation of technology-driven programs. Myers will continue to work closely with Region leadership.
Wagner is a life-long SCCA member who was serving as the Solo Communications Manager. Wagner started the SoloMatters newsletter and developed and implemented the Tire Rack SCCA Starting Line school that opened in 2013 to introduce new autocrossers to the sport with professional coaching and training.
“Having grown up in an active SCCA family and been a participant myself for nearly two decades, I am strongly of the opinion that the essence of SCCA membership is experienced through participation,”Wagner said. “I believe that participation can be fun, competitive and social, whether it is in-person or online. It is the goal of this department to find ways to infuse each of these elements into events and give members the best possible experience. “
Wagner will split his time between the SCCA Office in Topeka, at his home in Weaverville, N.C., with his wife, Julia, and son Cole, and at SCCA events around the country. He can be reached through email at [email protected].
ABOUT SCCA
Founded in 1944, Sports Car Club of America, Inc. is a 60,000-member motorsports organization that incorporates all facets of autocross, rally and road racing at both amateur and professional levels. It annually sanctions more than 2,000 events through its 115 regions and professional subsidiary. Landmark events and series for the Club include the SafeRacer SCCA Club Racing program, which includes the U.S. Majors Tour and BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour; the Club Racing National Championship Runoffs® at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; the Tire Rack® SCCA Solo National Championships and ProSolo Championship at Lincoln, Neb.; the annual SCCA National Convention and Hall of Fame Induction and MSX — North American Motorsports Expo.
Mark Madarash, of Red Oak, Texas, drove home a happy racer following his Super Challenge win at The Tire Rack® SCCA ProSolo® event, at the Mineral Wells Airport. Jocelin Huang, of Edina, Minnesota, was the Ladies Challenge winner.
The 173 racers reset the entry record for any ProSolo event held in Texas. This past weekend’s number was a 15-percent increase over the previous record, which was last year’s Mineral Wells ProSolo event.
Participants were rewarded for their attendance with favorable conditions, including temperatures in the 80s and 90s. There were also numerous social activities included in the schedule. The Friday-night cookout, sponsored by Vorshlag, and Saturday’s barbeque dinner, provided by the Mineral Well Chamber of Commerce, were big hits amongst all the participants.
The courses, designed by Jerret Jan, featured both high-speed and technical sections that pushed each driver to maintain their concentration. The courses were longer than the standard length used in ProSolo events to give each driver the best possible experience.
Madarash (Race Tire Index 2, Janco Pontiac Trans-Am) finished the class competition, held on Saturday and Sunday morning, second and qualified for the Super Challenge bracket in the 23rd overall seed.
His road to the final started with a first-round win over Chris Levitz (C Street, Scion FR-S). Troy Acosta (Race Tire Index 2, Jungle Cat Racing/Hoosier/JC Autospec Porsche Boxster) was the next driver to fall to Madarash in the bracket competition. It was sweet revenge for Madarash who finished 0.3-second behind Acosta during the qualifying rounds.
In the quarter-final round, Madarash took out Lee Chhit (Street Touring FWD, Custom Chip Connections/Outdoor Solutions Mini Cooper). Madarash then put down Charles Kim (Street Index RWD, The Alignment Guy Porsche GT3) before meeting with Erik Strelnieks in the final.
Strelnieks (Super Street Modified, Hoosier/OS Giken/ Jungle Cat Racing Mazda RX7) got to the Super Challenge Final after taking the top overall seed in the bracket. In round one Strelnieks downed Troy Dudley (Bump Class, FTW Racing/Synapse Engineering/MZM Nissan GTR), and then beat Bob Neff (Street Touring Sport, Mazda Miata) in the second round.
In the quarter-finals, Strelnieks was the victor over Mark Wortham (Super Street R, JBCorvette.com/The Auto Counsel Chevrolet Corvette). Then, Strelnieks beat Greg Reno (Street Index FWD, MiniUSA/Baron Mini and BMW/Kumho Tire Mini Cooper) to earn his spot in the final with Madarash.
Madarash would end up The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Super Challenge winner for the first time this season. Reno completed the podium positions after beating Kim in the third-place runoff.
In the Ladies Challenge, Huang (Ladies Class 2, The Alignment Guy Porsche GT3) started her pathway to the bracket win by knocking out Michelle Seelig (Ladies Class 3, Subaru STI). Huang then dispatched with Beth McClure-Strelnieks (Ladies Class 2, Hoosier/OS Giken/JC Auto Spec/Jungle Cat Racing Porsche Boxster) en route to the final. Kim Whitener (Ladies Class 3, Black Armor Helmets/Texas Track Works Honda Civic) was Huang’s opponent in the final round.
Whitener, the top seed in the Ladies bracket, got to the final after beating Connie Smith (Ladies Class 2, Audi TT) and Jackie Mutschler (Ladies Class 2, Chevrolet Camaro). When it was all said and done, Huang ended up Ladies Challenge winner while McClure-Strelnieks took home the bronze after beating Mutschler in the third-place runoff.
Daniel McCelvey (Race Tire Index 2, Thanks Thomas! Mazda RX-7), of Houston, was the Bonus Challenge winner.
The next stop for The Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Series is the Spring Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska, May 23-24.
More information, including full results, of the Mineral Wells Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo event can be found here. More information on the entire Tire Rack SCCA Solo program is available at http://www.scca.com/Solo.
Follow SCCA on Twitter @SCCAOfficial and like the Club on Facebook at Facebook.com/SCCAOfficial.
2014 Mineral Wells ProSolo
Just like DC, the East coast crowd continued to deliver on excellent action from some of the most popular classes nationwide, hopefully giving us a bit of a preview of what’s to come in Lincoln this year. So, let’s see how everything went after two days and two courses of competition at the New Meadowlands…
Some classes had little separation between trophy positions… and then there was SM. Street Modified had 3.9 seconds between first and second place. Tom “Stig” O’Gorman said he had a free weekend, and came out East to hold a Master Class in autocross and show owner, PJ Corrales, and others in class how to drive a “Panda.” Mr. O’Gorman noted after the event, “The car was a blast to drive and the fact that it’s less than a few months into development and already this good is a huge testament to PJ as a builder / set up guy. It amazes me.” Mr. O’Gorman was one of the few drivers to drop into the 59 second “time zone.” He bested Aaron Shoe and Michael Fineberg both driving their Mitsubishi Evolution. It’s also worth noting the 2013 SCCA Solo Driver of the Year is coming off his first ever club race weekend a week ago where he won his first race in the ex-Jinx Jordan ITC Civic. Despite the win, Tom noted, “It still didn’t give me the shakes like after an autocross run but it is a blast.”
Image courtesy of AutoX4u
In Super Street R, Grant Reeve held his own Master Class by leading both days in one of Solo’s toughest classes. Sunday’s final run was a victory lap as he knew he had the class, topping Jason Burns, Pat Salerno (who had been nipping at Grant’s heels all weekend), Josh Luster and Brian Conners. Grant has been putting on a strong showing in class since Wilmington and this is his second class win this year.
Image courtesy of AutoX4u
In STU, Heidi Ellison had her students all “wearing skirts” when competition was done Sunday afternoon. Brian Mancuso was in second after Saturday runs, but Laurence Casey snuck into the second position with a run just a tenth off of Ms. Ellison’s fast Sunday run.
H Street had Nick Babin, Matt Jones and Courtney Cormier traded positions back in forth; but Mr. Cormier ended up at the “top of the page” both days. Just proving that Courtney knows Minis inside and out!
In SSM, Jake Namer also lead both days in his Mazda RX-7 over David White and PJ Corrales in the “Panda” Nissan 240SX. They finished in that order with Corey Ridgick rounding out the final trophy positions.
A Street R, had Tony Savini leading on Saturday in his FRC Corvette with Matt Murray in second in his BMW 1M Coupe. Sunday finished with Savini having a commanding lead over the rest of the class and his co-driver, Jeff Jacobs, in second place.
B Street’s Pat Huxley, wheeling Josh Brockman’s S2000, lead at the end of the day Sunday to take the win over Nathan Young and Steve Kahre.
Image courtesy of FunPhotos
In BSP, Mike Lane and his awesome Nissan 350Z made the sweetest sounds from the motor and had some of the fastest times for the weekend. Great driving and a well setup car gave him the class win with Steve Seguis as the runner up for the trophies in the class.
X Prepared was turned upside down a bit, with Steve Hoelscher leading the class Saturday and GJ Dixon had pylons all three of his runs. But on Sunday, Steve’s MR-2, ran about 10 seconds before a half shaft failed and Mr. Hoelscher immediately turned off course. Once the MR-2 was moved to a safe zone he jumped in to Jadrice Toussain’s ESP Boss Mustang to finish his day’s runs to get times in the books to complete the event and GJ Dixon taking the win.
Additional Pictures can be found here courtesy of Perry Aidelbaum.
