SCCA Pro Racing Ltd. President and CEO Tom Campbell has announced his intention to retire later this year, and the company has named former Honda Performance Development chief Robert Clarke its new president.
Clarke joins SCCA Pro Racing after leading Honda Performance Development (HPD) for 15 years, from 1993-2008. Clarke began at Honda in 1981, before starting HPD as a ground-up operation, establishing organization, facilities, policies, procedures and developmental goals. As its president and CEO, Clarke developed HPD into a world-class motorsports research and development business, also winning six manufacturer championships, eight driver championships and 123 wins in top domestic open-wheel series and sports car racing.
Clarke’s motorsports roots started with SCCA, attending his first race with his father in 1959, establishing a base that would drive his racing passion, both in business and as a participant, for the next 55 years.
“I am very excited to work with SCCA, as it is an opportunity for me to give back to the sport where my passion for racing started,”Clarke said. “I look forward to use the skills, expertise and experience I gained at Honda and to help SCCA, as a whole, venture into some new directions to become more contemporary and relevant for today’s society and automotive enthusiast.”
Campbell, a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of both Sports Car Club of America, Inc. and its subsidiary, SCCA Pro Racing, was named interim President and CEO of SCCA Pro Racing in January 2011. Campbell agreed to remain in the position full-time, with a focus of bringing stability to the organization.
“The business of professional racing is a challenging one, and I am happy to say that SCCA Pro Racing is on sound footing and primed to begin a successful next chapter,”Campbell said. “It was never my intention to have a long tenure with SCCA Pro Racing, but rather to position it for future growth. Robert brings the professional motorsports industry experience and skill set we need to realize our full potential. I look forward to working closely with Robert over the coming months.”
Campbell will remain with SCCA Pro Racing as Chief Executive Officer throughout the transition, with Clarke starting as the new president immediately.
In addition to serving as SCCA Pro Racing President, Clarke will also work closely with the parent company, SCCA, Inc., in business development.
“Robert brings a tremendous background and new perspective to our overall business,”SCCA, Inc. President and CEO Lisa Noble said. “SCCA, Inc. and SCCA Pro Racing, will greatly benefit from his contributions. We look forward to working with Robert and the opportunities his involvement will bring to both companies.”
About SCCA Pro Racing
A wholly owned subsidiary of Sports Car Club of America, Inc., SCCA Pro Racing Inc. is a leading sanctioning body for professional motorsports events in the United States. A member of the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS), SCCA Pro Racing sanctions and provides a variety of operational services for the Pirelli World Challenge Championships, the Trans Am Series, the Mazda MX-5 Cup, the Formula 1600 and 2000 Championship Series and Formula Atlantic Championship. For more information, please visit http://www.sccapro.com.
Perfect weather and beautiful scenery set the stage at the Hampton Mills lot in Packwood, WA for the Northwest Region Championship Tour. The Karen Babb designed course, which had a technical mix of fast sections, challenging transitions and off-camber turns, was very well liked. From all accounts, the Saturday chicken feed, which was back at the local fire station this year, was once again awesome and the Northwest Region’s raffle set the standard by which all raffles should be judged.
Only four drivers showed in A/Street, in two C5 Z06s, but that didn’t prevent a hot battle for the top spot. Glen Hernandez held the lead on Saturday with his first run all the way up to Ryan Otis’ third run, when Otis squeaked into the lead by 0.094. Otis extended his lead on Sunday, winning by 0.570 over Hernandez.
Fifteen drivers contested B/S for five trophies, with David de Regt’s Honda S2000 leading the way on every Saturday run. Ricky Bang was determined to break up a Honda sweep in his Mazda MX-5, and he ended up only 0.080 behind de Regt on Saturday. The remaining trophy spots were all close enough to challenge on Sunday, in the Hondas of Owen Kirby, Richard Arienzale and Murray Peterson. De Regt and Bang led off dirty, allowing Kirby and Arienzale to lead after first runs. Bang’s 58.6 took the lead from de Regt’s 59.0 on second runs, with Kirby at 59.0 in third. When Bang tagged a cone on his third run, de Regt, a second driver, knew he needed to trim just about 0.3 for the win. A slower run was no help and he stayed in second, Bang breathing a sigh of relief. Of the trophy positions, only Arienzale would improve, to move ahead of Kirby (by only 0.026) and Peterson.
Street Touring FWD had eight entrants, and it looked like you could throw a blanket over the top three for much of Saturday. Bill Zerr’s SVT Focus had less than a tenth over Joe Austin and Chris Miller in MINIs after first runs, then Miller went into the lead by 0.025 on his second run. Failure to improve cost Austin and Zerr when Miller improved again on number three, going into Sunday with a 0.249 lead. Michelle Miller was only 0.214 out of the trophies and one to watch on Sunday. Sunday’s first runs started out the same, but with a different cast of characters. It was Stephen Hui, Zerr, and Michelle Miller flexing their muscle. Chris Miller waded into their midst on run two, taking back the lead with a 60.4, slightly ahead of Zerr. Norman Hayton’s Mazda 2 was threatening, now only 0.3 out, with a 60.0. Zerr and Hayton sealed their fates by failing to improve, then Michelle took the top time in the class for Sunday on run three, at 59.8, and into the lead. Could anyone challenge? Hui only came close to Hayton with his own 60.0. Chris used his day one lead and a solid 60.1 to take the lead back from Michelle by 0.171, and only Austin, with a pair of dirty 60.0s left to run. He would need a 59.8 to win, but could only manage a 60.0 to move into the third and final trophy, 0.004 behind Michelle. Who knew STF would be this exciting!
At the end of Saturday, it looked like the twelve car STC field was led by Nigel Koit’s only clean run, a very fast 57.6. Jim Harnish, in second, was over 0.7 out! Brent Glad was 0.314 back in the final trophy position with Shane Jensen 0.118 out of the trophies in his borrowed Tim Stake car. Birthday boy Don Wooten was not happy! His fast run was spoiled by the nasty cone #401. He lodged his protest and even had the on-site shirt vendor make a shirt proclaiming his innocence. When the checking was done, Wooten was exonerated, and his leading time of 58.1 was restored. In addition, it was found that Koit had hit the cone on his 57.6 and had no clean runs on the day. Harnish was fastest from the start on day two, and led all the way into third runs. It was Harnish, Wooten, Glad and Jensen for the trophies. The last car in the class would be Wooten. His 58.450 would take the win back from Harnish by 0.130. it’s pretty safe to say that Don’s 40th birthday was memorable, and there is no present he would appreciate more!
The legend of cone #401 grows…
STR was 16 drivers deep, but it was all the S2000 of Kevin Dietz on Saturday. His 56.6 on run number two was 0.540 ahead of Adam Ruff. It got tighter after that, with Ruff’s MX-5 only 0.014 ahead of Piotr Szarkowicz’ S2000, and then another 0.017 back to Tim Weidemann’s S2000 in fourth. Dietz posted an opening run of 56.9 to lead on Sunday, with Ruff next fastest at 57.6. Dietz then clocked in with a 56.7, but it was plus one, and Ruff served notice with a 56.6, now trailing by just under 0.2. Weidemann was stuck in the 58s, and fell out of the trophies, leaving Szarkowicz, Mark Ayers and Dennis Healy to fight over the remaining three trophies. They would remain in that order. Dietz could only knock 0.013 off his first run, leaving the door open for Ruff, near the end of the run order. Ruff knocked off 0.3 on his final run, his 56.3 sealing the win by 0.114 over Dietz.
Joey Sim threw down a 56.8 on his first run in the STX Scion FRS, and it would stand all assaults for the remainder of Saturday, not to mention it would have been second in STR. Ricky Crow and Annie Gill were next in Gill’s FRS, 0.573 and .606 back, respectively. Crow was fastest on Sunday, but could only pull to within 0.422 of the flying Sim, with Gill and Karl Coleman in the final two trophy positions.
The podium in C/Prepared was set to be an all Ford affair, with Frank Stagnaro’s Shelby GT350 leading the way with a 55.411. Frederick Pascual was 0.348 back, with Oliver Taylor only another 0.014 back. Stagnaro extended his lead on Sunday, winning by 0.667 over Pascual. Taylor and Clark remained in third and fourth.
Street Mod FWD was the tightest podium battle on Saturday, with Adam McCausland’s Mazda 323 at 56.835, leading Quinn Campbell’s Scirocco by 0.020. McCausland’s co-driver, Robert Green was only another .027 back for the final trophy. On Sunday McCausland had the fast first run at 57.3, while Campbell’s 58.6 was dirty. McCausland failed to improve on run number two, allowing Campbell’s 57.5 to pull within 0.3 of the lead. Again failing to improve left McCausland vulnerable and Campbell responded with a 57.2 to pull out a slim 0.042 second victory for the weekend. Green was slightly off the pace and finished 0.462 back in third.
More full results from the Packwood Championship Tour, please click here.
The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Championship Tour Series next heads to the Wilmington Airpark, in Wilmington, Ohio, Aug. 2-3. More information on The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Program is available at scca.com/autocross.
The Tire Rack SCCA Solo® Championship Tour had its most recent event at one of the most scenic backdrops to which the series travels. The competition site is set up in the parking lot of the unused Hampton Mills Lumber Yard, with the towering Cascade Mountains as a backdrop.
Temperatures in the 70s and 80s attracted 267 drivers to the picturesque area. The favorable conditions helped the event pull drivers from as far as California. An international flair was also added by a handful of Canadian racers who ventured south.
The course, designed by Karen Babb, featured multiple challenges for the drivers to overcome including fast sections, challenging transitions and off-camber turns. The result was close competition, with many of the classes being decided by fractions of a second.
The Northwest SCCA Region was the host for this event and did not disappoint anyone involved. On Friday, participants were greeted by a welcome party. The Saturday evening banquet also got rave reviews. Several prizes, including gift certificates to local businesses, an entry to an Evolution driving school and data acquisition software, were raffled off.
Street Modified FWD provided the closest margin of victory during the meet. Quinn Campbell (SMF, Q Tuned Volkswagen Scirocco), of Kent, Washington, emerged the winner by only 0.042-second. Adam McCausland (SMF, Dales Alignment Mazda 323) was the day-one leader; however Campbell came through on his last run to overtake McCausland.
Adam Ruff (Street Touring R, Adrenaline Racing/MCS Mazda MX-5), of Oregon City, Oregon, was the winner in STR, the largest class of the completion with 16 cars. Kevin Dietz (STR, Evo Schools/Jims Detail/Chase Race Honda S2000) was the class leader following Saturday’s three runs. After a night to think about it, Ruff was able to best Dietz on Sunday resulting in a 0.114-second margin of victory.
Ricky Bang (B Street, Mazda MX-5), of Richland, Washington, was able to pull out a nail bitter of a win over David de Regt (BS, Honda S2000) in another large class. After day one, Bang sat second behind de Regt by less that 0.1-second. On Sunday, Bang was the quickest in the class with a lap of 58.632. That was good enough to take the victory by 0.296-second. Street Touring Xtreme provided a feel-good story for those at Packwood. In a large class with closely grouped times, Joey Sim (STX, Nameless Performance/Raceseng Scion FR-S), of Gig Harbor, Washington, was the leader after day one. The overnight break changed nothing for Sim as he went on the score his first National Tour win.
Don Wooten (Street Touring Compact, DirtFish Rally School Honda Civic Si), of Renton, Washington, also celebrated his first National event victory in Packwood. However, his road to the win was not as easy as that of Sim. During Saturday’s competition, a cone hit was called on Wooten resulting in a two second penalty. That put him second, behind Jim Harnish (STC, Honda Civic Si).
On Sunday, the penalty was overturned by officials after evidence showed that a previous competitor had hit the errant cone. With his corrected time, Wooten was the fastest of the drivers on day one. Wooten then sealed the deal with the second-quickest lap of the day, which allowed him to finish in the lead with a 0.130-second gap.
More information, including full results, from the Packwood Championship Tour is available here.
The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Championship Tour Series next heads to the Wilmington Airpark, in Wilmington, Ohio, Aug. 2-3. More information on The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Program is available at scca.com/autocross.
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