SCCA President and CEO Lisa Noble was awarded the 2014 Women’s Sports Foundation Project Podium Leadership Award by Lyn St. James, the second woman to race in the Indianapolis 500, at the Race Track Business Conference held, Dec. 10, hosted by the National Speedway Directory at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Indianapolis.
Leadership is described and demonstrated in so many ways,” St. James said. “Lisa’s character, charisma, and commitment to support cultural change without disrupting the core values of sports car racing is powerful. She is the perfect person to receive this year’s award.”
“It is an honor to be recognized by the Women’s Sports Foundation with their Project Podium Award,” Noble said. “As leaders in motorsport, it is our responsibility to encourage and mentor the next generation of competitors, to set the bar for them to achieve their best and to meet their personal goals. Project Podium offers that opportunity for growth through their scholarships.
“The award was especially meaningful to me as it was presented by one of the most ground-breaking drivers in the sport, Lyn St. James, and because it is a part of Paul Newman’s legacy. Mr. Newman was a hero of mine as well as an SCCA legend and that ties the award back to our wonderful Club, making it something of which we can all be proud.”
The leadership award was established in 2008 to honor Paul Newman whose support helped St. James launch Project Podium. Past winners of the Leadership award include NASCAR President Mike Helton, USAC founder and former Indy 500 Chief Steward Tom Binford, and former Director of Ford Racing Dan Davis.
Josten’s has graciously provided the beautiful trophy presented each year.
About Lyn St. James Lyn’s (www.lynstjames.com) passion, focus and determination made her a fierce competitor on the track where she achieved many firsts in racing. That same passion has made her an advocate for the next generation of racers and an incredible motivational speaker. As former President of the Women’s Sports Foundation, she was able to establish the Women’s Sport Foundation Project Podium Scholarship for women in racing and the Leadership Award to recognize outstanding leadership in the racing industry.
About Women’s Sports Foundation Founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King, the Women’s Sports Foundation (www.womensportsfoundation.com) is dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity. Project Podium teamed up with the Women’s Sports Foundation in 2013 under the leadership of past president, Lyn St. James.
About Race Track Business Conference The annual Race Track Business Conference (www.racetrackbusinessconference.com) hosted by the National Speedway Directory provides a platform for industry leaders to collaborate, analyze, and conceptualize around the business of motorsports. Shared insights from all forms of racing creates dialogue and interaction in a unique intellectual environment.
SCCA Founded in 1944, Sports Car Club of America, Inc. is a 40,000-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 and the U.S. Majors 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, like SCCA on Facebook at facebook.com/sccaofficial, or follow the club on Twitter @SCCAOfficial.
What have I gotten myself into?
Yes, I did it… I took over as the Southeast Division Solo Development Coordinator (AKA Solo Steward) officially for the beginning of the 2014 season. My thinking was that everybody would be as excited as I was to attend Divisionals, and events would fall from the heavens like rain. Hmmmmm… It didn’t quite work out that way. I guess I knew in the back of my mind it wouldn’t be that easy.
So, I’ve adopted a mantra.
My mantra is simple: 3 “R’s”. RE-ENERGIZE, RE-TOOL, and RACE!!!
1) RE-ENERGIZE!
The SEDIV Solo Series, despite several valiant attempts to revive it, has been pretty stagnant for the last few years. It needs to be re-energized. Since attendance at a Divisional/National Tour is no longer a prerequisite for attending Nationals, a standard Divisional is a tough sell. New ideas, new venues, and a new format is needed to regain the excitement.
The SCCA here in the Southeast also needs to move forward with new ideas to help regions restart or grow their Solo events. We want to offer to help them in this, both with some new programs at the SEDIV Convention and throughout the year as well.
2) RE-TOOL!!
The SEDIV Solo Series needs to elevate competition, but without losing the fun factor and becoming all “SRSBZNS”. We want to partner with regions who enjoy promoting our hobby. We do not want to run the series like a Tour or a Pro; Instead we want to work together with regions who would like to benefit from a big event, and help put on what we hope will be their best event ever, with support from SEDIV Staff and fellow racers.
We want the regions and SEDIV staff to work together in putting on outstanding Divisional Championship events, and let the region keep most of the profit. SEDIV will work with each participating region to promote and grow the event. SEDIV will take care of supplying trophies and key personnel. We want the series to feel welcoming to all soloists, old and new! These events do not require a “super lot”, or surface. Our goals with the SEDIV Series are all about elevating the competition AND having fun. We can never forget the number one priority – HAVING FUN!
3) RACE!!!
I personally like the Match Tour format from a marketing and logistical view point. It’s easy to attract sponsors, and it adds excitement to our racing. However, I know that I am in the minority with this view. So after considering several different variations that some of my fellow Chattanooga Region members cooked up, a better idea was presented to me (thanks Randall Prince), and we have decided to run with it. The idea? Rally-X Style cumulative scoring! As a bit of a break, we have decided to drop each competitor’s worst run. Otherwise, THEY ALL COUNT! No brackets: race and race hard! You have to, because you never know which run might be your worst. And now add in TWO COURSES, and all but your dropped times from both courses added together! Yeah it’s crazy, but our trials thus far have proven it to be fun and tight. How tight? Pro Class was decided by less then .250 sec at BOTH 2014 events, and for the championship we had to go to the 2nd tie breaker!
SO NOW WHAT???
The 2 trial events in 2014 were a qualified success. From an event format standpoint, and most definitely based on the excitement factor, it was right on. We even had the first in-car (and on-car) real-time streaming video broadcasting worldwide, thanks to Karl Rickert and his KARTS crew working the event. They did a first rate job!
The regions involved in 2014 did a great job of coming together and working together. And with the lessons we learned, and a few refinements in the works, we are ready to assemble the 2015 SCCA SEDIV Solo Divisional Championship Series! Our friends with Knoxville’s ETRSCCA have already stepped up for a SEDIV EVENT April 11 and 12 at Smokies Stadium. It is sure to kick off a fantastic year of SEDIV Solo FUN!!!
We are looking for regions to join us in growing this exciting series. Contact myself, Scott Dobler II, at [email protected] if your club would like to get involved in putting on one of these fantastic SEDIV events or are looking support to help build your region’s Solo program!
Next year will mark the third year of the Tire Rack SCCA Match Tour format. The first year’s format was completely different from the 2014 version. The last couple of events in 2014 seemed to have more and more members catching onto the format. With that in mind, we did not want to completely revamp the format, but instead we wanted to focus on making it a simpler and more fun event.
Below you will read how the rules will evolve for 2015. While you are reading through the rules, we want everyone to keep in mind that our main focus is to give everyone a fun weekend of driving their car around with their friends. Tracy and I have always done our best to give everyone a fun time and we will continue to do our best to accomplish that.
We are planning on having an entry fee of $80. Dropping the price will lower the barrier to entry and entice more folks that haven’t been to a National level event yet.
Now, going forward instead of telling you about all the changes, I will just tell you how the format will work. We are going to break everything into 4 Sessions. See rules for full details.
Session 1 and 2 (Saturday): There will be two Sessions. Everyone will get a minimum of 5 runs split between the two Sessions. We will add your best time from each session together to determine the class ranking. Think of it as a single day Champ Tour on one course. We understand that giving everyone 5 to 6 runs in a day will be a challenge, but by utilizing all of the daylight available to us, limiting the events to 200 entrants, and being diligent on operational items that directly impact time, we are confident that we can achieve this. We will still have an awards dinner Saturday night for class competition.
Session 3 (Sunday Morning): Everyone will receive three more runs. The top 8 on index per heat will qualify for the Super Shootout. Those 9 through 16 on index per heat will qualify for the Club Shootout. Everyone else that did not qualify for one of those Shootouts will be eligible to put their name in a hat for a Bonus Shootout drawing.
Session 4 (Sunday Afternoon): We will run the three Shootouts (Super, Bonus, Club). Dial-In times will be determined by the driver’s best time in Session 3. Just like in 2014, the goal is to have a better delta to your dial-in time than your opponent. Just like drag racing.
Each Shootout winner will receive a trophy hat and possibly other prizes (no cash prizes).
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at 1-800-770-2055)
We look forward to seeing you at a Tire Rack SCCA Match Tour in 2015.
