TOPEKA, Kan. (Jan. 18, 2018) -- SCCA’s 2018 National Convention got underway Thursday night in Las Vegas at the South Point Hotel and Casino with commencement of the Annual Meeting, which gives members a snapshot of how well the Club is doing.

In his first appearance at National Convention as SCCA® President & CEO, Mike Cobb addressed attendees and let them know the Club experienced one of its finest years ever.  Regional racing saw more than 80 events with nearly 8,500 entries.  The U.S. Majors Tour® had 35 events with more than 6,200 entries, and the Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour boasted 11 events with more than 2,800 entries.  And of course, the record-breaking Runoffs® at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where nearly 1,000 drivers came out to take a shot at the National Championship.

But that’s only one part of the Club’s 2017 success story.  Solo saw more than 75,000 entries, and Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack had nearly 7,500 entries.  Combined, Road Rally and RallyCross had more than 6,600 entries, and Tire Rack Street Survival had an amazing year with 1,300 participants.

“We had a pretty darn good year,” Cobb said in summation.

Dan Helman, a member of the SCCA Board of Directors, provided an update on SCCA Pro Racing.  In 2017, Pro’s two primary series were Formula 4 and Trans Am, both of which had fantastic seasons.

“This year has been hugely successful,” Helman said about the F4 program. “The FIA now considers us to be the largest open-wheel racing series in the world by entry count. We averaged 33 cars for our 20 events, and we had 48 total competitors.”

SCCA Enterprises also had a solid 2017, according to Enterprises President Robey Clark. Since 1983, more than 900 Spec Racer Ford chassis have been sold.  And to date, nearly 470 SRF3 conversion kits have been sold.  Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the SRF car had the highest number of participants during the 2017 U.S. Majors Tour.

“We are looking to go over the 500 mark for the Gen3 conversion,” Robey said about 2018 plans.  “We want to push increased entries for our Club racers at the Regional level, which is good news for road racing.”

Jeff Jacobs, Vice Chairman of the SCCA Foundation, also presented during the Annual Meeting and said great work is going on with the archives as the collection gets sorted and cataloged. He also noted that more than 7,000 hours of member time was spent in 2017 helping nearly 1,000 teens become better and safer drivers on the road through the Tire Rack Street Survival program.

The National Convention continues with Leadership Summit seminars Friday and Saturday designed to provide SCCA members with opportunities to further develop leadership skills, acquire specific SCCA training and network with others from the Club. The event then wraps Saturday night with the annual SCCA Hall of Fame and Awards banquet.