The Sports Car Club of America® is sad to announce the passing of 34-year member Tom Berry.
A mainstay of Southern California’s Cal Club Region autocross community, Tom was the patriarch of Berry Family Racing, which extended beyond relatives to anyone who showed interest in autocross, with Tom offering a seat in his cars to many through the years.
Tom’s accumulation of National-level trophies and awards during his 34 years of SCCA membership is breathtaking. With 10 Solo National Championships to his name, Tom is tied for 10th in the list of the most Open-category National Championships. In the same Open category, he’s also tied for 10th for the accumulation of the most trophies at Solo Nationals. Fact is, he left Solo Nats 26 times with hardware, meaning of his 31 visits to the Solo Nationals, Tom only left empty handed five times.
But considering his enjoyment and dedication to motorsports, it’s easy to say Tom never left any event disappointed. That devotion to the sport resulted in him receiving two of SCCA’s most significant Solo® awards: In 2009, Tom was presented with the Solo Driver of Eminence award, and in 2016, the entire Berry family was honored with the Solo Cup.
The Berry family was featured on the cover of SCCA’s SportsCar magazine in February 2016, where Tom’s attitude about the sport shined through.
“When we go to a race, there’s the five or six family members plus three or five other people who hang out with us and race our second car,” Tom said in the article. “That’s really a lot of the fun of it. We all go out to dinner afterward and do silly things like the ceremonial removal of the wristband and pile them up on the table…it’s a great, fun, family-type atmosphere that’s not actually limited to just our family.”
Tom was integral to many aspects of Cal Club’s Solo program, like designing courses and being deeply tied into ProSolo’s success in Southern California.
“We’re involved,” Tom told SportsCar in 2016. “We don’t just show up, race, and go home. Our whole group contributes to the organization.”
Tom passed away on June 28, 2025. That weekend, more than 40 Cal Club Region members cruised to his home to show their appreciation of him and all he’s done.
“Losing Tom is more than the loss of a great competitor and someone who gave selflessly to the sport – we’ve lost a friend,” said SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb. “Tom was a pillar in the community, always there with a smile, willing to help out and go the extra mile. His skill behind the wheel was extraordinary, but equally as impressive was his drive to better the autocross community, be it through volunteering or welcoming someone new. He will be missed.”
Photo by Sean Rice/SportsCar archive
