Many of us see year-end as a season of change, and our RoadRally Boards and Committees are no different. We are saying goodbye to Richard Wetzel from our National Events Committee (NEC) and thank him for his time of service to the National RoadRally Championship program. In 2023, the NEC will be Co-Chaired by Mike Thompson and Jim Wakemen and joined by Chuck Lorouere and Satish Gopalkrishnan to oversee all matters related to the National Championship and RoadRally Regulations. Their RRB Liaison is Larry Scholnick.
Jessica Toney will be joining the RoadRally Board in 2023. Rounding out the RRB with Jessica and me are James Hayslip, Larry Scholnick, Wendy Harrison, Carl Staab, and Jeanne English, who serves as our RRB Secretary. We await the appointments of our RRB Liaisons from the SCCA Board of Directors and will share their names and Divisions next month.
Our RoadRally Regional Development Committee (RRDC) wishes to keep John Poulos as Chairman and will add Michael Beliveau from the SCCA New England Region. Also serving on the RRDC are Ray Kriegbaum, Thomas Woodside, and Cheryl Babbe. Congratulations to their Team for completing Leg 1 of the RoadRally Road Map, which helps a Region build or enhance its road rally program. We look forward to their continuing efforts in 2023 on this and additional projects. Wendy serves as our RRB Liaison to the RRDC, and Chris Robbins is the National Staff Liaison; both are active participants in RRDC discussions.
With his election to serve on the SCCA Board of Directors, Peter Schneider has stepped down from service as the NEDiv Division Road Rally Steward. Clyde Heckler will be taking on the responsibilities of the Northeast Division (NEDiv) Divisional Road Rally Steward. Jeanne English will hand the position to Steve Gaddy in the Rocky Mountain Division. Your remaining members serving are Bob Ricker for SE Division, John Poulos for SW Division, Larry Scholnick for SOPAC Division, Paul Eklund for NORPAC Division, Rich Bireta for MidDiv, Piotr Roszczeno for Great Lakes Division and Mike Thompson for CenDiv.
To all those departing their volunteer service to fellow members and our SCCA RoadRally program, we thank you for your time behind the Zoom screens these past three years and appreciate your work behind the scenes to enhance our programs.
While we anxiously await news of the 2023 Host Region for the United States RoadRally Challenge, the NEC is working to confirm the commitment. We have two interested Regions, and I promise they will get the news out to you as soon as possible so that you can get the dates on your calendars and make your travel plans.
On the paperwork side, the 2023 RoadRally Rules and policy changes to Appendix A were approved by the SCCA Board of Directors. Folks, there are changes for next year that you will want to read up on. The December 15th Quarterly Zoom covered many of them, and I encourage you to watch the replay. We’ll announce the availability of the RRR’s pdf-file download and hard-copy purchase after the first of the new year.
Our SCCA Virtual Convention will be January 19-27th, and you may register, as an SCCA Member, for no fee! We will use the Whoova App with presentations on Zoom, and the agenda has already been published. Of course, you will want to attend the road rally sessions. Yet, there are many sessions for all programs, including Promotion, Risk Management, Women on Track, Divisional meetings, Sanction and Insurance, and more!
Our Robert V. Ridges Award, Teter, and Gervais awards will be presented at the Experiential Awards session on 1/24/23. The Divisional Achievement, Regional Achievement, Best New Regional Program, and Best New National Rally awards will be revealed at the RoadRally Town Hall on 1/22/23. I just wanted to give you a heads-up to register and start marking out the time on your calendars to catch our sessions and many valuable to you as a member and as a part of our Region’s leadership.
On behalf of the RRB, we thank you for participating in the SCCA RoadRally program – whether you are a member with 50+ years, those who are just joining us, or those in between. It truly is a sport that offers camaraderie, adventure, torture of the soul, challenge, and a chance to get out on the open road across America.
And that’s your Mike Drop as we close out 2022!
Mike Bennett, RRB Chair
