Regional Road Rally Achievement Award
This award is presented in recognition of a Region’s activities in RoadRally for a new or ongoing program. This may include events, promotions, attendance, innovation in public relations, or event participation. The recipient of this award is selected by members of the RoadRally Board.
The 2020 Road Rally Regional Achievement Award is presented to the SCCA Northern New Jersey Region for its robust RoadRally program. The award was accepted by NNJ Region RE, Peter Schneider.
Best New Regional Rally Program
This award is presented in recognition of a Region’s activities in RoadRally for a new road rally program.
This year’s award goes to a Region that hosted its first RoadRally in decades. It was a Monte Carlo-style Tour rally where contestants were given the correct time to arrive at each of more than 40 checkpoints. They publicized the rally through MotorsportReg and were pleasantly surprised to have 50 cars enter the rally. They followed this up with a second rally in December which also attracted another 50 car entries. The 2020 Best New Regional Rally Program award goes to the SCCA San Diego Region. Ric Senior accepted the award on behalf of his RoadRally Team.
Divisional RoadRally Achievement Award
Initiated in 1992, this award is presented in recognition of an SCCA Division’s activities in Road Rally for a new or ongoing program. This may include events, promotions, attendance, or innovation in public relations. The recipient of this award is selected by members of the RoadRally Board.
This year’s award goes to a Division that is working to resurrect a Rally program that has been dormant too long. Their charity RoadRally last year brought a 92 car entry field, and they have plans to further expand their program in 2021. The 2020 Divisional RoadRally Achievement Award goes to SCCA Southeast Division. The award was accepted on behalf of the Division by Bob Ricker.
Manufacturers Rally Championship
The Manufacturers Rally Championship is an annual competition for all automobile manufacturers, domestic and foreign, in all National Championship Rallies. The winner shall be the marque compiling the highest total points in these rallies. For 2020, this award is presented to Volkswagen.
W. David Teter Outstanding National Tour Rally of the Year
Dave Teter was a long-time Road Rally organizer and competitor. The National Tour Rally of the Year award is named in his memory. This award is presented annually in recognition of the outstanding National Tour Rally.
This year’s winner is a National Tour Rally with a course that was more than 50% gravel roads through Michigan forests and ran the first half in daylight and the second half at night. While course following was easy, being able to arrive at each of more than 50 checkpoints at the precisely correct second was not. But judging by the voters who chose the winner of this award, the competitors thoroughly enjoyed this 180-mile rally. This year’s W. David Teter award goes to Hell and Back National Tour Rally, Scott Harvey Jr, Rallymaster.
Robert V. Ridges Memorial Award
The Robert V. Ridges Memorial Award is the highest honor in the SCCA Road Rally program. Bob Ridges was the Secretary of the RoadRally Board from the inception of the road rally program in 1957 until his death in 1965. Bob was a sportsman in the truest sense of the word. His honesty, integrity, unfailing good humor, and dedication to sports car activities left an indelible mark on the SCCA.
This year’s recipient goes to a member who began his SCCA RoadRally career in California back in the 1960s. To say that he lived and breathed RoadRally for the past 50 plus years would not be an exaggeration. He has written more rallies than we can count, with trap rallies being his favorite. Even after he could no longer drive, he continued to write National rallies with assistance from his good friends Karl Broberg, Dave Jameson, and Ron Ferris. In spite of serious health problems, he continued to compete nationally and host several rallies every year. In September of last year, he finally lost his battle with cancer and passed away at the age of 77. On the day before he passed, Karl presented him with the first Lifetime Achievement in SCCA Road Rally Award, signed by SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb.
It is my pleasure to present the 2020 Robert V. Ridges Memorial Award to John J. Sears of the Arizona Border Region.
