Want off the RReNews mailing list? Scroll to the bottom of this message and click on the Unsubscribe link!
You are receiving this as an enthusiast of Road Rally in North America!
ROAD RALLY eNews — November 2017 Edition
Your Road Rally Roundup of News, Views, and How-Tos 
 
Kettle Moraine Checkpoint View
Kettle Moraine Checkpoint
National Events Committee Report
by Mike Thompson, NEC Chairman
Well, I'm baaack! I totally spaced out doing last month's report. It's been a busy time for me, with a trip to Alaska for the United States Road Rally Challenge, the Clare Color Tour in Michigan, and the Sierra de Carrera and Golden West in California. So much for my excuses, I'll try to not let it happen again.

The 2018 National Championship schedule is beginning to take shape. We already have events scheduled for:
  • March in Vineland NJ
  • April in Monroeville PA
  • June in Madison WI
  • September in La Crosse WI
  • USRRC in October in Colombia IL
If you are planning to present a National Championship rally in 2018, let me know as soon as possible. I'd like to put out a schedule soon; I'd like to add a few more events. 
 
There will be an open spot on the National Events Committee. Bob Demerit , of the Chicago Region, will be leaving the NEC at the end of the year. Bob has been with the NEC since its inception. I'd personally like to thank Bob for his service. NEC duties include attending a monthly conference call, serving as Liaisons for National Championship rallies, and working with the RRB on The Road Rally Regulations.

If you'd like to add a National rally to the 2018 schedule, or should you be interested in joining the NEC, please contact me at mkrally08@gmail.com.

In my last article, I discussed the need for a minimum 12.00-mile odometer check. This requirement has been in place for over 30 years. As Rallymasters we need to make sure our rallies meet this requirement.

That's AZICIT
October 27, 2017, 12:18 CDT.
Mike Thompson
NEC Chair
CHECKPOINT CHAT - SCCA RoadRally Board News
November 2017 by Rich Bireta , Chairman  
Fourth Quarter
In my day job, the fourth quarter of any calendar year is the peak time of work for us. The same is true on the SCCA Road Rally Board, with many date driven tasks needing to be completed by the end of the year. This month I'll give you an update on what lies ahead for the RRB for the rest of 2017.

October – Rule Changes
During our October meeting, the RRB made decisions whether to accept or reject each of the sixteen rule change proposals that have been suggested for next year. The results of the RRB's October votes were released in the previous RReNews. Let's first review the rules making process.

The calendar for rules changes requires proposed changes to be brought before the RRB by June 30. The RRB then takes an initial pass at the changes, reviews the rationale for each and takes a preliminary vote as to whether or not they should be released for public comment. This initial vote is only meant to eliminate any proposals that would have no chance of passage by the RRB. Sometimes, as happened this year, the RRB will release a proposal for public comment even though there is not strong support for the change from the RRB.

Sixteen proposed changes passed the initial review and were released for comment by the rally community. At the October meeting, seven of these received approval from the RRB and will be sent to the SCCA Board of Directors for final approval. That BOD has the final approval as to whether these rule changes go into effect for 2018. Although this is usually a rubber-stamp approval, the BOD has surprised us in the past, requiring either additional justification or, in one case, by not approving the proposed rule change.

Following this final action at their meeting in December, the 2018 Rule Book will be created and available in softcopy on the SCCA website and hard copy from Amazon.

November – RRB Membership for 2018
A main order of business for the November RRB meeting is to recommend a slate of RRB members to the SCCA BOD for approval at their December meeting. The BOD will discuss this slate at their December meeting and, after approval, the composition of the 2018 RRB will be made public in the December Fastrak.

In previous years the November meeting is also available to finalize any unfinished business regarding rules changes. Rules changes were completed at the October meeting, with only the language of one rule up for discussion.

December – Convention Preparations, Year End Awards, 2018 Kick Off
At our December meeting, the RRB turns its attention to the new year. We'll finalize the presentations and speakers for the SCCA Convention and vote on the Regional and Divisional Road Rally Awards.  Bruce Gezon, Jamie Mullin and I will oversee the voting for the Gervais and Teter "Rally of the Year" Awards. 

YOUR End of Year Task
We've started to see National events calendared for 2018. I encourage all road rally organizers to inform Jeanne English of your planned event dates so they can be placed on the Road Rally Event Calendar for early notice to contestants and fellow organizers. Jeanne's email is ean21@juno.com.
 
As always, I welcome your comments on this topic or any other item of interest to the rally community.
Rich Bireta , Chair
SCCA Road Rally Board

PS: Don't forget to send in your Nominations to the rrb@scca.com, by December 1, 2017, for the SCCA Robert V. Ridges Memorial Award. More information as to the requirements can be found here!
 
Milwaukee Region – Here's to You!
by Driver, Kettle Moraine Color Tour, Car #26
The black and white photo as RReNews November edition photo is from the Kettle Moraine . Above is opening meeting, Navigator Alexis Marie and I as we ready to start the rally, and the final scores ( clickable )!
 
Thank you to the SCCA Milwaukee Region for a well done Kettle Moraine Color Tour Road Rally on Sunday, October 29th, out of Delafield, Wisconsin.

Sixty-two road rally enthusiasts headed out on the adventure — MANY on their first rally!! Over a dozen volunteers worked Rallymaster Fred Rosevear's route instructions — as Registration, Safety Steward, Pre-Checkers, Checkpoint Workers!

I was down in America for business, a genealogy trek, and as I had promised my Grand Niece we'd do a road rally – we took in the Kettle Moraine Road Rally. I have to admit that is was great to be out running a TSD-rally after a 12-month draught!!

At age 14, I believe Alexis Marie was the youngest SCCA member in the Navi seat on this rally! She had a great time, many were kind to her – an enthusiastic young rallyist from a small town, and fortunately (for me) not all believed I gave her five heart attacks with my driving or that we were airborne at one point!

As we made our way back over the three hour drive west from Delafield – in the wet 'n rainy darkness – she remained excited about the day and wondered when her next road rally would be, yet her Aunt Cheryl thoughts were more along the lines of "...and today was a great day". After all I had time with my Grand Niece, honor my promise to take her on a road rally in America, and the chance to put more names 'n faces together within our North American Rally Family!

I'll play autocrosser here and say "if we take out our two "bogus" scores" (ie: cones we hit) we finished with an easy 108 points! We had 258 "officially" yet on our first outing "we" missed seeing two speed changes in the route instructions, ha! 

That said, some checkpoint workers were astonished to hand us slips with words of "well done! what you computing with?", "can this be right?" and "wow! you got a one" for our zero, one, two, four, six and thirteen point scores. Sadly, we got a "you're 77 early" too (recall that speed change missed), ha! Hey! Even Bob DeMerritt, the lone driver in the Computer Class, came by to acknowledge that "zero" we earned, ha!

Well done Milwaukee Region!!!

Well done Navigator Alexis Marie too!
Upcoming Road Rally Events for YOU!
Laurel Highlands British Car Club and the SCCA Allegheny Highlands Region Results

After some sixty miles across Westmoreland County, PA, Sunday, October 29, 2017, fifty-four road rally enthusiasts headed out on the The Highlander.

The Annual GTA event is co-sponsored by SCCA, Allegheny Highlands Region and the Laurel Highlands British Car Club, and benefited Habitat for Humanity.

After 62 miles, the 27 teams, saw a three-way tie for first with 15 points between the teams. Click here for the results!
The CBS Rally

Road Rally w/ SCCA - Atlanta Region - Rally on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at Athens, GA - tba, Athens, GA - The Atlanta Region of the Sports Car Club of America invites you to the second RoadRally of the season, a 100 mile tour of the...

Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
The 2017 Food Drive (Charity Road Rally)

Road Rally w/ SCCA - Philadelphia Region on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at Joseph E Hanusey III Community Park, Doylestown, PA - This charity road rally will take you through some amazing back roads just in time to put you in the spirit of giving.

Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
Children's Book Run

Road Rally w/ SCCA - Texas Region - RoadRally on Saturday, December 2, 2017 at Rockwall and Hunt Counties, Rockwall, Texas - Normal 0 ...

Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
Big Lap

Road Rally w/ SCCA - New England Region - RoadRally on Saturday, November 4, 2017 at Rt. 104 Diner, New Hampton, nh - Big Lap Rally will run on Saturday, November 4th, stating at the Route 104 Diner, on Rt. 104 in New Hampton, NH. Finish will be...

Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
The Blacke Rallye

Road Rally w/ SCCA - Milwaukee Region on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at Best Western Arrowhead Lodge, Black River Falls, WI - SCCA Milwaukee Region Presents The Blacke Rallye Saturday, December 9, 2017 Contact Chairperson Jim Jurgenson...

Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
Pavement Ends

Road Rally w/ SCCA - Detroit Region on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at Aubree's Pizzeria & Grill, South Lyon, MI - DETROIT REGION SCCA PRESENTS Pavement Ends TSD Rally Saturday, November 18, 2017 A DAYLIGHT/EVENING ROAD RALLY THIS EVENT WILL COUNT ...

Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
Road Rally 2017 #3 Hunger Games

Road Rally w/ SCCA - Arctic Alaska Region on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at Anchorage area, Anchorage, AK - The 2017 SCCA AAR Road Rally Season continues with another GTA event on Saturday, November 11. Note to all interested in participating -...

Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
Post Your Upcoming Rally HERE?
You bet! We welcome you to Come Join Us!
RReNews is not an SCCA Publication, yet produced in association with the Sports Car Club of America by road rally enthusiasts.

Our goal is share news about our beloved sport of Road Rally across North America — be they sanctioned by the SCCA, PCA, BMW, or local marque clubs!

Please send us news of your upcoming event dates and promotional materials to list, so as to make fellow rallyists aware of your events. And post event — send your write-ups and photos to share news of the adventure!

You can send information to Cheryl Lynn by clicking here!
 
Words from the Wheel with Jamie Mullin
Greetings from the National Office -
Registration is now open for the 2018 SCCA National Convention, January 18-20th, at the South Point Hotel and Casino. Click  here to view the press release which includes a link to Registration, a link to book your reservation, and the tentative Convention schedule. 

We would love to have members of the RoadRally community join us in Las Vegas to acquire specific SCCA training and network with others from the Club. 

This year the schedule includes  RoadRally as a Social Activity and  RoadRally Safety Steward Training in addition to tracks for Region Leadership, Marketing & Communications, Risk Management & Insurance seminars. 

Update on SCCA 2017 RoadRally Sanction Numbers
First Quarter
Jan - 4 events, 130 participants
Feb - 9 events, 115 participants
Mar - 8 events, 87 participants
TOTAL EVENTS 21, TOTAL PARTICIPANTS 332
AVERAGE # of participants = 15.80

Second Quarter
Apr - 13 events, 152 participants
May - 15 events, 166 participants
Jun - 8 events, 19 participants
TOTAL events 36, Total participants 337 (10 events open)
AVERAGE # of participants = 9.36

Third Quarter
Jul - 8 events, 35 participants
Aug - 11 events, 97 participants
Sep - 12 events, 132 participants
TOTAL events 31, Total participants 264 (12 events open)
AVERAGE # of participants = 8.52

Fourth Quarter
Oct - 20 events, 93 participants (13 events open)
 
Regional Development Program & RoadRally Safety Steward License Validation
by Peter Schneider
As you may know a couple of years ago, the National RoadRally Board (RRB) formed a sub-committee to focus on Regional RoadRally Development. A small group of volunteers got together to try and expand the sport to Regions that at the time did not offer rallying as an option to their membership. An introduction to rallying was offered at the 2016 National Convention along with a RoadRally Safety Steward Licensing class. In the first year of the Regional RoadRally Development Program was active, five Regions put on events, which either never had a rally before or have not had one in recent memory.

At the end of 2016, the RRB was asked by the SCCA Board of Directors to increase their focus on growing Regional RoadRally programs.

At the 2017 Convention, the RRB, set three priorities for 2017. These items are:
  1. Improved Commutation from the RRB to road rallies.
  2. Revalidations of the process from the RoadRally Safety Steward program
  3. Development of a Regional RoadRally Starter Kit.

To date, the RRB has created a written Application Process on how to become a RoadRally Safety Steward (RRSS) and RoadRally Safety Steward Instructor (RRSSI) and created a RoadRally Safety Steward Knowledge Test. These documents are available of the RoadRally Document Download Page. In addition, Divisional RoadRally Stewards (DRRS) have been recruited to fill three vacancies, and all DDRS have agreed to work with Regions in their area which want to expand or create new RoadRally Programs.

The RRB is also putting the final touches on a Regional RoadRally Starter Kit, which will be utilized as part of a session at the 2018 National Convention in Las Vegas. It provides the steps needed for Regions to put on their first RoadRally, either a Social/GTA (Gimmick) rally or a simple straight-forward Time Speed-Distance Event.

The RRB will be reaching out to all Regional Executives that do not have an active RoadRally program, asking them to send a representative to the Regional Road Rally as a Social Activity or RoadRally Safety Steward Training session.

In September each of the existing RoadRally Safety Stewards and RoadRally Safety Stewards Instructors was contacted, providing them a copy of the new RRSS/RRSSI Application Process and Knowledge Test.

At that time each of the RRSS and RRSI were asked to validate the involvement in the program. Unlike the other SCCA National Licenses, the RRSS/RRSSI Licenses do not expire and do not require recertification. In the last two months, we have had a 75% response rate from RRSS and a 77% response rate from RRSSI.

Of the 306 RRSS/RRSSI contacted, 37 (12%) have informed the RRB that they are no longer active in road rallying and wanted to surrender their License.

We will continue to reach out the those RRSS/RRSSI which have not responded to the emails concerning the RoadRally Safety Steward License until we have contacted all existing License holders.

If you have any questions about this effort or you have not had a chance to respond to the emails about your status as an RRSS/RRSSI please either contact Peter Schneider at NJRALLYE@AOL.COM or via phone at 908-938-8750.
SCCA Matters —
Minutes, Planning Calendar, Championship Points
From the Home Office — Road Rally eNews
"Everyone wants to have the dead mans' license plate!"
I was told this years ago as folks were wrangling for a certain plate here in Alaska. I know my Triumph TR3-A was off the road for a year, and we did not renew it timely. Someone is running around with the Alaskan license plate SCCA and no doubt would rip it off their vehicle (we've seen it on three different vehicles already) if they knew the meaning of the letters by some in Alaska's motorsports, ha! I gotta tell 'ya – some things are just right in the world and make me laugh!!

While some may choose to think it is because I was the Rallymaster for the 2017 United States Road Rally Challenge, hence the chosen personalized plate, it was actually an innocent passing comment by a rallyist of what it "really meant" in the motorsports world! I ordered it up and I received it when I checked the mailbox the day after the USRRC! Quite timely I'd say.

Rallying into Twenty Eighteen
Many of us are talking about what events we can travel to so we can take in some TSD rallying. I am hopeful that the Wesley's might make The CBS Rally by Mark Johnson and at the USRRC some were talking of a trek to Illinois for the St Louis events. Just yesterday I shared conversation with a Region Member who is intent on searching the 2018 calendar to take in two events, weekends apart to get in some TSD! Anyone know of road rally events in Florida or Maine? Please let us know!

Elsewhere in the months' edition you saw Mike Thompson making a request for SCCA National Championship event dates, yet I would add and encourage that if you know of Regional and Divisional events with firm dates – get your sanctions into the National Office now! For SCCA events, it puts them on the website and it puts them in SportsCar. For SCCA-sanctioned rallies and those by communities, marque and regional car clubs it will allow RReNews to help get the word out so rally enthusiasts can plan their schedules and perhaps most importantly, fellow Rallymasters can choose another date for their event in your area!

In 2018, we will be seeing the start of our sixth year of RReNews! Some rallyists out there gave us two issues and some gave us six months of existence, yet the RReNews Team is still striving to serve the North American Road Rally community. Freed from two more volunteer obligations this fall and speaking only for myself as a part of the Team, I am hoping to give more time to this project in 2018. I anxiously await the direction by the 2018 SCCA RRB and how that may affect our work, yet for now in the words of the Alaska Rally Team of old, we remain on course and "Onward...into the Fog!!"

Facebook 'n USRRC Closeout
By nature, I am just not a Facebook 24/7 like some folk are, and I know that many of you are not on Facebook at all. That said, I do post up news as it comes across the desktop.

I do have more to close out on the USRRC, yet we are pleased to see some coverage coming out from the media writers — Daniel Shaprio (Huffington Post), Alex Kalogianni (DigitalTrends), and Lawrence Ulrich (The Drive) posts are below and I hope you enjoy them! The video with Alex's piece is stunning work by Daniel Baker and shows the scenic beauty of Alaska for sure! We are delighted to see Facebook views of 1695, 1880 and 1749 for the three articles on Facebook, as well as clicks, comments, reactions and shares! We don't post every day, yet I encourage you to checkout the Road Rally eNews Facebook page via the link at the bottom of this edition! For those of you not on Facebook or those of you who may have missed these three write-ups in your threads — click each of the three links and enjoy!

Be well. Safe travels. See you in December... Safe travels, Cheryl Lynn , Road Rally eNews
Rallying to Preserve the Historic SCCA Rally Archives...
From Road Rally eNews support of the USRRC in Alaska

We give of our time, many of us do, to those activities we believe in and enjoy; some of us give of our dollars as well to preserve history for future generations. I very much want to thank those of you who c hoose to show your appreciation of my volunteer hours on RReNews these past five years by making a donation to the IMRRC, through the 501C3 SCCA Foundation as requested last month!

The 2017 United States Road Rally Challenge's restricted donation to the International Motor Racing Research Center means the funds must be utilized as requested, and the funds raised will go toward the preservation and digitization of the SCCA Rally Archives at the IMRRC.

We are working on the best means to raise funds, via bidding, for that entry to the 2018 USRRC in December! The fundraiser remains open until January 31st.

We'll see you down the road....
 
Road Rally eNews is produced in association with the Sports Car Club of America