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CHECKPOINT CHAT with Rich Bireta - July 2016
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Two Reasons for Optimism
In June we’ve seen two reasons for optimism when looking at the SCCA road rally program and the people who are members of our community.
On June 6 the latest SportsCar was published and in the front matter, an announcement was made of a new type of event, a Targa. Conceived by the SCCA Experiential Programs Department, this continues their mission of exposing various SCCA activities to non-SCCA members. With a target entry of 100 cars, cities and tracks to be visited include Charlotte, North Carolina, Atlanta Motorsports Park, Chattanooga, Tennessee and Bowling Green, Kentucky. Information is available here. The inaugural event will include an autocross, track time and a road rally!
That is the first reason for optimism, the inclusion of a road rally by the SCCA Experimental Programs Department in an event meant to attract newcomers to the SCCA.
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Rich Bireta in the Navigator seat, with his son at the 2011 Oktoberally in Wisconsin.
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The inclusion of a road rally in a program driven by SCCA Headquarters and targeting entry level motorsports participants and non-SCCA members confirms what many of us already believe, and that is that a road rally is an excellent event for newcomers to have fun with their car.
The second reason for optimism is the response of two experienced members of the road rally community to this event. Despite some healthy skepticism expressed on the Yahoo forum about anyone’s ability to pull off a quality event in a short amount of time, two individuals with extensive experience in writing and organizing rally events quietly stepped forward and offered their services to write a four-hour rally through the north Georgia mountains ending near Chattanooga.
Their positive attitude and willingness to do this work are the second reason for optimism
It has been a busy summer in our household with Boy Scout summer camp, a family reunion, a Boy Scout trip to northern Minnesota, a Weird Al concert (for my 17-year-old) and my seventh Bob Dylan concert. My plans, however, do include a trip to St. Louis to run the double Divisional weekend the last weekend of August. Hope to see you there.
Next Month: Two long-standing problems with the same solution.
As always, I welcome your questions or comments to rbireta@gmail.com.
Rich Bireta, RRB Chairman
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United States Road Rally Challenge 2016
New England Region Celebrates 50 Years of
Ted Goddard and his Covered Bridges Road Rally, with John Buffum's A Bridge Too Far Rally
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RReNews thanks Scott Belliveau of the New England Region for sending this information our way! Next month we'll have more vintage photos and Pit Talk covers to share with you!
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Ted Goddard with Sandra DeChard, his niece, on his 80th Birthday earlier this Spring
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Lodging at Mount Snow RATE INFORMATION Nightly Rates: Grand Summit Hotel Room - Sleeps 4,2 queens$109.00; Grand Summit Studio/Murphy - Sleeps 2, 1 murphy bed $99.00; Grand Summit Studio - Murphy/Sofa - Sleeps 4, 1 murphy bed, 1 queen sofa $109.00 Attendees will need to make their own reservations directly with the Mount Snow Reservations Department. To do so, they may call 800-817-0764. Be sure to refer to the NER SCCA Rally Covered Bridge Rally 50 group when making reservations so that you will qualify for the special group rate.
Lodging links: https://www.hotelplanner.com/Hotels/5833-in-West-Dover-VT.html#dir-bar.
For those who will be in the area a little longer and looking for something to do:
Hemmings Motor News Filling Station (museum) – FREE - 216 Main Street, Bennington, VT. Approx 45 mins from Mount Snow.
Bennington Battle Monument $5-15. Monument Circle, Bennington, VT 05201 Approx 45 mins from Mount Snow.
The Art of Humor Gallery – entertaining art. #30 Not-A Road, Wilmington, VT 05363 . $5 entry. 20 mins from Mount Snow.
Hogback Mountain scenic viewing and gift shop – FREE - 7627 Route 9 East, Wilmington, VT 05363. 20 mins from Mount Snow.
Tallulah's Antiques & More – Free - 247 Route 9 East, Wilmington, VT 05363 - 15 mins from Mount Snow.
Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory and Tours, admission fee - Waterbury, VT 2.5 hours from Mount Snow
Cabot Cheese Factory Tour – Free - 2878 Main Street, Cabot, VT 05647 2.75 hrs from Mount Snow
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Come join New England Region of SCCA as it celebrates 50 years of Ted Goddard and Covered Bridges and the roads less traveled. Covered Bridge 50 weekend will be headquartered at Mount Snow Resort, West Dover, VT on the weekend of November 4-6, 2016.
About the Covered Bridge 50 Rally. CB50, on Saturday 11/5, will be the 50th Annual running of the Covered Bridge Rally. It is a straight forward TSD Tour rally of approximately 140 miles. The name for the rally came from Ted’s love of covered bridges, probably fostered by the fact that Vermont has over 100 of them. Ted has been the rallymaster for all 50 years!
The rally will be run in two sections, a morning and afternoon section. Each will begin and end at Mount Snow Resort, in West Dover, VT. Contestants should expect a majority of unpaved public roads and maybe even a trip on a Ted Goddard divided highway. Passing through a number of covered bridges during the rally is a given. Make sure to obey the signs posted on the bridges. Afterwards, enjoy snacks and a beverage and revel in the adventures of the day while scoring is being done. Entry will be limited to the first 50 registered teams.
You would be amiss if you didn’t hang around for Sunday’s “A Bridge Too Far” Course Rally by Rallymaster John Buffum. This will be a lightly-trapped TSD rally suited for all ability levels. Traps may include those based on timing or speed, main road designations, and signage, as examples, but in no way limited to these. Have no fear, if you fall for a trap, John’s instructions will lead those who stray back to where you belong after a short detour. This will be a half day rally so travelers can head on their journey home by the middle of the afternoon. Enjoy an ice cream sundae to close out the Covered Bridge weekend celebration.
There will be displays and interesting CB memorabilia on display throughout the weekend.
Registration for the USRRC will be through Motorsportreg.com, yet is not open just yet! You can always find more information at www.ner.org/roadrally-schedule/ too.
Schedule: (tentative but should be within 30 mins) All events at Mount Snow Grand Resort
Friday Nov 4th, 6:00-10:00 PM
Registration, Welcome snacks, displays and novice school if needed
Saturday Nov 5th, 7:00-8:30 AM
Registration for “Covered Bridge 50 Rally”
- 830 AM Competitor meeting
- 900 AM Covered Bridge 50 Begins
- 1230PM Return to Mount Snow Grand Resort for lunch buffet
- 130PM Afternoon section of Covered Bridge 50 begins
- 400 PM First car finishes rally
- 530 PM Awards presentation
Following awards, dinner on your own.
Sunday Nov 6th, 7:30-8:30 AM
Registration for “A Bridge Too Far Rally”
- 830AM Competitor meeting
- 900AM “A Bridge Too Far Rally” Begins
- 1230PM Return to Mount Snow Grand Resort
- 12:30-1:30 Lunch (on your own?)
- 1:30-3:00 Awards and Ted’s favorite, an ice cream buffet farewell social.
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Roads Scholar Wrap-Up by James Crittenden, RM
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The Milwaukee Region of SCCA hosted the Roads Scholar Course RoadRally weekend in Madison, Wisconsin on June 11th and 12th. Fourteen rally teams from across the US made the trip to Madison for the Roads Scholar National Course RoadRally on June 11th. They were joined by an additional 30 local teams, the next day, to compete in the Roads Scholar Divisional Course RoadRally.
The team of Bruce Gezon (PA) and Steve Gaddy (MD) tied the team of Chuck Larouere (PA) and Rick Beattie (PA) for 1st place in Class E on the National with a score of nine points for 18 controls. The team of Bob Morseberg (WA) and John Sears (AZ) were close behind in 3rd place with 12 points. Jim Wakemen Sr (NJ) and Brian Nogrady (PA) took 1st place in Class S on the National with 173 points. The average score for the 14 cars was 235 points.
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All traps were worth about 50 points and a max was 100 points. Click here for the leg scores for the National. Contestant evaluation reports indicated that folks enjoyed the great roads and marvelous scenery that Wisconsin is famous for.
The next day, the 44 teams took a more southerly route from Madison to enjoy the countryside around New Glarus, Wisconsin. The team of Andy Kowalczyk (IL) and Chuck Hanson (IN) turned in the winning score of one point for nine controls to take 1st place in Class E. Jim Wakemen Sr and Brian Nogrady took 1st place in Class S with 14 points. Click here for the leg scores for the Divisional.
If you would like to receive a file containing the General Instructions, Route Instructions, and control slips for these rallies, or would like to discuss any other details about the event, please contact the Rallymaster, Jim Crittenden, at
james.a.crittenden@gmail.com
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My First Road Rally by Rick Myers
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Road Rally – Seat of the pants, or wing and a prayer…
“It all started out innocent enough; newly minted Regional Executive feels the need to experience all aspects of the club to have a better understanding of each program. You know, the usual stuff, how events work, what it takes to make it successful, etc. What I didn’t expect was to spend a year having a grand adventure, in part due to the nature of the sport and in part to the nature in which we approached it.
Participation in a road rally is simple enough;
roadworthy
vehicle and a partner that you can communicate with, no questions asked. The second part is tougher than you think; unless you have already passed the spousal tests of canoeing and wallpapering together, I suggest that you might want to look outside your current arrangements in selecting
said
partner! But I digress…"
RReNews thanks Rick for sending in his "My First Rally" piece.
The above gives you a clue of what is coming next month! Please consider sending in your story too. Rick, if you find that photo, send it in for the August RReNews!
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SCCA Regional RoadRally Development
by Jay Nemeth-Johannes
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The Social Rally
Did you know that SCCA RoadRally has a sanction-option for something called a Social Rally? It is designed to provide an economical and easy way for Regions to put on road rally events.
The Social Rally is very easy to get sanctioned. The Sanction fee is a flat $20, and this includes event insurance. With fees that affordable, a Region can almost afford to give free entry.
There are some restrictions though:
- the event can’t be part of any series, and
- is not a charity event
Other than that, it is only limited by your imagination! Put on a short TSD, a GTA (Games, Touring, Adventure aka gimmick rally) or even a Poker Run. It’s all good here.
Since this is a Social Rally, try to keep it social. This rally is not “damned serious business”, so think about breaking out of your usual mold. Try to make it a party for the Region and your regulars. Pick a format that is different than what you normally do. Keep the length down to a couple of hours so people don’t get tired. Add side events, such as a poker run, some sort of funkahna, and an activity at the finish location. Don’t score the side-events as part of the rally. That gives everyone a shot at winning something. Try adding a theme, and most of all, keep it lighthearted!
We are putting on an event in early August here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Harley-Davidson Museum contacted us about doing something with them. We are a fairly serious TSD group, yet this will be a GTA in the form of an A-B rally. In an A-B, every instruction has two parts; one is good and the other has some flaw. The contestant has to figure out the good one and mark it on a scorecard. High score wins. We add a bunch of stuff to mix it up. We have created a story with the founders Dave (Harley) and Willy (Davidson) riding along with the rally car. As we go along, they tell us to do stuff and point out some points on the route. They also spring some traps that change answers. We put in a few checkpoints along the way. These are an opportunity to interact with the cars and also to spring some more gimmicks.
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The GTA event can run on neighborhood streets at slow speeds.
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We include a poker run where people draw cards at the checkpoints. That gives the clueless a chance to win something. We will split the poker pot into $10 or $20 increments so several people will win poker pots. In addition, one of the checkpoints will have an activity that the contestants must perform. Again, the activity will be scored separately for another prize. Examples would be dropping tennis balls on top of pylons or in coffee cans, solving a wooden puzzle or some other form of whimsy.
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The Harley-Davidson Museum has graciously provided tickets for the Museum, so we will let the folks explore while we do the scoring. We tell them when to be back for awards and we'll get them to tell their stories as part of the awards.
The end result is nothing serious, and people tend to relax instead of trying to be perfect. So try and put something together a Social Rally for your Region. They don’t socialize often enough and this is the perfect opportunity to get them together and relax.
If this sounds good, feel free to contact me
at 970-290-9797 or click
here
to send me an email!
I have lots of ideas we can play with, and I am confident we can put together something that will work for you and your Region.
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A Forum for Rally Technology by Michael Young
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The Road Rally Tech Talk forum on Facebook has been active for over a month. As of this writing, there are 29 members including several app developers: Rich Bireta, Clarence Westberg, and yours truly.
The conversations on the forum thus far have covered a range of topics including suggestions for improvements or modifications to specific apps, calls for development of new apps or tools for navigation and distance measurement, debates over the best methods of timing controls, and the pros and cons of different timing devices including pneumatic hoses, photoelectric sensors, and purely manual watches or stopwatches (either the mechanical or the smartphone variety).
Also, the technicalities of maintaining internet connections, accessing GPS, communicating via Bluetooth, and transferring data among devices and apps have been discussed. These exchanges have prompted developers to consider alternatives to existing approaches to these issues and, in some cases, have already resulted in software modifications that are ongoing. In time, we may even see data exchange among apps running on different platforms whether mobile, laptop, or desktop.
For example, at least one supplier of GPS receivers (Dual) has made code specific to its products available on the Apple and Google platforms to maintain GPS signal processing from five to ten times per second rather than just once per second typical of internal smartphone GPS antennas. Consider that at 30 mph, a car would travel 44 feet or about seven rotations of a tire. Measuring distance more frequently is or should be more desirable in a road rally.
Dual receivers offer greater signal frequency for more accurate measurements and, in the case of the company’s high-end model 160, for additional GPS signals from Russian as well as U.S. satellites. Developers have exchanged their experiences in the forum so we can expect the hardware-specific code to be incorporated into new and existing apps for the benefit of users.
Rally teams already use various devices and technologies in combination to suit particular rally formats or styles. This begs the question of whether apps could be combined on a single device. Clarence Westberg has been most active in combining apps, some of his design as well as some from others, on the Apple iPad. He has shared the results of his trials with the forum. Some combinations work better than others, sometimes in unexpected ways. All this points the way toward improvements to the code that underlies apps so that they may work together more efficiently and rescaling of some apps to fit better on the tablet screens.
Sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly helps educate developers and users alike. That is exactly what we hoped would happen when we launched Road Rally Tech Talk.
Needless to say, we encourage anyone interested in staying in tune with all things tech related to road rallying to follow our Facebook site. Please join and get involved in the conversation.
From RReNews — Please let us know if there are apps that you are utilizing for Road Rally layout or competition (on your smartphone, tablet or iPad) and why you value them for our sport. Send an email to rrenews@comeroadrallywith.us today!
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An Interview with NEC Chair Mike Thompson
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Why was the NEC formed?
The RoadRally Board (RRB) holds one conference call a month lasting about 2-½ hours. The RRB felt that too much of that time was being used in the sanctioning and reviewing of National events. The NEC was formed to take over that chore so that the RRB would have more time to deal with other business.
What prompted you to join the NEC?
I’ve long held a passion for the National Road Rally Championship Series, both as a contestant and organizer. I joined the NEC do what I can to keep that Series a vital part of SCCA Road Rally program.
So just what does the NEC do?
The primary job of the NEC is the sanctioning of National Road Rally Championship Series events, both Divisional and National. We review the General Instructions for all National events and provide Liaisons for those events as well as the USRRC. The NEC also makes recommendations to RRB regarding changes to the Road Rally Rules (RRRs).
You mention changes to the RRR. Are there any pending?
At first glance the RRRs appear to be a formidable document. In reality, most of it is administrative stuff. So we are recommending that the RRRs be formatted into 3 sections:
Section 1 would consist of Administrative “stuff"
Section 2 would consist of Tour Rules
Section 3 would consist of Course Rules
Any other changes?
Yes. They are all administrative updates.
There is a proposal that Divisionals be required to follow Articles 22 – 27.
What happens next?
The RRB will review the proposals and they will be posted for public comment. Only after the public comment period will any action on these proposals. The RRB and the NEC sincerely urges you to comment.
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Greetings from the Home Office of RReNews!
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"STOP! Who told you that...No, STOP!"
Those words above were mine! I was speaking with someone who is getting new exposure to SCCA's National office and as a by-product, the very Road Rally program that is my chosen sport within the SCCA Family.
We were having, until then, a wonderful, heartfelt, laughing, and provoking conversation. It was when the understanding he had recently been given — that Road Rally as SCCA does it, our TSD-style events, that we are not a growing program and actually dying — that I honestly felt I needed to put in my “two words."
I explained that there were three styles of Road Rally with Course, Tour and GTA-syle, yet each of them had multiple ways they could be run. And certainly, while not the strongest of SCCA's sanctioned programs compared to Club Racing, Solo, or even RallyCross — we ain't dead yet!!
The truly great part was that he was willing to entertain that there was another truth and that perhaps all was not as gloomy as he had been led to believe. I shared the success of Jim Crittenden and his Roads Scholar Road Rally, and Rich Bireta right there in Kansas with his November Weekend events! Both had filled registrations at their recent events, and they were not fundraisers that brought supporters for a cause, who may not return for the sport! I shared that St Louis was readying for big August events, New England was having the USRRC for the Covered Bridge and expecting a good turnout. Heck, even Alaska will be hosting the USRRC in 2017.
The bottom line was that if one person keeps saying that we must forget TSD-style in favor of GTA events, that doesn't get much play. Yet should it keep getting repeated, more are going to believe it and that just is not true! I know many people who enjoy the challenge of TSD events across America for a multitude of reasons – out on the adventure, spending time with your mate or buddy or child, seeing the countryside across America, enjoyment of driving their vehicles, rivalries between teams and even drivers or navigators, the brain-game side of our sport, the geeks who have their computers 'n apps or the first-timers with a pen and a timepiece!
Case in point, on Wednesday eve, July 6th (my birthday, so of course I was at a rally!), I was Rallymaster for the 31st Annual Road Rally during the Bear Paw Festival in Eagle River, Alaska. That morning, I shared a phone call with Seth Spoelman, of the Hawaii Region. He, his wife Heather Levy, and their two tykes-Bill and Arthur, were in Alaska and had learned of the Rally through my Road Rally in Alaska Facebook page. It was their last night in Alaska!! They had never done this before! They were excited and ready for the challenge! Their plane was set to depart at 1152P and they had two tykes in the backseat! They found every checkpoint, and I assure you it will not be their last Road Rally.
We only had one Main Road Rule - left most, yet they and another new team to the sport Davin and Sayrah Mitchell made it from start to finish, with only a few alternate routes on their way to all of the checkpoints. Brain aka Jeff Lynn came out with his wife Kirren Smerserud – her first time and he has been away for sometime; they'll be back.
I will give you that we only had seven cars out on a Wednesday evening in a town thirty-minutes away from competitors homes (or even longer for our Hawaii friends), yet damnit! Road Rally is not dead!!
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Please choose to increase awareness of your events via calendaring when you have the date, to pre-event and post event articles to invite and entice folks to come rally with you.
We have invited (and continue to encourage) the National Events Committee and the Regional Development Committee to utilize RReNews and to reach out to those who have chosen to click on the link at the bottom of these RReNews to “Update Profile/Email Address.
Please, if you have not done so in the last two months, please take a moment now and scroll down — we don’t have a cost to subscribe, yet this is a great way to show your appreciation of our efforts. It is a two-step process, yet should take you between 3-5 minutes to do. Help us with keeping our eList pure and let us know you really want to remain on the RReNews mailing list in 2016!
Rallymasters, we can provide you a link to send out in a Facebook post, place on your Website, or via an email directly to your competitiors — help us gain exposure for RReNews in 2016!
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United States Road Rally Challenge 2017
We've seen this news posted on the RReNews Facebook page and in the SCCA Forums — the 2017 USRRC will be in Alaska!
The dates to be sanctioned are September 15-17th, 2017, to be in the "shoulder season" for airfares and lodging costs...and fewer tourists on the road!
There are means to reeceive FREE tickets to travel north to Alaska for the USRRC! Your excuses to visit Alaska and run three-days of sightseeing, adventures and road rally events are being eliminated! Lodging has been booked in Seward on Friday evening and Homer on Saturday evening, and work is being done weekly. At this time, we can share that the sanction has been sent to the NEC and the National Office.
Click here to send an email to be added to the growing list of those interested and committed to heading North to Alaska in 2017!
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Words from the Wheel
As promised in the last issue I am giving you the numbers from the first six months of 2016!
January 2016 started off with 6 events and 114 participants – a good start to the year and all are paid. No Sanctions were canceled. We end up these first six months with the total of 61 Sanctioned events and 695 participants!
No cancelations, but there are 11 road rally events needing to send in their audits. Once we get the events paid, the numbers will look even better.
To compare these numbers, we had a total of 65 sanctioned events held in June, 2015 with 755 participants. Which means that we are almost even with last year.
Please remember if you have a flyer or other information that needs to be on the SCCA events page send the information to my attention – drowland@scca.com and I will make sure it is posted.
Keep up the good work!
Questions? You can call me at the National office 800-770-2055 x331 from 7AM to 3:30PM CDT, or through eMail.
Deena Rowland
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SCCA Road Rally Minutes
by Jeanne English, RRB Secretary
Minutes from the SCCA RRB Meeting held June 6, 2016 are presented this month. Click here to download!
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Road Rally Events in 2016
Does your Club, Region, Chamber of Commerce or a neighbor town have events planned this year?
Please send date, details and contact information to rrenews@comeroadrallywith.us for our North American Road Rally calendar. This online calendar is for all marque clubs, independent car clubs and SCCA Regions, as well as community events in your hometowns!
We want to help you bring awareness to your events and the sport of Road Rally across North America. We are trying to make your initial input smoother — and we hope to share that in our July edition of RReNews!
And pre-event or post event write-ups of special events? Send a write-up and photos to RReNews sharing the event with fellow rallyists as well. Share your enthusiasm and success!
We are still on target for July 26th, when we'll hope to unveil the changes on our webpage to better help promote events and share the road rally news on North America. As always, we welcome your comments 'n kudos!
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SCCA National RoadRally Championship Standings
The RoadRally Competition Season is now a calendar year – January to December. John Emmons is the 2016 Points Keeper for the SCCA National Championship. This month we present the points for National Tour and GTA through May 31st.
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SCCA 2016 RoadRally Planning Calendar
This planning calendar can help you to plan your travels to a road rally and help organizers plan their calendar around others in their area!
Per Jeanne English, this is the latest version of the calendar — June 6, 2016.
All SCCA Regions are encouraged to Sanction their events through the National Office as soon as the date is known – it will get it out on the planning calendar, a listing in SportsCar and let fellow Rallymasters know that date is already taken.
Jeanne English
maintains this calendar, with input from
Deena Rowland of the National Office as sanctions come in from Organizers. Seek out the latest calendar off the www.scca.com website via the About SCCA and the Downloads tab!
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Road Rally eNews is produced in association with the Sports Car Club of America
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