E-mail from Howard Duncan (in case your spam filter ate it)

[Aaron Goldsmith]

No more national event rule book requirement and online contingency registration next year:

Cone Clips

SCCA Solo News


December, 2009



Solo Community,


I wanted to take this opportunity as the year winds down to give you a glimpse into the coming year. However, first and more importantly, on behalf of the SCCA Solo Department here in Topeka and all the folks from around the country that serve as part of your National Solo Field Staff Team, I want to wish you and your families a very cheery holiday season and a Happy New Year. Secondly, we all want to thank you for your support of the SCCA Solo program and all that you contribute to make it so successful.



Obviously 2009 was a VERY challenging year on the economic front and we did not really know what to expect. However, the Solo program came through these difficult times in fine fashion:

· Regional participation overall was even with 2008, although some areas had significant attendance problems.

· The Tire Rack National Tour participation was off a few percentage points, but most of that was attributable to some scheduling experimentation, including giving up at least one successful event so it could serve as a Divisional Championship.

· The Tire Rack ProSolo Series participation was actually UP by nearly 12%.

· The new site at Lincoln, Nebraska helped us get to within a few entrants of a record attendance at the 2009 Tire Rack Solo National Championship.



One of the areas of concern has been the safety record of the Solo program in recent years, specifically a couple years ago with incidents in finish areas. Since last year we saw a reduction in the cost of Solo insurance fees, a number of folks took that as a sign that all was OK. WRONG!!! What was not realized was that the overall SCCA insurance costs had gone down for a variety of reasons (bidding, insurance market status, etc.) and the reduction in the 2009 Solo insurance cost was actually less than other areas of the Club due to those incidents. Now that some of those incidents have worked their way through the system a little farther with regard to claims and legal proceedings, the fiscal impact becomes a bit clearer. The overall SCCA insurance costs are going up for 2010 and those incidents are a major contributing factor. Therefore, the insurance rates for Solo will be going up for 2010 by 10% or 50 cents an entrant.



The ability to mitigate future increases is in all of our hands; Safety Stewards, course designers, event officials, and entrants. We all have to be vigilant in being sure we have taken appropriate precautions to ensure fun and safe events. I know that for our part, we will be taking an even closer look at the way we operate National Solo events this coming year and we are hopeful that this will help set the tone for all levels of events.



Moving on to another topic, for many years I have been bothered by the requirement in the rules for showing a rule book at Divisional and National events, particularly after the rules started being posted on the SCCA web site. Also, this bit of bureaucracy hardly seemed in sync with the new Club motto of “Make it Fun, Make it Easy”. However, there was a fiscal (there’s that word again) component we could not avoid; the revenue from rule book sales was a significant contribution to cover the cost of rule development and management, including tech services to handle member inquiries. Therefore, the status quo continued to win out year after year.



Well, for 2010 we took the plunge and the requirement goes away. However, this does not diminish your responsibility to know and comply with the rules. In other words, no “the dog ate my homework” type excuses will be acceptable when a rule compliance issue (car prep or event op) arises. Therefore, we are strongly recommending that competitors still have a rule book at hand; either a “regular” rule book (they will still be available for sale) or a downloaded version.



You might ask how we solved the fiscal issue. Since the rules touch all levels of events, it was tempting to replace the needed revenue with a small increase in the Regional sanction fee along with an increase in entry fees at National events, but given the insurance issues mentioned above, we dropped the sanction fee increase idea. Therefore, we will be raising the needed funds with a small increase in the entry fees for National Solo events and the development of a new optional Solo License with a benefits package that should be of value for some within the Solo Community. Again, this license will be optional and NOT required. More details on this after the first of the year.



Just a few more quick things:



· The 2010 National Solo Rules will be posted on the web by January 1, 2010. The “real” rule books will be available by February 1st.

· The 2010 ProSolo Series Rules will be posted by January 8th. By the way, very minor changes will happened with those rules, but we know folks are eager to see the new Index factors.

· The 2010 Tire Rack National Solo schedule has already been posted, which is significantly earlier than in the past. We pressed to get this done early for a variety of reasons, but the primary objective was to get it done early to allow Regions and Divisions to get their schedules done earlier and avoid conflict with National events. We would like to thank all the National Solo event coordinators for working with us so diligently to get this done.

· The 2010 schedule includes some changes in the scoring for the Solo Triad Award, which was begun this year. If you missed that information, you can read about it at http://www.scca.com/newsarticle.aspx?hub=3&news=3823" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

· By the time of the SCCA National Convention in late January, we will have information regarding expanded communication efforts, including a new electronic National Solo monthly newsletter that will cover topics for all levels of the Solo program. One of the many things that are still up in the air is a name for this electronic rag. If you have a suggestion, please send it to me at hduncan@scca.com. If we select your suggestion as the name of the newsletter, and you are the first to submit, you will win a free entry to the 2010 Tire Rack Solo National Championship. So give this some thought over the holidays.

· If you are a Solo official of any stripe, you would find the SCCA National Convention interesting, informative, entertaining and worthwhile. Check with your Region leadership to see if there are funds available to assist you in representing your Region and your sport. More info at http://www.scca.com/event.aspx?hub=6&event=14461" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.



· Finally (really), a word on contingency programs. Virtually all National Solo (including those posted for Divisional Championships) require the driver to sign up in advance. It is your responsibility to understand the programs and to do what is necessary. You can review the programs at http://www.scca.com/contingencies.aspx?hub=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and I would suggest doing so regularly, as well as confirming that you are in fact signed up properly. To assist in this, we will soon have an on-line sign up system, so keep an eye out for this. However, if there is a program available now that you are interested in, I would recommend signing up right away the old fashioned way.



Well, that is it for now. Once again, on behalf of the Topeka Staff and the National Solo Field Staff, we wish you a Happy Holiday season.



H.



Howard Duncan

SCCA, VP, Rally/Solo

[Adrian Covert]

I don't have to buy a rule book to enter events anymore!!!! :gpower: About time!

[Randy Chase]

Thanks Aaron!

[Jason Flores]

HMMM..so where do we put our annual tech stickers now?

[Mike Simanyi]

We started discussing the Annual Tech Sticker subject two meetings ago, due to the *option* for people to pay extra for their membership and therefore not have to provide a printed rule book at registration.

We'll carry this forward at the next Committee Meeting and let our members know. One way or another, Annual Tech will be preserved.

Mike

[Kurt Rahn]

HMMM..so where do we put our annual tech stickers now?

I have a suggestion, but this is a family board

[Kurt Rahn]

I don't have to buy a rule book to enter events anymore!!!! :gpower: About time!

Too bad it was my year to buy ;)