December 2017 REmarks
Hello everyone, my name is Chris Gregor and I am the new Regional Executive for the Chicago Region. I would like to thank Rick Bentson for his service on the board and as RE. Rick will still be active as our liaison with Road America as well as helping me with my duties.
Thanksgiving is behind us and 2017 is almost gone. We have had an amazing year with great successes. The Chicago Region received the Tom Burke Award at the national convention.
The Checkered Flag dinner was an amazing time and growing in popularity. The owner of Lake Forest Sports Cars is a region member and huge supporter. He allows us to be guests with access to sit in most of the cars and the ride and drives. Watch the webpage for the 2018 Checkered flag for more details.
We hosted a booth at the Race and Performance Expo. The event is well attended by racing fans of all types and we did a great job representing who we are and what we do.
There was a SCCA Driver’s School at Blackhawk Farms Raceway April 20-23, 2017 This event is co-hosted by Blackhawk Valley, Chicago, Land O’ Lakes, and Milwaukee Regions of the SCCA. It started on Thursday evening and ran through Saturday morning with full SCCA Regional Races on Saturday and Sunday. We had many new drivers and some veterans getting some track time.
Our Road Racing program had a great year anchored by another great June Sprints. All of the events were well run and staffed and most were well attended. The Competition Committee continues to work on increasing the participation at these events.
The June Sprints 2017 grand marshal was Bobby Rahal and SCCA president Mike Cobb attended. We have a fantastic group of workers and the race was “Not Just another Race”. If you haven’t gone, put it on your short list. Our Chicago Region Workers are highly respected across SCCA and have been standard for other regions to aspire to. Our members have received many awards and most recently Dennis Bednar was awarded the Grid/Pit Worker of the Year and Kevin Coulter was named Steward Worker of the Year. If you are interesting in seeing races close up let us know and you can learn from the best.
The beginning of April we had the solo racing “Learning Curve” with strong attendance. Many of the students continued to race throughout the rest of the solo season and were part of a large novice class at every event. Solo Racing had a full season of racing at Route 66 Raceway and was even able to add a 9th event. They had fun courses with a lot of variety in design and the events were well attended.
The Track Days Racing group have continued to be a model of success. They have a fantastic group of leaders, workers and participants. If you haven’t attended one of the events, I highly recommend going to watch or race. Even when they have had some big challenges thrown at them you would never know it unless you were behind the scenes.
We hosted several Driving Tours that I wasn’t able to attend but heard they were great. Doesn’t Cheese, Wine, and Beer Tour sound like fun or Tee-Time Tour. Big thanks to Steve Laske and watch our website and Facebook for 2018 events.
The Chicago Region has a “Fun Committee” that has been anchored by Peg and Claire Ball and many others. They have been the driving force in the June Sprints anniversary celebrations and
many fun outings like a trip to the Volo Auto Museum. Keep an eye out for more fun to come. If you have an idea for a fun event, contact anyone on the board.
We hosted two Street Survival schools that were great success. We received a lot of great feedback from the students and parents. Big thanks to all of our members that helped out with both schools.
I am looking forward to a great 2018, I love the smell of Hoosiers in the morning,
Chris Gregor
Regional Executive- Chicago SCCA
