Chicago Region SCCA General Membership Meeting
By Steve Laske
The Chicago Region’s October General Membership meeting was held on Wednesday October 16th at Blackdog Speed Shop, 600 Barclay Blvd, Lincolnshire, IL. The program for the meeting was “A drivers perspective of racing over the years up to this year’s June Sprints®”. Before the program began “RE” Roger Vilmur announced the three candidates nominated to serve on the Region’s Board of Directors. The nominees are Peter LeSueur, Chris Dvorak and Jeff Kumler. Peter LeSueur will be returning for his second term and is our current Track Events liaison. He is also an active road racer in the Northern Conference. Chris Dvorak is an active Solo competitor and is frequently found assisting with the conduct of the events. Jeff Kumler is also an active Solo competitor and likewise is frequently found assisting with the conduct of the events. Roger also reported to the group that Joe Helser, a 51-year member of SCCA and Blackhawk Valley Region is the candidate this year for Area 5 Director. Joe is running unopposed so there will be no voting available on the SCCA web-site for Area 5. Roger also announced the day and date of the Chicago Region’s Annual Meeting (Tuesday November 19th ) which will be held at Blackdog Speed Shop also.
Steve Laske reported on the dedication of Officials Park at Road America. The Region purchased three limestone benches with engraving recognizing the beginnings of road racing in Elkhart Lake in 1950 and all of the officials and SCCA volunteers that staffed the races at Road America since 1955. Road America also supported the project by providing the location for the park and upgrades to the location including planting trees in the area.
Following those reports Steve Laske introduced our two guest speakers, GT1 and Trans Am driver Rick Dittman, and Spec Miata and Spec MX-5 racer Matthew Novak. Rick, has been racing for over five decades, in amateur BP and GT1 road racing and in pro racing in the SCCA Trans Am series. Rick has had many podium finishes and this year at the 2024 SCCA Runoffs he finished third in the GT1 race. Matthew who is 18 years old has been racing with SCCA for four years. In 2023 he finished second in the June Sprints Spec Miata race and in 2024 he took the checkered flag for the win in the SMX-5 race. Both drivers shared their experiences and points of interest with their road racing. When the floor was opened for questions it became very interesting when both would answer the question and then share their own thoughts and experiences with each other. It was a very interesting evening and the Region wishes to express our thanks to Rick and Matthew for taking time out of their busy schedules to join us and share their stories.
