Banquet Moved to March

In light of the limitations for indoor events, we've moved the date of the banquet to March 20, 2021, instead of its regularly scheduled January weekend.  It isn't fair, or much of a celebration, if we all can't be together, so that's why we've made the adjustment.

Keep your eyes out for emails and information from us in the next few days regarding awards and registration!  We'll keep you posted as things progress.

Bylaw Notice For All Members

This is our annual review of the Region Bylaws.  We have made some large overhauls to the Bylaws in the past few years, and we do not feel it necessary to make any changes to the current Bylaws that are in place.  The current Bylaws will be discussed and voted upon at the next regional membership meeting on Thursday February 25th. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Members with questions, concerns or proposed amendments may bring these items forth in person at the regional membership meeting held:

Appalachian Brewing Company - Thursday, February 25th @ 7:00pm

See the Monthly Meeting section for more information.

Spring Fever (Not the Covid Kind)

By Nick Landis

Hello my dirty friends.  I hope that all of you are well rested, healthy, and ready for the 2021 season.  I know last year was full of fun and interesting trials and tribulations that none of us could have foreseen at the beginning of 2020, but we made the best of it with a whopping 3 events.  This year we have a full season on tap and are anxiously awaiting signed contracts so that we can announce them to you, but I can say to make sure that your vehicles are prepped and ready to go in early spring. 

We also had some good news in the January meeting with the official creation of the RallySprint program.  This is the only RallySprint program on the east coast for the SCCA after the well-established New England Region’s program.  I am very excited for this program as it gives our members a “next step” after RallyCross for those who aspire to move into stage rally.  I am awaiting approval of the date for our first event and will need a few course workers for this event.  If you have nay interest in being a course worker, please contact me directly at nlandis@scca-susq.com.  This worker assignment is much different from being a course worker during a RallyCross as there are no cones to worry about.  While we cannot pay you, we will be providing every volunteer with a free boxed lunch (not the cheap kind) as a thank you for your help.  You will also be able to have a perfect view of the race as spectating will not be allowed for this event.  If you’re interested in competing you must have a currently logbooked vehicle with any of the current stage rally sanctioning bodies.

February Regional Meeting

February 25, 2021 - at 7:00pm - NEW TIME!

WE’RE BACK AT APPALACHIAN BREWING COMPANY! ...COVID STYLE

Our next meeting will be held on the second floor at Appalachian Brewing Company, 50 N. Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101. All members are encouraged to attend. Come an hour early for dinner (and a drink) with other members.

Meeting changes due to COVID:

•  The upstairs bar area is not currently open to the public, but they are allowing us to use the upstairs for the meeting.  If you’re planning to eat, you’ll need to let the host know that you’re with the SCCA group, and they will seat you in the area they have reserved for us in the downstairs dining room.

• If you plan on drinking anything with alcohol, you must have a food item on your bill.  (There only needs to be 1 food item per bill that has alcohol on it, and can be an appetizer)

• The meeting will begin at 7:00pm (as ABC closes at 8:00pm) but will stay open until we’re finished.

• You can get food and drinks once the meeting has begun, you’ll just need to go downstairs to order everything.

Member Spotlight: Forrest Graeff

By: Jared McGahen

You may have seen him around a few times driving a blue, 1985 Dodge Omni.  A car that is one of the more unique cars we ever see on course and while not quick by todays standards, was considered quite the hot hatch in it's prime.  Or perhaps he's driving his orange 2005 Dodge SRT4.  That one might be recognizable by our younger members.  Forrest Graeff is an autocross veteran having been involved in the sport since 1968.  Back then autocross was a relatively new term.  In his early days there were multiple clubs in what is now the Susquehanna Region SCCA such as the Appalachian Sports Car Club and a sports car club for each county.  Over the years he's raced a SAAB 850, Dodge Colt, Chevy Caprive, Chevy Impala, and even a Grand Marquis in rallycross.  Depsite that variety, he claims he is partial to Chrysler products.  Forrest has said he enjoys racing for the challenge of improving and preparing the cars for events.  Nowadays he uses it to keep his mind sharp and as a form of exercise.  It certainly beats sitting on the couch watching football on a Sunday afternoon.  Forrest won the class championship for street prepared in 2020, narrowly beating out fellow Dodge enthusiast Markus Houser by a single point.  You can certainly expect him to be back next year to hold onto that title.

Susquehanna Region Gift Certificates for MSR are Available!

Do you have someone who’s hard to shop for? Are your family and friends always bugging you for birthday ideas? ...We have the solution.  We now have gift certificates for Motorsportreg.com available!  You can send someone a gift for a special occasion or receive credits for some free racing events from your loved ones.

News from SCCA

2020 Rules