Note from the RE

Looking back at the beginning of the year, I wish I could have told myself back then what I know now, 11 LONG months ago.  I think back a lot to our February meeting at ABC, during the "before times" as my cousin so-fittingly called it. We had 15 events on the Autocross schedule, 3-4 on the Rallycross schedule, and all was right with the world.

So much has changed, and life is a lot different.  To say that this year has been a struggle would be nothing short of an understatement.  I've decided, from now on, I'm going to start writing the year as 20/20, because I feel like we're living in the real-life Dateline show.

With the craziness of the world and life as we (now) know it, I'm so grateful for the days and weekends this year that we all got to spend time with our cars and each other.  Although exhausting, those days helped me to feel happy and normal - something I think we all needed, I know I certainly did.

We had a lot of tough choices to make throughout the year, but I strongly believe that we as a Board, made the correct decisions for all of you as members.  With some regions not having a season at all, ending with a total of 13 events for both programs, and profitable seasons for both programs - all-in-all, given the circumstances, I believe we did really well as a Region.

Voting is now open for our Board positions for 2021.  I am running opposed, as well as a few other positions (see below).  I hope that I've led this club well throughout this trying year, and I hope that you have felt supported and safe.  I am so passionate about this club and all of its members, and I hope that shines through to all of you.  

Keep it Classy Susquehanna
Melissa Mauro

Have You Voted Yet?

This month's meeting will include the election of the 2021 Regional Officers and Board of Directors. Voting will remain open online, via the button below, until Wednesday, November 18th. All Susquehanna SCCA Members are entitled to a vote, either online or in person at the November meeting, held on the 19th. 

The following board and officer positions are uncontested for 2021 and, therefore, will not appear as choices in this election survey.

• Treasurer: Alan Lesher

• Director (3 year): Andy Bierach

Regional Executive, Assistant Regional Executive, and Secretary positions are contested board positions this year, with two candidates nominated for each:

Regional Executive: Melissa Mauro (incumbent) and Steve Hyatt

Assistant Regional Executive: Nick Landis (incumbent) and Rich Thomas

Secretary: Jared McGahen (incumbent) and Mike Chilcote
 

My First Rallycross Experience

by: Melissa Mauro

I was excited to attend the final Rallycross event of the year.  I was the official "Cone Cashier" for the charity portion of the event, benefiting the Central PA Food Bank.  I was able to see the generosity of the competitors (as well as their competitiveness...in a good way) giving money to add cone penalties to one another, as well as cone reversals for themselves and other drivers.  The event collected $885 in cash for cone penalties and reversals alone - it was truly an amazing sight.  I'm so lucky to have been able to be a part of the day.  During the event, Mike and Dave Chilcote graciously allowed me to take my first real Rallycross run in their (shown above) Protege.  I squealed and shouted, and could hardly drive due to tears of laughter in my eyes.  I was hooked.  I pleaded with Bryan Roper (yes I'm calling you out) to PLEASE, FINALLY, fix my Rallycross Subaru, so I can come out and have fun next season.

Much to my enjoyment, both Dave and Mike Chilcote came out to our Autocross event the following Saturday...(again, see above in the banner)  They were able to ride along with me before their heat, and also seemed (I hope at least) to have just as much fun on the asphalt, as I had on the dirt.

After all of our events these past few weeks, I was able to really get a feel for both environments within both programs.  We're all the same big, crazy, happy car family, we just make our cars go fast on different surfaces.  Seeing how successful the charity event was, made me realize that we need to not only give more as a club, but we need to come together more as a club.  My hope for 2021 is that we can accomplish all of this - together.

This is why I picked the banner I did for this month's issue of the Squeal - seeing a Rallycross car out of its natural element, on asphalt, is special for a lot of reasons!

Our Spooktacular Season Enders

By Melissa Mauro

I have a collage below of the fun and crazy characters we had at our Halloween event.  People dressed themselves and their cars up - it was a great sight to see.  We had the Tiger King, and a tiger.  We were taken back to the 80's, as well as prehistoric times with several dinosaurs making appearances. I dressed the MR2 up as the MR BOO, and we had some lizards and skeletons scattered throughout the parking lot.  It was definitely something you don't normally see at a local event - but it seemed to make the day more fun!

The Match Tour on Sunday didn't disappoint either.  The excitement of the single elimination really adds something new and different to our normal format.  The weather decided to literally rain on our parade, which definitely lowered our overall competitor counts, but we did have a great mix of drivers for the 3 groups.

Our Lucky Dog winner was Ryan Lower, Under Dog was CJ Crawford, and Top Dog was Elias Roman.  Both CJ and Elias are the reigning champs - so that was really fun to add that pressure into the mix for them.

The time change and the rain made for some challenges visually throughout the afternoon, I remember singing to Rob as I was making one of my final runs "I CANNOT SEEEEEE" as I'm crossing the finish...but with a giant smile on my face.

The season has come to an end for this year, but the fun, laughter and friendships are here to stay!

Keep your eyes out for a survey about the season, and changes for the new year, as well as information regarding the banquet - we'll be getting in touch with you all soon.  Here's to 2021!

November Regional Meeting

November 19, 2020 - 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.

Susquehanna Region Gift Certificates for Motorsportreg.com 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.

Susquehanna Region - COVID-19 Guidelines

Please make sure to read the below document regarding the policies and guidelines we have in place for any upcoming events we have during the COVID-19 pandemic.  We have used input from other Regions, as well as SCCA National’s guidelines they have made available to us.  If you have any questions on this, please make sure you reach out to me by email - mmauro@scca-susq.com.

Staying Updated with SCCA National

You can stay informed on a National level with SCCA’s dedicated COVID-19 page here. 

News from SCCA

2020 Rules