Philip Creighton for Area 12 SCCA Director

Philip Creighton (ex Competition Board Chairman) has been nominated for Area 12 (SE Division except Florida) SCCA Board of Directors position being vacated by Phil Mellor. The election ballots will be mailed out October 15th and need to be returned by mid - November.

I have been involved in SCCA racing since I arrived in the USA (from England) in 1978 and have been involved in the race preparation and racing parts business in the Atlanta area since 1980. The bulk of this work has been in SCCA Club Racing at National and Regional level with various Pro Racing programs coming and going over the years. In 1989 the Creighton prepared Spice Buick of Scott Schubot and Linda Ludemann dominated the IMSA Camel Light Prototype Championship and I was voted “IMSA Mechanic of the Year” that year.
From my first days here in SCCA competition, I have assisted in Tech Inspections and have held a National Tech License. From this beginning, I joined the Competition Board in 1992 and was appointed as Chairman in 1998, finally leaving in 2001 after 10 years of service. During this period I was also the first Chairman of the, newly founded, Safety Committee. Since 2001, I have chaired the Formula and Sports Racers Advisory Committee that reports to the CRB and have acted as a liaison with that Board to help the transition with the move from Denver to Topeka and the resulting change of permanent staff.
I was, however, very surprised, and delighted, to receive the 2003 ‘John McGill Award’ for extraordinary services to the SCCA Club Racing Program for my efforts.
Now in 2004, I am ready for a new challenge – running for Area 12 Director. Earlier this year I was approached by a number of Competitors, Stewards and Workers and a couple of RE’s and asked whether I would run for Area 12 Director, when Phil Mellor stepped down. They felt that I would be as effective as a Director as I was when chairing the Competition Board. I had been looking for a way to help the Club at a National level since leaving the Competition Board, and I think my experience on the CRB will enable me to hit the ground running, which is not usually the case with candidates with only local region experience.

We face some interesting challenges ahead as a Club and need a strong Board of Directors that will allow:
1/. The permanent staff and our CEO to do their job properly set goals and provide the services our members want or need. We also need to pay attention to the long-term financial health of the Club.
2/. Organize the various Club, Rally, Solo Boards and committees into smoothly functioning units that reflect the wishes of the majority of competitors and do not require extraordinary amounts of BOD time. This mainly applies in the Club Racing arena, especially with the latest Rally news.
3/. Fix the problems at SCCA Enterprises and Pro Racing – we have to stiffen the financial controls on our ‘for profit’ subsidiaries to safeguard the Clubs financial future, especially after the mishandling of the FSCCA spec car (s).
4/. Stop micro management by the BOD, if you appoint the right people it should not be necessary. The BOD should be looking to the overall health of our organization – not re-designing Prod roll cages. If they feel that they need to do that they have the wrong people advising them on the CRB and advisory comittees. The BOD should set policy and allow the CRB and Solo Board to address the technical issues.
5/. Build the SCCA Convention into a yearly destination that everyone, competitors and workers want to attend, with informative seminars for competitors and workers.
6/. Build the SCCA into ‘the’ road racing organization that everyone considers to be the standard in the USA. With the SCCA University and other initiatives it can be bigger and better than it is now.

Those of you that know me, understand that I can make a positive difference on the BOD. I hope that those who don’t , look at my record or ask someone that does know me. At least, if you believe in being part of the process in the SCCA and are in Area 12, vote for one of the four candidates and return your ballot when you receive it.

Phil Creighton