NNJR SCCA PRO IT SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM

[Robert Zecca]

[attachmentid=1244]Last night we held our NNJR board meeting and discussed at length the 2008 season. One thing we spoke about is holding PRO IT events in conjunction with our races at LRP, Thunderbolt and Pocono. We are hoping to have about 6 race events. Driving Impressions will be helping to sponsor this race by donating TEAM DI safety equipment at every event to the class winners. We will be awarding shoes, underwear, balaclavas and gloves. At the end of the season we will be awarding a TEAM DI 3-layer SFI 5 suit valued at $700. This is all in the talk stage but I would value your input as to how I can best set up the sponsorship in a equitable manner.

In addition to sponsoring the PRO IT event I would like to help sponsor all other NNJR events by handing out $1,000 in DI bucks for use in purchasing TEAM DI safety equipment. In the coming months I will make a final announcement on how this program will be implemented. For 2008 Driving Impressions hopes to be carrying more major brands including Sparco, Oakely, Recaro and others in hopes of expaniding on the needs of our local customers both here and at the and our Lime Rock store. We plan to expand our own line of Safety Equipment known as TEAM DI which will include suits, gloves, shoes and underwear. It will be top quality but at a affordable price to compete with the rising prices of other European lines.

You can contact me at 1-800-275-4667 or [email protected] www.teamdi.com
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks
Bob Zecca

[robits325is]

thats great news - Thanks a lot Bob.

Brings back memories of the Import Challenge.

Which classes will be included? How can we help?

[Robert Zecca]

Dear Rob,

Many people may not realize that besides owning Driving Impressions I am secretary and on the board of NNJR. As you are well aware the car counts have been down in the NE at all events. We as a region in conjunction with our neighboring regions must work together to build up members in SCCA and bring back the excitement and affordability of racing from years ago. This will not happen overnite. With the help of yourself, Andy from Flatout and others we need to work together to build up fields and I believe IT is a start. I can not do much as one individual or as a small company. What I will try to do is help anyway I can with sponorship and then use my connections with other manufacturers to get them involved in this series.

For now our region visited the PRO IT event in Atlanta and got their rules. In the coming months we will work on this and as we get closer we will make an official announcement. I hope we will have something concrete in about 45 days because time is passing fast. We will work on a overall points/awards championship and back it up with product and cash awards. In the meantime let's all put our heads together and make this happen. The racing is exciting and maybe we can build this into some enduros and night racing too! Years ago I ran in the Firehawk series. Our first race was at Sebring with 108 cars starting. Guess who started 108th? Yep you got it, me. But we finished about 30th. The bottom line is this racing is fun, affordable and includes a team of people with driver changes. Lets start with PRO IT and see where this goes in the next few years. We have Lime Rock, Pocono and now Thunderbolt so the travel will not be so bad yet we will have a diversity in tracks and I am sure we can grow from there to include other great tracks.

I truly love this sport and more importantly the people involved at all levels including the WORKERS!!! I am committed to seeing us succeed. Please keep the ideas coming.

Thanks
Bob Zecca
1-800-275-4667
www.teamdi.com

[gran racing]

Pretty cool Bob.

Based on your original post, it sounds like this is something that would happen at regional races and not separate dates. If that's accurate, it'll be interesting to see how many people enter both races. The Atlanta region prices a Pro IT event at the national race cost. Will NNJR be pricing the Pro IT race higher than the regional race held on the same date?

I do agree that some new things need to be tried; I'm looking forward to learning more about this.

Hope the winter months have been treating you well.

[dtanthon]

We at NNJR and SJR want to model the Pro IT after what the Atlanta Region's format.
Take a look at - http://atl-scca.org/Documents%20Word/2007/...0IT%20Rules.doc

Comments welcome. We can do a lot with this here in the NE. We have the best IT drivers in the country!

For now ... Look for the first event to be at the Joe DeLuca and Linda Gronlund Freedom Races and Enduro at Pocono, Pa on May 10th. The finale will be October 17-19 at New Jersey Motorsports Park (Lightning). The season awards will be held at this event. In between will be at least 4 more events. Everything is in planning but the Board meeting on Tuesday was very productive.

Look for Team DI sponsored prizes as well as prize money.

What about Most Improved, Hard Charger, Hard Luck, Clean Sweep, etc... ?

Look for more news at www.NJRRS.com (still under construction).

Thanks,
Darrell Anthony
NNJR-RE

[dj10]

Bob & ,

Good job on taking the initiative for your Pro IT series. I've been a proponent of the Pro IT idea ever since I heard about it in the Southeast Division. There is no reason for this not the spread through out the North East Division and possibly even into the Central Division. With some planning and some marketing you could help turn this sport into a spectator sport.

[Robert Zecca]

Dear Dan,

Thanks for your positive words! You are absolutely correct is saying that this could be the start of something big and exactly what our club needs to get growth going again regarding car counts and membership. I hope everyone sees this and feels the way you do and this motivates all of us to accmplish these goals. I am sure you read the words of our RE Darrell Anthony. He is truly a hard working and talented individual and lives and breathes SCCA. He has put together a strong team of individuals on our board and I am sure in the coming months you will see great things happening.

Please keep all ideas and comments coming.

Sincerely,
Bob Zecca
1-800-275-4667
www.teamdi.com

[Robert Zecca]

If you are interested in this race series please email me your name, address and car that you have in mind running. I need to work on a sponsorship plan for prospective sponsors who may support this series. I will looking for products and possible cash. Some of the entry will go into the cash payout but I will still try to find some money from potential sponsors. Frank Cioppettini from Evergreen Peformance Products who is promoting Quikleen will be jumping on board as a product sponsor. You could learn more about Quikleen at www.evergreenpeformanceproducts.com It is truly amazing stuff. It is used to pickup oil, paints and antifreeze, leave zero residue and is legal to throw in the garbage and weighs much less than kitty litter.
We will obviously try to find product sponsors who will have products that have a direct use by the competitor. By winning a award will certainly help keep the cost of racing down in a small way and hopefully we will find enough cash to pay down to 10th place per event. The larger the entries the larger the amount of cash we will have to payout. PLEASE speak to your fellow competitors about this to see how much interest we have because the more participants the better chance I will have of obtaining sponsorship. What I may have to do is package some of the sponsorship with the regional or national event since PRO IT will be run in conjunction with the event.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,
Bob Zecca
[email protected]

[Magical Trevor]

Sounds interesting!
I hope this helps to draw some diversity in entries-I'd like to bring an ITA Celica into the mix in 2010 or so if I can get the time and money; just in time for Palmer?

[Andy Bettencourt]

I am in.

[dj10]

To bad I'm on the other side of PA or I would be in too.

[wdether]

thats great news - Thanks a lot Bob.

Brings back memories of the Import Challenge.

Which classes will be included? How can we help?
[/b]

The Atlanta Region rules include the following classes:

1. Standard IT classes (ITR, ITS, ITA, ITB, ITC)
2. Atlanta Region IT Truck Class (4 cylinder trucks)
3. Atlanta Region ITU Class (under 3L NA engined cars, similar to NARRC ITE rule)
4. Atlanta Region IT spec SM, SSM (DC region rules), ARRC SM
5. SEDIV IT7, DC region Spec RX-7 (SRX) may compete in ITA

There should be some discusion on the classes allowed. I could see SM being added. ITT might not fit in the NEDIV area. I could see adding the cars listed in the ITU category (WC Touring cars, etc.). Including IT7 and SRX seems to make sense.

This really seems like a good idea.

[Andy Bettencourt]

I would set a minimum participation number first. Then consider the classes. If it's Pro IT, then have it be IT. Expand it as funds and sponsorship allow looking at SM and SSM. As long as you are looking outside of IT, I guess any well subscribed class would be a consideration. SRF? FV? Maybe keep it IT only in it's first year and expand as needed.

ITR, ITS, ITA, ITB, ITC, IT& and ITE.

[lateapex911]

ITR, ITS, ITA, ITB, ITC, IT7 and ITE.

[/b]

Fixed that for you, assuming you held the caps when you hit the "7" and got a "&" instead.........

[gran racing]

SRF, FV, SM, SSM... Andy, I thought it is called ProIT. LOL

I'd be interested in running some of the races depending upon the race format, and entry cost. (IT

[benspeed]

Fantastic! This is the sort of thing that will help pull cars and make the racing even more fun and competitive. We should try to get SportsCar and GrassRoots to cover the events.

[Robert Zecca]

I will definetly contact Philip Royale the editor of Sports Car and Tim Suddard ( a personal friend ) of Grass roots Motorsports. I am sure they will support us. This is a great idea and part of the process of going racing, getting exposure for your sponsor and yourselves. As it stands now we have very little to offer a sponsor but by putting out a package like this with some print coverage the sponsors will get behind it because they hopfully will see the bigger picture 2 or 3 years down the road.

Please keep your comments coming. Everything has been positive and needs to be positive for this to happen.

Feel free to call me with any questions or comments at anytime. You can reach me at 1-800-275-4667

Thanks,
Bob Zecca
www.teamdi.com

[dj10]

I will definetly contact Philip Royale the editor of Sports Car and Tim Suddard ( a personal friend ) of Grass roots Motorsports. I am sure they will support us. This is a great idea and part of the process of going racing, getting exposure for your sponsor and yourselves. As it stands now we have very little to offer a sponsor but by putting out a package like this with some print coverage the sponsors will get behind it because they hopfully will see the bigger picture 2 or 3 years down the road.

Please keep your comments coming. Everything has been positive and needs to be positive for this to happen.

Feel free to call me with any questions or comments at anytime. You can reach me at 1-800-275-4667

Thanks,
Bob Zecca
www.teamdi.com

"Fantastic! This is the sort of thing that will help pull cars and make the racing even more fun and competitive. We should try to get SportsCar and GrassRoots to cover the events."

[/b]

Excellent posts guys, good businessmen think alike! Getting it started is critical but it is just as critical to look longer term. I would suggest calling Fletcher & Sandy from the Atlanta region, for some of their input. It might be a good idea to have a central committee so everyone is running under the same rules but you can still have your divisions within the PRO IT. If I go SE or NE I won't have to worry.

[dtanthon]

I modified what Atlanta Region has for their successful series.

Here is what I came up with so far - this is very preliminary
http://www.njrrs.com/proit.html

Comments welcome. We can make this work from all angles.
Want to get more involved, just ask. It is our club.

Thanks,
Darrell Anthony
NNJR-RE

[gran racing]

With a 40 minute race format, it might make things interesting to try a couple of different race formats. Maybe it's because I'm watching too much foreign racing lately, but many series use a manditory pit during the race. Maybe add a quick manditory stop & go to the race? Just a thought.


Will these be held on the same day as a regional race? Or is there any chance to have them held on other dates as a supporting race during lunch? Just looking for a higher profile event for sponsors.