1. It IS true there has long been friction between the northern and southern portions of SEDIV. Various members of CFR (and perhaps Florida Region) have threatened to secede from SEDIV (and SCCA) at various times in the past, much as CalClub has often threatened to remove themselves as well. This friction has been going on for decades and was not fomented by Barry Hair, Martin Bartlett or any other currently seated RE.
2. It IS true that CFR moved their SARRC sanction from the Turkey Trot in 2006 to their October 2006 event.
3. It is ALSO true that CFR dropped SARRC sanction of the August Double event at Daytona and moved it to their June event at Sebring.
4. Finally, CFR will still have the allowed four (4) SARRC events in the 2007 SARRC season - Oct. 2006, Feb. 2007, then the Double in June 2007 - all of which will be at Sebring.
All of this complies with the SARRC rules regarding number of sanctions (which did not change at any meeting, secret or otherwise) and is an action by the CFR Board, not the SEDIV RE's. Since I'm not a member of CFR or Florida Region and do not attend their Board meetings, I can only surmise what may be going on:
The Turkey Trot and the Daytona Double are among the most popular events on the SEDIV calendar. As such, the time schedules for those weekends are very compressed and adding the SARRC sanction adds "unwanted influence" that could be removed if those are no longer SARRC events. The Board probably figured people are going to show up for those events regardless of whether they earn SARRC points or not (I'd also guess most racers in Florida don't really care all that much about SARRC points anyway - but that's not the point), so why not transfer the SARRC sanctions to less popular events and maybe get a few snowbirds (i.e. - those from Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas that DO care about SARRC points) to come to those events. And those events, because they have fewer participants, also allow the organizers more flexibility in adhering to the "unwanted influence" of the SARRC rules (mainly those regarding race length and scheduling).
And if I read the message correctly, the two regions have agreed to "evaluate" splitting up SEDIV just as the National BOD voted to "evaluate" selling off Enterprises earlier this year. There are certainly benefits in doing so, and it would be wrong to not weigh those benefits against the negatives. I'd have to think about it for awhile myself, and I'd also want to see how things work out in the CENDIV split over the next couple of years. It could be a good thing for racers in Florida - you get more National events and don't have to travel nearly as far to get in the two OOD races that you're allowed each year. As far as SARRC, there's been discussion in the past about creating North & South winners and then having a winner-take-all event at the end of the season. Since there's little crossover between the two areas now, I'd say there would be very little drop off in participation and making the SIC a Runoffs-type event would CERTAINLY increase attendance at that event.
Did I mention that nothing was changed in the SARRC rules? If anything, I'd guess this is a result of the SEDIV RE's voting to not change the IT-7 and SM spec tire rules at the (open) Mid-Year meeting, not because they felt a spec tire is a good thing but because there appeared to be no consensus about what the drivers wanted. One thing that DID come out of the Mid-Year meeting (and it was introduced by Martin Bartlett of CCR) were guidelines for just how any surveys requesting input on such items should be conducted. The majority of the RE's are not in favor of a spec tire, they just don't want to change something without a verifiable agreement that's what the racers want.
Bottom line?
I predict the Daytona Double and the Turkey Trot will continue to be destination events on the SCCA calendar even without counting for SARRC points and the "new" SARRC events will see an increase in participation. And if Daytona and the Trot DO experience a massive dip in attendance,the CFR can always make them SARRC events in the future.
As far as splitting up SEDIV into two divisions, I have no prediction because I haven't evaluated all the ramifications yet. Either way it goes, there will be NO reduction in the number of races available in the state of Florida.
And until I talk to John Zuccarelli (Florida Region RE) and Rick Balderson (CFR RE), that's all I have to say on the subject.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled ravings...
Well maybe I DO have one more thing to say: SARRC stands for South Atlantic Road Racing Championship, not SEDIV Road Racing Championship. Much as the NARRC series encompasses three divisions, SARRC can easily accomodate two divisions instead of just one. And as I wrote above, a "winner take all" event at the end of the season (which could easily rotate among tracks) could become a MAJOR event on the calendar.
NOW I'm done.
Butch Kummer
Former SCCA Director of Club Racing (July 2012 - Sept 2014)
2006, 2007, 2010 SARRC GTA Champion
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