"They say it takes a big man"... No that ain't it...
"Those are some big shoes you'll need to fill tha"... No, not that one either...
"In the course of human events..." Nope, almost, but not quite...
'grats BK - The rest of the country is in for a treat that up till now only ATL Region has known. This fella gets stuff done. BAM!
Wow - had I known it would be this well received I would have asked for a bigger signing bonus!
I'm not going to pretend I have all the answers, but at least I'm aware of many/most of the issues. I received the basic introduction from Terry last week and I'll be meeting with the Majors Steering Committee next weekend (July 13-15) to further understand their vision, then we'll come up with a plan for the 2013 roll out of the program. I've got my ideas of what I'd like to see, but I need to make sure those jibe with the PTB (like it or not, building consensus - some call it "playing politics" - is part of the job). What I can tell you now, however, is that once we've determined a direction it will be presented in clear, concise terms after which I'll be on here and other forums to solicit input and answer any questions you might have.
I know you've all heard the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Some will argue that Club Racing IS broken while others say it's just fine, but neither one matters to me. The question I ask (and which ALL racers ask) is, "Can I make it better?"
When you set a new PR do you stop all development on the car? Hell no. You celebrate the moment, then immediately think about the tenth you could have gained exiting Turn 6, or the two tenths you lost when you overcooked the entry to Turn 10. You try something new and if it works it becomes the norm, and if it doesn't make you faster you can always put the car back the way it was. What I can assure is we won't be afraid to try something new.
Thank you for your support...
Butch Kummer
Director of Club Racing
Sports Car Club of America
Speaking as an Atlanta Region board member for several years now I have watched Butch operate closely and I am always in awe of his "let's get it done" attitude. We razz him (just to see his face light up) periodically during board meetings but it is always with the utmost respect and care for this man. You are right, we are very jealous about sharing him and we will miss him greatly.
Congrats, Butch! I saw the email announcement last night. As to whether or not Club Racing is broken, I think a large part of whether you think that's the case or not is dependent upon what region you belong to. This past weekend we participated in a Great Lakes event at Gingerman and was surprised at how different it was run in comparison to CenDiv events. We haven't run a race East of the lake in seven or eight years and if all events were like what we had experienced over the weekend, I probably would have to put some deep thought in whether or not I would go back to another event. From the Keystone Cops type of car recovery causing excessive time between sessions and red flags, the pace car pulling out into a FCY without picking up the race leader, the congestion of cars on track for our race, etc... I can understand why others who have repeatedly experienced weekends like this have gone elsewhere. I have to admit, they made a lot of changes to accommodate our large mixed race group like split qualifying sessions and a split start, but there has to be a better way if other regions can run a better show. YMMV...
__________________ 2003 VanDiemen FSCCA #29 KeithCarter.net
"Faster and faster, until
the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death."
--Hunter S. Thompson
See... I knew him when.
I met Butch in 1968 when we shared the same dorm in college.
It may have started with a debate where i thought road racers were better than stock car drivers. Me arguing for Dan Gurney and him for King Richard. I grew up bowing 5 times a day to Sebring, Butch to Daytona.
We never slowed down after that. He was best man at my practice wedding, and i his best man at one of his. Somehow through it all both of us ended up with great wives in the end that support our passion.
We raced Volkswagons back then because that's all we could afford. Later he figured out Corvettes were more his size.
Each of us left their respective families' Thanksgiving dinners to drive to Road Atlanta in 1970 to attend the first Runoffs there. In following years we took our kids there as soon as they could walk. We drank Boones Farm wine up on the hill between T5 and T8 into the night, and then each day hung on the fence watching every session.
I think the presence of Road Atlanta had more to do with his migration to the Atlanta area than any other thing.
Butch, while always being an active participant in everything from rallies, autocrosses, hillclimbs, and road racing, has been part of putting on those autosports events for over 40 years. He constantly strives to improve each event. Although it is rumored he doesn't suffer fools well, he has the quality of being able to listen to almost everyone to get good ideas from whatever source.
I have always said that a racer putting on races is a good thing.
Here is an interested video from about 35 years ago:
[FONT=Arial]A few days before the official announcement Butch warned his inner circle. I immediately sent my condolences. But, the fact is his move to this position has been developing for about 40 years.[/FONT]
Very cool news, and my condolences Butch, you masochistic SOB!
This is a very good thing for SCCA...
@Keith - yeah, that Sunday FCY/BF/restart was a real CF... am curious to hear if any protests were filed by competitors on that one? Ah well, another thread...
Each of us left their respective families' Thanksgiving dinners to drive to Road Atlanta in 1970 to attend the first Runoffs there. In following years we took our kids there as soon as they could walk. We drank Boones Farm wine up on the hill between T5 and T8 into the night, and then each day hung on the fence watching every session.
I think the presence of Road Atlanta had more to do with his migration to the Atlanta area than any other thing.
One minor correction and some additions:
Mike was there for the 1970 innaugural running, but it was actually November 1971 that I saw my first Runoffs at Road Atlanta. I left Tallahassee after Thanksgiving dinner and Mike was driving up from Miami. We were scheduled to meet one exit north of US 319 on I-75 in Tifton GA, then we were going to caravan on to Road Atlanta. As I'm crossing over I-75 to take the northbound ramp I see Mike's orange VW bug heading up the interstate out my right side window, so I fell in right behind him (remember this was before cell phones, GPS, etc.) Y'all can decide whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but he and I are definitely sychronized in our thinking.
I remember thinking one of the attractions of the Runoffs was, "If you don't really care about the race on the track right now just wait 30 minutes." Granted there were "only" 22 classes then with seven races each day (A & B Prod ran together), but that variety added to the experience. That was also when I said, "Hey, I can DO this someday!"
We were walking the track Thursday night (you could do that then) and Mike suggested we try and get into the paddock to see what was going on. We didn't have paddock passes so I thought it was a bad idea and Mike said, "What's going to happen if we get caught?" Obviously they'd throw us out of the paddock, to which he replied, "Where are you standing right now?"
I'm pretty sure that was my introduction to risk vs. reward thinking.
And yes, Road Atlanta is the reason I moved from Tallahasse to Atlanta back in 1986. A buddy & I were helping move one of my girlfriends at the time and he mentioned that IMSA was running at Road Atlanta that weekend. I said that was great, but we'd have to decide now whether we wanted to go to tomorrow's race. To which he replied, "Yeah, but if you lived in Atlanta you decide that same day!" Three weeks later I moved here and have never looked back.
And the best is yet to come...
__________________ Butch Kummer
SCCA Director of Club Racing, Majors
2006, 2007, 2010 SARRC GTA Champion
1971 brings back memories - I was living in Jacksonville, FL, compliments of Uncle Sam's Navy (Saratoga based in Mayport) and had joined the crew of Tom Nehl and his Camaro which he drove initially in SCCA and then later IMSA. I had thought of joining Peter Gregg's Brumos team but Bob Snodgrass (then my next door neighbor) had told me about Peter's manic/depressive illness so I went with Tom's crew. I remember the Runoffs in November, 1971 (72?) as being the coldest race that I had ever been to as it was freezing for most of the week. SCCA later moved the date to October.
On the Friday before our May weekend at Road Atlanta Paige (Monette) Alexander & I taped some promotional videos with track personnel. I got an e-mail from Megan Ernst this morning that they’ve just posted the videos we did (I understand the delay was so they could edit mine adequately – I’ve viewed them twice now and not one f-bomb made it through to the final product!).
Those of you who know me might find it entertaining while those who don't could get an idea of what you're in for:
SCCA Board of Directors Q&A
Butch Kummer, Director of Club Racing!
But, the fact is his move to this position has been developing for about 40 years.[/FONT]
