SVRA has been sold

[Dee]

FYI SVRA has been sold to the private equity frim Velocity Capital Management in New York, stand bye for the fallout ,HSR has also changed hands,

[Garey Guzman]

I look forward to learning about changes and improvements that all new owners always announce!

[John Nesbitt]

I confess that I am a touch surprised that SVRA would have the size needed to interest PE. That said, the typical PE playbook - find 'efficiencies', raise prices, load up on debt, and generally milk the company before reselling - bode ill long term for SVRA customers.

I wonder how the SCCA BoD feels, thinking they had made a partnership with a stable promoter, and now finding itself in bed with PE.

[Teuobk]

That deal closed late last year (2023), and Parella is still running SVRA. Has anybody at any of the SVRA races so far this season noticed any material differences yet?

Jeff

[Garey Guzman]

That deal closed late last year (2023), and Parella is still running SVRA. Has anybody at any of the SVRA races so far this season noticed any material differences yet?

Jeff

Ah! Now I remember hearing about that!

[Dee]

prices are up , if this vintage promoter folds it will leave a big hole our sport/hobby

Ed Swart says this road could be rough

[stonebridge20]

prices are up , if this vintage promoter folds it will leave a big hole our sport/hobby

Ed Swart says this road could be rough

45 FF's registered for the Formula Ford Challenge Series at Summit Point in a week and a half at $700 for members including a Thursday test day. Two former SCCA National champions and half a dozen others that can run on their gearboxes if not better entered.

The Friday night BBQ is on par with the best of them.

The water is perfect, jump in.

[Lotus7]

That deal closed late last year (2023), and Parella is still running SVRA. Has anybody at any of the SVRA races so far this season noticed any material differences yet?

Jeff

Not sure if this difference has had any material effect, but AFAIK Parella hasn't been at any of the 3 svra races we've been to this year.

[Craig71188]

"Private Equity" was all I needed to hear. They will milk every last dollar (as long as it lasts) and toss away (or sell) the empty shell when there's no more money left to milk. As stated elsewhere stand by for higher prices, fewer benefits and generally a less satisfying experience driven by profit, not passion.

[TimH]

Not sure if this difference has had any material effect, but AFAIK Parella hasn't been at any of the 3 svra races we've been to this year.

Without Tony shaking every single driver's hand on the grid you can bet something will be going away. It could take a while, though.

[Agitator]

There's a lot of negativity built into the phrase "private equity", but by definition, it is people (like most of us) investing their own personal wealth into a business. Not all private equity groups are the same, or the same size. You can have a private equity group with 3 people. Sometimes, those people will have a common interest in their investments...sometimes not. To brand this acquisition as "bad" just because it's a private equity group is just fear mongering. I don't know anyone involved, but don't go selling your race car just because a business (and it is a business) sold to a PE group.

[stonebridge20]

https://www.velocitycm.com/

The new owner of SVRA

[billtebbutt]

It used to be that accountants were slagged with all that ails us, then lawyers, then bankers, and increasingly these days PE. I have met many PE guys over the years, and pretty much like in every other profession, they range across a wide spectrum of personality, values and motivation. Its pretty hard to generalize them.

(Sidebar: In fact, as a career banker, I took umbrage 14 years ago at one Warren Buffet and wrote him a (n extremely polite) letter expressing my unhappiness with the way he categorized all bankers in that year's annual report. Three weeks later, I received my letter back (I kid you not, the address on the envelope was typed on a typewriter!) with a handwritten note from the Oracle himself , apologizing for "...painting with too broad a brush there, William". Classy!)

Based upon their website and small portfolio, Velocity seems to have a relatively small fund(s) - might not be a bad thing, in that they will likely be more personally attached to their portfolio companies. Said differently, SVRA won't have a couple of 27 year old whiz-bangs making major decisions.

The two founders of Velocity seem pretty interesting to me (you can see their CV's on the website). One previously worked for an investor that put capital into McLaren F1 and his favourite hobby is driving tractors! The other guy has been to over 150 Springsteen concerts! I dunno, seem like guys I would like to know

cheers,
bt

[10rmotor]

The other guy has been to over 150 Springsteen concerts! I dunno, seem like guys I would like to know

cheers,
bt

Springsteen tho, I dunno, hmmm...

[teamwisconsin]

Quick question that is semi-related to this topic: do you guys actually LIKE running with SVRA? I don't know what the thoughts are east of the Rockies, but out west here their events have lower car counts than an SCCA regional.

I stopped putting their events on my shop calendar at all a few years ago since none of my clients seemed to want to run with them. High entry fees with poor track time, second class to the TA/F3-4 groups, awful mixed groupings with cars of different speeds, and the management of the event (to be fair these folks are likely long gone now) were rude and in a couple cases actually yelled/cursed at people in both registration and tech.

I'm just curious as I know we have a few options to race out here and maybe there aren't options in other places. Though I do believe the aforementioned FFCS does not run with SVRA (neither will the Crossflow Cup FWIW), I wasn't sure what others felt about the brand of racing, vintage or otherwise, that SVRA is selling.

[halcyon]

Quick question that is semi-related to this topic: do you guys actually LIKE running with SVRA? I don't know what the thoughts are east of the Rockies, but out west here their events have lower car counts than an SCCA regional.

I stopped putting their events on my shop calendar at all a few years ago since none of my clients seemed to want to run with them. High entry fees with poor track time, second class to the TA/F3-4 groups, awful mixed groupings with cars of different speeds, and the management of the event (to be fair these folks are likely long gone now) were rude and in a couple cases actually yelled/cursed at people in both registration and tech.

I'm just curious as I know we have a few options to race out here and maybe there aren't options in other places. Though I do believe the aforementioned FFCS does not run with SVRA (neither will the Crossflow Cup FWIW), I wasn't sure what others felt about the brand of racing, vintage or otherwise, that SVRA is selling.

I am fine with the SVRA format. More track time isn't better from my perspective. One qualifying session and 2-3 sprint races are ideal. Additional practice/qually sessions is just wasting money on tires and engine life, imo.

[Rick Kirchner]

Quick question that is semi-related to this topic: do you guys actually LIKE running with SVRA?

When Tony bought HSR West I ran their event at Chuckwalla in 2012. Pretty much like most of Ed Swarts events, small but well run.

Then I ran a couple of their events at Fontana, first one probably in 2014, and another, the last one they did in Nov 21. The second one was run on site by former VARA board members. Both of those events were OK, although I nearly missed grid due to a schedule change on Sunday. TBH, they tried to find everybody and just couldn't find me.

I ran the 2015 Indy event as well as the 2017 Open Wheel World Challenge and the following Vintage event. I did have a few gripes on those. For the OWWC, they added a Mustang club to hedge their bets, taking up some track time. They brought in the east coast series, and parked them in the motorhome paddock taking up a ton of powered spaces even though those teams seemed to be all self-contained. This was important to me because they sold me a space they didn't have available, and then only gave me a credit which I couldn't use. I could probably use that $300 more than SVRA could.... During the event, the only cars they had a clue about classing were FF, FB, and FJr. There were I believe 3 classes of FC, none of which had any relevance to chassis tech, etc. The following weekend FC was classed as an F2!

They are in kind of a tight situation as FF/FB are well subscribed, and so is F1/5000/Lights/Indy/Atlantic. That leaves the 6-10 FC, FSV of all eras, and the occasional FM in no-mans land. I only got lapped once, although the start and practices can be harrowing with the fragile cars often starting in the back and rocketing through....

All of this was before the inclusion of the cast away SCCA "pro" classes and the addition of one for big sports racers.

Last year I wanted to run their Laguna event. I was given a space big enough to fit my rig, but because I only support one car, I couldn't have the RV in the paddock. That would mean paying for nearly an entire week of camping (special event, gotta buy all the days). Not to mention having to unhook/hookup the RV/trailer in the paddock. Despite then having plenty of room, they wouldn't give me a car pass so my wife could get back and forth to the RV (she was recovering from long COVID and had issues with long walks and climbs at the time). So this was turning into $1000 for the weekend to be treated like a second-rate citizen, so FU....

With Fontana gone, I'll put up with their crap for Indy, maybe RQ or MO, but I think I'd have other options there as well.

And yeah then there's stuff like HANS re-cert, which is just a gimme to their sponsors.

My guess is that if you are running FF/FB you are loving life with SVRA. Big fields, great tracks. If you're running FA and above, with few exceptions they aren't commenting here.

So much potential to provide some unity and rules stability across all the vintage clubs, so much disappointment.