How about a new club to join the SCTA?

[Milwaukee Midget]

... the oldest auto racing sanctioning body in the country [SCTA]...

IMCA (International Motor Contest Association)- 1915 to present.

I've got egg on my face again . . . big time!  

IMCA, I just learned, is based in Vinton, Iowa - I grew up in Cedar Rapids - less than 30 miles away!  

But I doubt if there is a large contingency of Kiwis, Aussies, Brits, French, or South Africans working on super modifieds to race at Boone, Iowa.

Which brings me around to this point.  Racing at Bonneville is internationally recognized as the pinnacle of LSR.

We've all looked at it as we pass through Land's End.  Most of us have had our picture taken by it.  There's a sign, put up by the BLM, which reads . . .

"Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway"

That's heady stuff.

If the sponsoring organization and sanctioning body that holds sway over two of Bonneville's biggest events, and sanctions records at a third, is not strong, and is perceived as a regional entity of clubs lacking a national and international membership base, rather than the internationally recognized organization that it is, then that perceived weakness might be exploited by those who, as SPARKY points out, might be inclined to limit our access to both El Mirage and Bonneville.

While IMCA my have "International" in its name, SCTA-BNI is actually international in its scope.  A wider membership base at the grass roots level would strengthen that assertion.

[Jack Gifford]

Sorry, Chris- I did not intend to disrupt the dialogue of this important thread.

Please educate me a little on sanctioning bodies here in the U.S. regarding "international" aspects- in the "old days" (in my youth, say), USAC was our FIA-recognized North American sanctioning body (I think?). How did that come about? What U.S. group (groups?) does FIA now recognize?

[Milwaukee Midget]

Sorry, Chris- I did not intend to disrupt the dialogue of this important thread.

Please educate me a little on sanctioning bodies here in the U.S. regarding "international" aspects- in the "old days" (in my youth, say), USAC was our FIA-recognized North American sanctioning body (I think?). How did that come about? What U.S. group (groups?) does FIA now recognize?

That was when the AAA got out of auto racing in the 1950s that USAC stepped up as the international contest body.  I'm looking through some old MG land racing video footage, and I'm seeing the AAA involved up until 1954 - then in 1956, no signage on the record trailer.  1957 comes along, and I'm seeing guys wearing USAC hats.

Makes sense, given the Mercedes debacle at Le Mans in 1955, Ford and GM "officially" pulling out of racing, and US car sales climbing in '55.

Some sort of cooperation between FIA and AAA/USAC, I assume.  MG claimed both American and International records during their private parties on the salt, but they were run concurrently with the same timers.

I think all you need to do today is wave a bunch of money under the FIA's nose, do all the work and let a few members make a junket to wherever, and you've established a FIA friendly environment for them to attach their name to a record.

Cynical?  ME??!! 

[dw230]

Don't forget the plane crash in '56(?) that wiped out all the top tier AAA racing officials.

DW

[BHR301]

DW...AAA withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 LeMans disaster. USAC lost 8 key officials in 1978 in a plane crash. Could this be what your thinking of?

Bill

[dw230]

Yes Mike you are correct - no wine yet, working in confusion.

DW