"The engine builders of the non-complaint engines are East Street Racing owned by Jim Drago, (Also driver of the #2 car, and a CRB member) TiSpeed owned by Dan Tiley (SMAC member as well) and Rush Motorsports owned by Louis Thibault, another SMAC member."
Still trying to wrap my head around this paragraph in Daves article. I dont even know exactly what the SMAC does and if they are elected officials or appointed. Do they get to keep their position on the committee after all this?
The ad hocs, -the various advisory boards- such as the ITAC, the PAC, and the SMAC, have grown in their role since their inception in, I think, the late '90s era. keeping the rules and goings on straight in all the various categories in SCCA is too much to ask a volunteer staff of about 7 (the CRB) to do, so, over time, the ad hocs have been formed to do the day to day management of the categories. I was on the ITAC for 7 or so years. In that period, we created a 'Process' that classes cars that members ask to race. IT uses weight to equalize over 300 different models of cars in 5 different classes. We wrote rules as needed to adapt to changing technology. (the ECU rule was mine, for example) and we modify weights of legacy cars when the need arises. Mostly, we spent 4 years creating the proceedures on how to do all of the above consistently over the years and through personal changes on the committee, so all cars would be treated the same, no matter which ITAC classed them.
The PRod Advisory committe does a similar task, although their process for setting weights is different.
And the SMAC is similar, but it manages the 4 different generations, and, over the years has fine tuned the weighting/restrictors and methods used to arrive at those results.
All committes meet by con call once a month, and there is a liason from the CRB on the call. I bet Jim Wheeler, the current CRB chair (Nice guy too, it seems, I met him in Lagina) sits in on many con calls as well. His predesessor, Bob Dowie was on nearly every call during my tenure on the ITAC. The CRB will bring up issues for the SMAC to work on, provide background when needed and suggest how far the committee can go. (Our "PRocess" was a BIG deal to sell, for example)
Members of the committees prepare for the meetings by taking part in online discussion boards. The SCCA letter system submits member letters to the boards, and they are discussed through the month online. One of my constant suggestions for the members of the ITAC was online board participation, as being up to speed on the letters greatly streamlined the con calls. Some of the guys were rather un savvy when it came to cumputers.
Once the Committee comes to an agreement, the recommendation is sent to the CRB. The liason presents it to the CRB who then votes to approve or deny the action. Then, the BoD approves or denies the CRBs recommendation, and those meetings are held a few times per year.
In my tenure, I was dismayed at some self serving moves by some committee members. The sytem is good, but I really really wanted the minutes of our con calls to be open to the members. Other committee guys thought I was crazy. Trouble can arise when members work back channels and the liason is too familiar with the class and has personal ties with comittee members. A liason can unwittingly present the action to the CRB in a bad light, and it can be shot down. Or, the liason can purposely color the action, and the CRB can act incorrectly. I have always felt that having a more distant liason, (Say a Touring guy for IT, and a Prod guy for SM) is better, as they can see things from a wider frame of reference, have no dog in the hunt, and their presentation to the CRB is less likely to be biased.
In short, the makeup of the Ad hoc is extremely important. My ITAC was a very public one, and we were very open with the members. At nearly every race I attended, from NH to GA, I'd have many discussions with members airing their beliefs to me. I felt that the mebership was the ultimate boss, and their thoughts were an important consideration, so I encouraged them to avail me with their opinions whenever they wanted to.
Originally I was called by the then ITAC chair who had seen my writings and wanted me to join, but many committee members are chosen from resumes that were submitted. Timing helps as does a good working knowledge of the class and the ability to think critically and fairly, and have a 1000' view. I felt that it would be a bad idea to have anyone with a business interest in the class, as it's an obvious conflict of interest, and SCCA has been burned many times by such arrangements.
Hope that helps you understand the system.
I have no idea what will happen to the members of the SMAC after this. I know that when I was on the ITAC, neither Andy or I (Andy was the ITAC chair, I was the second in command, so to speak) would have allowed any member to stay in a similar case unless there was a real good explanation. How could I expect the membership to trust us if we were cheaters? It never happened in my tenure, so I have no idea what the CRBs stance is on the matter. Heck, I don't know what the CRB CAN do, but as they approve of the Ad hoc chairs nominations, I assume the can bounce you too. If it were me, I know I sure wouldn't want to be on the next con call if I was busted, and the CRB would never have to deal with the "what to do with this guy" question...I'd resign.
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