The St. Louis Region Annual Election Meeting is Monday, November 19, 2012, at or about 7:00 p.m. at Patrick's at Westport. Come earlier for dinner, socializing, and to meet the candidates. We hope you will attend. If you cannot attend, an Absentee Ballot was mailed to each member household. Please vote!
This election is to fill all four (4) Officer positions for one year, as well as vacancies in three (3) of the five (5) At-large Director positions (two-year terms). Since the outcome of the Officer voting will not be known until all ballots are counted at the Annual Meeting, the vote for At-large Directors can only be held at the Annual Meeting. The Officer nominees who are NOT elected will automatically become candidates to fill At-large Director vacancies (two-year terms). They will join the following two (2) candidates. Three (3) At-large Directors will be elected. Voting for At-large Directors will be by vote of qualified members present at the Annual Meeting:
At-Large Candidates: Tom DeYoung and Charlene Lain
Each member 16 years old or older and in good standing is entitled to vote for the slate of Officers and Board of Director candidates. Officers and Directors shall be elected by a plurality of the quorum of the members present at the Annual Meeting, and including absentee ballots as applicable. Proxy votes are not permitted. A ballot was mailed to each member household; photocopies may be made to be submitted by other family members in good standing. All Absentee ballots must be received no later than November 15, 2012! Please mail them to: SCCA Election c/o Susan Anderson 207 Chianti Ct
Florissant MO 63031-6537  St. Louis Region SCCA - 2012 Election (Candidates, by office, are listed in alphabetical order.) Candidates for Regional Executive Cesare Venegoni I have been a member of the St Louis Region for almost 18 years and currently I am serving as your 2012 Regional Executive. I would like to continue as your RE in 2013. As 2012 Regional Executive I've been successful in earning the respect and trust of many of you. As promised in last year's election I have been fair, above board, and open minded. I have always kept the members' best interest in mind. My goals for 2012 were to have well attended and fun events and to get more members involved with the management of the region. I feel I have been reasonably successful and would like to continue building on what I've started. The Region's only major setback and challenge this year was in our Club Racing program. The economy and the temporary closing of Gateway International hit Club Racing a staggering blow in 2012. Poor turnout for the May event cost Club Racing dearly. The program's large financial loss and poor car count led to the canceling of our July event. Acting fast and with the help of a very able Board of Directors and many of you, I led a series of open meetings that would lead to the Region's taking a new long-term approach on how we could revive and improve Club Racing in the future. Planning for a successful 2013 season and beyond is now moving forward. I'm very excited about the approach we are taking and would like to be re-elected as RE so I can help get the job done. That's why I'm asking you to vote for me as your 2013 Regional Executive. Peter Zekert Active in SCCA since 1976, as a crew member for Bob Hubbard, F-Prod racer. [Bob was one of my early mentors.] I became an SCCA member in 1982, attending driver's school in 1982 and progressing to a National License in 1983. National License holder since 1983. Now a lifetime SCCA member. GTLite National Champion 2008. Member (at one time) in various regions across the US: St. Louis, Cal Club, San Francisco region, Kansas City region, and Atlanta region. Received the 1994 Award of Merit by the SCCA Competition Board for the Revitalization of GT5. Mentor to small GT racers since 1992, owning over 20 GT cars that I have loaned out to members for drivers schools, regionals, and national races. Served 10 years on the GT Advisory Committee and was responsible for adding the Advisory Boards into the GCR. Past St. Louis SCCA Board Member in the mid-1990s. Currently working as a contract trainer to the US Dept. of State and for US Special Forces troops.  Candidates for Assistant Regional Executive Steve Slotten Florissant (North County) resident for 40 years. In the past I have been a Club Racing worker--Pit Chief for five years at Mid-America Raceway and St. Louis International Raceway. I have participated in Autocross (Solo). Currently participate in the Rallycross program as a driver and Safety Steward. I served on the BoD as a Member-At-Large for two years. Chuck Udell I am a retired Marketing Executive from a St. Louis Fortune 500 Company and a 25-year member of SCCA. I have been involved in racing since I was 13 when I began racing Go-Karts back in Pennsylvania. In the 1970's I sat on the Board of Directors of the Corvette Council of Western Pennsylvania, headquartered in Pittsburgh. During that time, with the help of my wife Bonnie, we took their autocross program from 35 cars to cutting them off at 100. Mind you, these were all Corvettes! When they were available, we also competed in "SCCA" SOLO events. In the 80's I moved up to running SOLO ONE, which we now we call PDX. We moved to St Louis in 1990. While still in Pittsburgh, I had been introduced to Road Racing and became a card carrying member of SCCA. I crewed on a Formula Atlantic for one of my neighbors. So, when we arrived here and found out there was a Road Course right across the river, I had to have a "Real Race Car"! Well almost! I say that because the first person that I met at the "OLD Gateway" was Mark Weber! So my fate was sealed! With Mark's guidance I set my sights on getting a "Spridget" and going racing. For those of you that don't know a "SPRIDGET" is, it's either an Austin Healey Sprite or an MG Midget. Basically a GO-Kart with fenders! In 1992, along with my new friend Huey Strong, Bob Eichelberger's father-in-law, we went racing in an MG Midget. I did my first Driver's School right here in St Louis and followed that up with a second at Mid Ohio. "Back in the day," as they say, it actually took TWO Driver's Schools to get your Regional License. After a couple of tries I won the Mid Am Championship in our Spridget and then moved up to run Nationals and take my shot at the Run Offs. I just sold the F Production Miata that I built with help from Mike Wolf and Tim Finley and raced for the past ten years! I have now retired from driving but still like the smell and sound of a Race Car. In addition to what I mentioned above, when I was much younger I helped operate a Drag Strip and more recently helped our son start up a Competition Karting business that operates in conjunction with a "Country Club Road Course" in Texas. But, more importantly, I recently volunteered to be your Club Racing Chair. In this new capacity I have been working with the existing BOD to bring Road Racing back to Gateway. We tentatively have three Race Weekends scheduled at Gateway for 2013. In closing, I believe that one of the things that makes SCCA different from other Car Clubs is the depth and breadth of our events and varying interest and talents of our membership. So, if you choose to vote for me, I will do my best to support all facets of our Region, be it SOLO, PDX, Road Rally, Rally Cross or Road Racing!  Candidates for Secretary Eileen Waters I've been part of the St. Louis motorsports community for almost 40 years now and over 30 of that has included the St. Louis Region of SCCA. I became hooked when, as the youngest of six, two of my brothers built a stock car. Being the inquisitive teenage sister, I wanted to understand what they were doing. Since then, I've done a little of just about everything except mechanical work on a racing vehicle. I have been increasingly more and more involved in the St. Louis motorsports community. I started grandstand scoring, wrote press releases, joined a local motorsports radio talk show, became a track scorer, served as an officer of the St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club, wrote columns in two local publications, announced an eclectic mix of events, worked at St. Louis International Raceway (one of Gateway's earlier names), written road rallies, organized Oldtimers events, served on the 100 Acre Wood performance rally committee, co-chaired events, served as a honorary starter for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race, been chosen as an inaugural member of the St. Louis International/Gateway International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, shared a St. Louis Region road rally title (thanks to the navigational skills of my oldest daughter), designed a program to teach students how they use every subject in school as a racer and became a St. Louis motorsports historian in addition to attending and volunteering at numerous racetracks across the country. As a race fan I promote every form of motorsports in St. Louis to anyone anywhere. Currently, I am a St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club board member and a columnist for their newsletter Trackside, a track scorer for the Allied Auto Racing Association (which conducts races at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, IL and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely), editor of St. Louis Region's newsletter Wheelspin, and a columnist for our national publication, SportsCar. I have two daughters in college, volunteer with nine different organizations (from the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival to a USA Swim Team), and I've "gone back to school." I have always believed that "we all go farther faster when we work together". I can see this slate of candidates working to continue the tradition of fun, well-led, innovative and successful events that our region is known for around the country, and I'm interested in bringing my expertise to the table to help lead St. Louis Region to an even brighter future. If elected as Secretary, I think my years of experience in just about every end of St. Louis motorsports imaginable will help forge mutually beneficial bonds between us and other St. Louis organizations, exposing a whole new group of people to the family that is St. Louis Region, and I'd appreciate your vote. Lynn Wilson I have been a member of St. Louis Region since 2004. This is my second time in the SCCA. I was a member of the Colorado Region for many years in the 70's and 80's. I held a National Flagging and Communications license for several years until a new job which required me to travel most of the time prevented me from attending any races. I also participated in autocross with a small and now defunct club in Southern Colorado.
In 2003, I changed to a position which no longer required me to travel. I attended a couple of the Region's Solos that year and got hooked. And not just on the Solos, but the people. I started with a Mercedes coupe, and now have a Solo Vee, but in between I was fortunate to be able to co-drive a couple of Subarus. I have been a member of the Solo Activities Committee for several years. I have also been a member of the PDX committee and worked those events. My weekend work schedule precludes my helping at the Club Races. Thank you for your vote.  Candidates for Treasurer William (Bill) Schnardthorst I am submitting my name as a candidate for Treasurer for the upcoming BOD election. I joined the St. Louis Region SCCA in 2003 when I purchased a Nissan Sentra Spec V and wanted someplace I could drive it the way it was designed to be driven. Since then I have had an F Prepared RX7, and currently run an RX8. I recently participated in my first PDX and fully intend to participate in more of them. My SCCA experiences include Solo Chair, where I instituted the first member survey asking for member input on our program and suggestions for improvements. We also improved our registration process during this time and reorganized several areas of work assignments in order to improve the overall Solo experience for our members. I am the current Treasurer and, while Treasurer, we have consolidated all bank accounts in the same bank to ensure easier reconciliations and access for both Solo and the Region. I have worked closely with our accounting firm to resolve such issues and stopped billing for charge card processing accounts that were no longer being used or needed, resulting in good savings for the Region. I have worked to improve the response times for all bill payment and region expense reimbursement requests. I worked with the Club Racing Committee to help them reduce registration expenses through the use of PayPal and Square processing. I had been Solo Chief of Waivers for 4 years and had gotten that job down well enough that I normally had all of my job assignments filled well before the day of the event and always had backups lined up should anything unforeseen happen. In my paying job, my duties mainly focus on my ability to solve difficult customer problems and complaints. This is accomplished by thinking out of the box, organizing an action plan, and recruiting the needed technical resources to accomplish the action plan. These technical teams may be from many areas within my company and across many geographical areas anywhere in the world. I believe this experience will allow me to help contribute needed guidance and organization our club will require in the uncertain times ahead. This experience will help me be better able to work across all programs in order to get the best possible overall teams put together to further the clubs needs and future. Lynn Wilson If not elected Secretary, I will run for Treasurer. (See bio under Candidates for Secretary above.)  Candidates for Member at Large Tom DeYoung Hello, my name is Tom DeYoung and I'm running for a Member at Large position on the BOD. I've been an SCCA member since 2009 and a member of the Solo Advisory Committee since 2011. It is my goal to help our Region membership grow. It is also my goal to more of our existing membership involved in the leadership of our Region. Charlene Lain My name is Charlene Lain, and I would like to be one of St. Louis Region's Members at Large. Born a gearhead, I have become more involved in the St. Louis racing scene over the past three years, and I feel that becoming a Member at Large is the right next step for me. My volunteer positions with St. Louis Region have included Assistant Chair of the Gateway Kickoff, Food Chair of the May 2012 Club Race, 2011 Season Banquet Chair, and staffing the Tech-o-Rama. I have also been involved with the Club Racing Committee for two years and am currently working on marketing for that group. In addition to my work with the SCCA, I have helped market several track days for Gateway Motorsports Park, and I am an active member of the St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club having, amongst other things, helped them promote their organization. I've been fortunate enough to visit all the tracks in Midwest Division. I have attended Chump Car, PDX, Solo, Club Racing events, and competed in several Road Rallies in addition to partaking in numerous other track events from Track Days to "The Runoffs." In addition to my racing experience, I have served in one of three elected Trustee positions for the privately owned subdivision I lived in, holding that position for nine years; been a Field Claim Supervisor at MetLife for the past fifteen years; and I am also in my second term as a Notary Public. These positions, when added to my motorsports and volunteer history, have given me a lot of experience I feel will be helpful if I am elected as a Member at Large. It is my belief that the purpose of any Board of Directors is to represent its membership. That is where I want to direct my efforts. Being a newer member of the Region, I hope to bring new ideas and initiatives along with the experience I have garnered along the way. My efforts will be for the good of the whole club and its membership. Let's get some new folks to join us, go racing, and have a blast doing it! | 
By Chuck DeProw and Jan Rick
Congratulations to St. Louis Region member Barrett Braun who was named to the U.S. Majors Tour Specialty Staff. You can read all about it at this 