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When the Sports Car Club of America was founded in the 1940’s, it was quite a different club than it is today. Early members came from the social elite. They were all men and they viewed themselves as both gentlemen and sportsmen. Their desire to own expensive, or at least eclectic, cars came as much from their wish to stand apart from the crowd as it did from any desire to go fast. Even as the speed and competition aspects of the club develop in the 1950’s, the early racers continued to compete strictly as amateurs, and the leadership of the club took a staunch position against such things as prize money, sponsorship, or even open membership. This philosophy persisted into the 1960’s, when the Chairman of the SCCA Board of Governors proclaimed that the SCCA was, quite simply,……”a gentleman’s club.” This led to a fundamental struggle between the progressive and traditional elements of the membership over just what SCCA would eventually become.
Pete Hylton, author and racing historian, traces the transition of the SCCA from a “gentlemen’s club” to that major sanctioning body that it is today.
”The Gentlemen’s Club” will be released in the Fall of 2008.
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SCCA, racing, Pete Hylton, Gentlemen’s Club, racing history
Marsha asked me a while back for a “simple” explanation of the lineage that led to the two different sanctioning bodies that have been players in the Indy Car / Champ Car fiasco of the past few years. The recent, and long hoped for, merger back into one series was the impetus for the conversation. The whole long and sorry tale has some interesting dovetails with the story I am writing right now for our upcoming book on the beginnings and transition of American Sports Car Racing, entitled “The Gentlemen’s Club.” Read more of Pete Hylton’s comments.
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Indy Racing, IRL, Champ Car, Pete Hylton, The Gentlemen’s club
