Important news and more detail on the 2021 Season
So now for the big news. After 4 years of running the series with the help and support of so many, I will be stepping back into a supporting role and will focus more fully on being a driver. I am excited to announce that Ethan and Rebecca Shippert will be taking leadership of the program. I will continue to manage the website and our various communications and to the degree that Ethan and Rebecca need me to, will keep working on opening up cool opportunities for the group (Indycar support races, entry into premier events etc.)
Most of you know Ethan as an incredibly accomplished pro, with a lifetime of success, both at the wheel and the wrench. He is also a University of Wisconsin graduate (History BA) and the product of a family history of racing in the heart of American Sportscar country. Ethan has raced in Europe and the US and has been in the business of developing cars and drivers for over 20 years. He has been the open-wheel leader on the CSRG board for several years now and has the cool head, big heart, and strong communications skills to grow not just the series, but as an executive in this industry. I am an unabashed fan of Ethan's and am massively excited to work with and support him. You can hear his story here.
Rebecca is a graduate of Cal Poly SLO with a BS in Kinesiology and minor in dance. She is an event planner and marketing professional, with over 12 years of experience in both mainstream business, and motorsports events. She managed testing and corporate events for Sonoma Raceway, manages events internationally for a local tech company, and currently co-owns and operates Shippert Racing Services. She is also a third-generation Huffaker, so she truly has racing in her genes. Rebecca is an experienced driver and a brilliant mom to a couple of little boys so easily has the chops to keep you all in line and deal with your "issues" :-)
Ethan and Rebecca will take over leadership of the weekends and will provide driver services and support and with the help of our regular series volunteers. As you all know these two have day jobs, so the 2021 schedule is designed to help them ease into this role and take the time to put their mark on the program. With that in mind, 2021 will be a true series of races, with podiums, champagne, beer, medals and rules, but we will not run a year-long championship.
We are also leveraging and supporting two events run by other racing organizations to take a bit of pressure off the team. You will start to hear from Rebecca and Ethan soon, until then any questions or comments will be handled the usual way.
Funding the Fun
We will also be instituting a series fee. The beer, the trophies, medals, t-shirts, Mexican banquets, the professional photographer are a big part of what makes this all special and I don't want this to cost Ethan and Rebecca anything, so it's time for you all to invest a bit more in your own fun and give our series sponsors a bit of a break. So please send $100 (more if you can) to the following PayPal user address ethan@shippertracingservices.com if you don’t use PayPal, you can mail a check to made out to Shippert Racing Services, 29733 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, CA 95476
The 2021 Season
2021 is defined by not one but three Laguna dates and a return to big spectator events in early summer. This is unprecedented and will be huge fun. There will be two types of events in 2021. Medal events, will be a bit lower key and have as they sound, medals, and Trophy events, will have trophies and more media attention. Every event in the schedule below is confirmed as of today, January 22, pending the state of the world, ICU capacity, and more. But with some luck, things will get better in the next 90 days and we can go race. We will provide updates, absolutely as soon as we have them.
March 13-14 Medal Race Laguna Seca with HMSA. This will be our usual Season opener with HMSA. We will have the usual HMSA trophy awards.
April 9-11 Trophy Race at Sonoma Raceway, at the David Love with CSRG. This will most likely be a non-spectator event, but the wine country should be open and the green hills of Sonoma make it wonderful time of year to be there.
May 15-16 Medal Race at Laguna Seca with the FIA Masters. We will be part of the first-ever FIA Masters Formula car festival that includes Formula 1, the inaugural FIA Masters Atlantic and Super Vee and Formula Ford and more.
June 4-6 Trophy Race at Laguna Seca with CSRG. CSRG returns to Laguna Seca for the first time in 20 years. Hopefully this will coincide with the re-awakening of spectators, and of the bars and restaurants that make the Monterey peninsula so special.
July 9-11 Rose Cup Races at Portland with a test day on July 8. This is the 60th running of the Rose Cup Races with a wide variety of SCCA and Historic class cars competing for top honors. Historic Formula Ford and Club Ford will have their own race groups where all CrossFlow Cup drivers are welcome to join the fun and compete for Rose Cup Trophies. Special festivities and celebrations are planned to look back at past racers and cars that first started running at PIR in 1961.
October 1-3 Trophy Race and Series finale at Sonoma Raceway, with the CSRG Charity Challenge. The Charity Challenge will be back in full force with aircraft flyovers, car displays and charity rides. We will also have the full season awards and the usual party.
Final Thoughts
2021 will be a great year in our sport, in so many ways. But in our little corner of the world, it will be especially great to see this pair of wonderful, incredibly competent young people lead us into a bright future. And for me personally, this hopefully allows me to put more fun and more speed into my game.
Best to all
AW