SCCA Board member Bob Dowie talks goals

Each year, the Sports Car Club of America elects about a third of the 13 members of its governing Board of Directors. The only requirement to be elected to the board is that a candidate must be a member of the SCCA, but in order to actually get elected, a candidate needs to be well known and respected. Some of the most capable and experienced individuals in SCCA choose to serve on the board. There's no paycheck – they do it for the love of the SCCA and the sport.

Bob Dowie was elected to the SCCA board this past November. He represents SCCA's Area 1, which includes SCCA's New England, New York, and Northern New Jersey regions. Dowie lives in Chester, N.Y., and has been involved in the SCCA for decades.

"I first got involved in the club in the early 1970s as a spectator at Lime Rock Park," Dowie (LEFT) recalls. "As I got to know some of the competitors, and I would occasionally help them in the paddock. In 1980, I opened my own import car repair shop and wanted to get involved in racing. I had come to realize that I really enjoyed road racing and was looking for someone to work with.

"As luck would have it, as I was pulling in a local gas station I saw a guy pulling out with a Showroom Stock A 260Z on a trailer. I followed him home, introduced myself, and told him I'd like to work with his racing effort. It was the start of a great friendship that has lasted to this very day."

Over the years, Dowie found that he loved to work on racecars as well as drive them. "Being a professional mechanic, I was always more interested in working on the car rather than driving," Dowie says. "I started going to the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in the early 1990s and was having a great time. In 2001 I decided to give driving a try – while I liked working on the cars, I really liked driving them and still enjoy getting behind the wheel today."

Dowie got involved with the organizational side of the SCCA when he became concerned about the health of the sport. That led him to increase his commitment to SCCA.

"I got involved with the politics of the club when SCCA's Northeast Division decided to go from two national road races per track to one, so I worked on the committee to improve national racing in the division. Then I served on the GT ad hoc committee and was appointed to the Club Racing Board," Dowie says.

Dowie's interest in racing and automobiles doesn't end with his SCCA duties. He's still very much a hands-on enthusiast.

"For me, it's all about cars," Dowie insists. "Running a small business leaves little spare time, but any I find is spent fooling with racecars. I'm either working on the racecar, racing it, or traveling to an event to help others with their efforts. I also write about six articles a year for Import Car magazine, a trade publication aimed at import car technicians and shop owners."

As a hands-on manager, Dowie has firm ideas about what he wants to accomplish on SCCA's Board of Directors.

"There has been lots of change at the national level since I left the Club Racing Board, so it will take a little time to learn where we are," Dowie says thoughtfully. "But I always looked at the club where the strength is in the regions. They do the work required so our members can have fun with their cars. So to me, the most important accomplishment I could make is to be sure the national office provides support to the regions to make their programs successful, while providing marketing for the club in general."

As a start, Dowie already has his first goal firmly in hand – but he's just getting started.

"I would like to see the SCCA board move away from the threat of class elimination in the Club Racing program," Dowie says. "As I learn more about what is going on, I'm certain the list will grow."