The VIPER Driver Scholarship fund

[DerElf]

Dr. Evial (Jeff Canfield) has come up with a great idea but I doubt he would post it so I am doing it for him.

Jeff's idea is this. There are certain drivers during the course of the season who find themselves without cash enough to run a race or two and we miss their company as well as their cars on the grid sheets. We need cars if we are to survive, simple as that. So here is the proposal.

1) Starting with the first race of next year drivers in attendance for the season opener pony up into a kitty $20 or some such, enough so we raise an entry fee for the next race.

2) A fishbowl (or some such) is stuffed with the names of regular SF region drivers who are not in attendance and a name is drawn. The kitty is used to "sponsor" an entry fee for the driver chosen in the next race. Drivers selected for the bowl are based on the previous year's points list. Novice drivers who go through the 2005 driver's school need to attend at least one event prior to their names being added to the bowl. Drivers may elect to have their names removed from the bowl if they feel they do not qualify for such an auspicious honor or may (and should) refuse the scholorship for any race they are already prepared (and funded) for. In such case another name is drawn and that drivers name is returned to the bowl for the next drawing.

3) Going along with the "spirit" of the "Scholarship" other competitiors are encourages to help out that driver by way of pit space, floor space to sleep on and grub to munch.

4) All the winning driver needs do is drop a contrib of some sort into the fund at that race his/her name is withdrawn from the bowl until everyone in bowl has been sponsored once. Then all name return to the bowl and the cycle begins again.

5)The fund will be administered by a driver approved by everybody who contributes. Personally I nominate Jeff for this task as he is honest, trustworthy and it was his idea.

Any thoughts on the matter? Team Elf will host (gratis) any information that is required to make this work.

I gots my $20 out, who else is with me?

[brian]

Reads like a honorable effort. If I donate money every event entered, won't I have contributed the equivelent of one entry? Isn't possible that I will have to pass up on an event if I have contributed all year?

[DerElf]

Everybody who wants to will have their name in the hat. You don't have to contribute EVERY race that you are at, just the ones where you have spare cash. At the same time if you are in the bucket you have a chance of getting an entry (if you need it).

The point is to get the cars on the track that might not make it there without help. I can think of several faces that have been absent this year for financial reasons that we would have liked to have there.

[sean]

Great idea. And to clarify, I think it would be a case of 'contribute if you can', until eventually we have enough money in the pot to sponsor someone. If it takes one race, great. And if it takes 6 or 7 races until we've got enough, so be it. I don't think anyone should feel compelled to contribute. And those that do needn't do it at every event. It should remain a fairly casual thing. If we can get even one extra car out there occasionally, it'll help us all.

Sean
FV17

[jeff]

Since Martin let the cat out of the bag before I worked out the details, here's what I intended:

The fund's purpose is to increase participation by defraying some of the costs of racing for drivers that can't otherwise afford to go due to financial difficulties.

Some of the particulars:

1. This is for Formula Vee drivers in the San Francisco Region only.

2. The fund will cover the cost of entry for a single driver. Incidentals, such as fuel, housing or anything other than the fee for entering the race can't be covered. If this proves popular and finances allow, we may decide to change this policy.

3. The fund is not intended to pay the entry fees for a single driver for an entire season. If the driver has had several other races subsidized in the recent past, they may not necessarily receive the fees.

4. Contributions to the fund are not manditory. The quickest way to assure that this will not work is to force someone to participate (remember, we have no leverage to do this) - it will be left up to the individual drivers to decide whether they wish to participate and the amount of their participation. Contributions to this fund will be kept in confidence and the names of the contributors will not be released. If they want someone else to know, they'll have to tell them themselves.

5. Drivers who wish to have their entry fees covered need to make a request before the SCCA registration deadline - we won't cover late fees. (One of the things that needs to be worked out is to whom the request is to be made). Once again, this is not intended to cover the entire season for a single driver.

6. If multiple drivers make the request for the same race, the following selection criteria will apply: Has the driver gotten his entry fees covered in a recent race? When? If this does not produce a designee, and there are two requesters, the decision will be made by coin flip. If there are three or more, the decision will be made by consensus of the drivers that have donated to the fund.
The decision is final. If the driver registers and decides (for any reason) not to go to the race, the fees should be returned.


Some of the above "rules" may seem pretty draconian, but, as money is involved, I would like to make things as clear as possible. The whole idea is to increase the fun for everybody and boost our representation at events. I'd really rather not spend half of the time defending the decisions that we make on who gets to drive, hence the rules.


In order to start this off, there will need to be at least one fund-raiser (probably a bake sale, but I'm open to suggestions).

I look forward to your comments.

Oh, incidentally, I'm up for suggestions on what to call this. I'm afraid that the existing name makes it appear that it is for Viper drivers only. Since there are very few of us (sorry, B.S.), I would like to have a name that indicates that it is for all Vee drivers.

-JC

[DerElf]

I let the cat out of the bag by accident! See I was cleaning up some milk and spilt some beans, when I turned around...no cat!

[mikebagnell]

Good idea. Count me in. By-the-way----- I showed up at T-Hill with a fuel cell for a certain person, who didn't show or call.......

[DerElf]

That certain person is a mound of twitching apologies Mike! He will make it up to you with cold cans of Dark Beer when next we meet!

[mikebagnell]

If you want off of the hook, find out from Brother Sweeney where you can get Smithwicks Irish beer. Der Nebelmeister is votching you!!!!!

[jeff]

Reply to brian's post of Nov 15:

That's why it's not manditory and why you can donate whatever you feel that you can afford. Its also why donations are confidential.

As far as making so many donations that it keeps you from racing, that kinda misses the point of the fund, doesn't it?