MMRA Announcements & Future

There were several announcements at the East Grand National awards banquet which have not been widely reported so we would like to repeat and explain them here for everyone who was not at the banquet.

First, David Daniels, MMRA's National Director announced he will be resigning from his position after the West Grand National race.  Although David has been an integral part of MMRA over the last 3 years, his recent acquisition of the Baby Grands manufacturing business has demanded his full attention.  As such, going forward, he will have no role with MMRA other than as a manufacturer, and car owner.

David's Baby Grands business which is based in Kentucky is completely independent of MMRA which is a Virginia corporation.  He has no ownership interest in MMRA and has not ever loaned MMRA any money.

MMRA is strictly a sanctioning body which does not sell any cars, parts, engines, etc.  Our purpose is to promote the sport of minicup and Baby Grand racing, with a goal of attracting major national sponsorship.

We wish David well and look forward to working with him to continue to build our sport.  Similarly, MMRA will work with our other partners such as Extreme Engine Systems, Minicup Motorsports, NC Chassis, and Ultimate Motorsports.

Going forward, MMRA welcomes Lee Griffith aboard as our new National Director.  Lee has years of MMRA racing experience and has been ably serving as an MMRA official at most of our Touring and Grand National events this season.  Lee has the experience, dedication, and loyalty to the sport that will enable him to do a tremendous job for MMRA and we're excited to have him on our team.

Secondly, some racers have been unsure about where to get accurate information about MMRA policies, procedures, etc.  The www.MMRAracing.com website is the sole and only source for this information.  Nothing said by any MMRA official - from regional directors to the president of MMRA, constitutes policies or commitments by MMRA.  If it is posted on the website, it is correct, if not, it can not be relied upon.  The good news is that virtually everything we do is posted quickly and accurately on www.MMRAracing.com.  Everything from rulebooks, membership forms, schedules, purse info, etc. is readily available here and MMRA recommends that all our racers get in the habit of regularly checking the website for the latest information.  This way, all racers, regardless of their region, have access to the same information at the same time.  No one should rely on what they hear at the track or from people (including MMRA officials) - the website is the authority in MMRA.

Third, the MMRA Competition Committee has voted to allow racers to earn points in all regional qualifier races, regardless of region during the 2005 season.  This will be a great way for adjacent regions to coordinate with and help each other.  They can schedule their regional qualifiers on non-conflicting weeks and then both areas will have higher car count.  The higher car counts should produce more excitement and attract more new racers in both regions.  This will be especially helpful out west where we do not have a Touring series established yet.  In 2005, if a racer has a bad regional qualifier, he can go to another region and get a strong score to replace the bad one in his home region.  Finally, this will also benefit racers in regions with low car count.  Previously, this made it difficult for them to earn high scores - now they can travel to regional qualifiers in a nearby region and get strong scores toward the championship.

Fourth, the MMRA Competition Committee has also voted to award one bonus championship point to the fast qualifier in each division at every 2005 Touring and Grand National event.  MMRA will still draw an invert pill as described in the MMRA rulebook, but now there will be an advantage to setting fast time.  This will reward those who work hard and hit the setup for our most prestigious events.

We hope this information has been helpful.  We would also like to again encourage all our racers to bookmark this website and check back often.  If you want to keep up to date, www.MMRAracing.com is your source.  We'll see you at the track!