Is the system working the way you expected?

Fenn: It’s working as long as the tracks allow it to work, as long as they don’t try to impose whatever method they may have—good or bad—on our Outlaw racers. It’s always better for them to already know what they’re supposed to do than for you to have to tell them what to do. We’re also starting to see the racers take care of it themselves, too. They’re saying, “Hey, you’re supposed to be out there and I’m running behind you and I’m ready to go.”

What prompted you to establish a board of directors for ORSCA? Why not just run it yourself without dissenting opinions?

Fenn: When I formed the Outlaw Racing Street Car Association, I always knew that I wanted to do that, that we needed that. It was a plan right from the start, I just didn’t know who to include. It took running most of the year to figure it out. Every one of the guys that I picked—and I didn’t hold a vote or anything—I hand-picked these guys. A few of them I didn’t even personally know. Basically, these guys are racers, car builders, track owners, and just good people who care about the class.

Who are some of the guys on the board and what made you choose them?

Fenn: There were a lot of reasons. I picked David Sheppard because I see a lot of the cars he builds and he pushes the envelope with every new car. He can show me all the things that other car builders can do that catch everybody in tech.

For a track owner, we’ve got Jeff Miles at Carolina Dragway. Mainly because Jeff was raised on a racetrack. I used to go to Carolina Dragway way back when it was nothing like the track it is now, and Jeff’s dad, Jeff Miles Sr., showed him the proper way to treat his racers and his fans. He gives his racers and his fans every penny’s worth of their money when they buy an entry or a ticket, every time they come.

Is the board a permanent or semi-permanent group, or something that you’ll arrange each year?

Fenn: Well, I’ve tried to cover every class, but of course, situations will occur that force board members to come and go. We’re going to keep it small, though. When you have a track owner, two or three racers, and a car builder, I think we’ve got the ground covered for each class with someone who knows about it.

What has surprised you the most about running a series versus promoting a single race?

Fenn: It’s 10 times harder. Make that 10,000 times harder. When you have a points series, you’ve got to be on your game, because you never want to go into a race without the points from the previous race being tallied. And you’ve got to do the same things every time. Racers are creatures of habit. As long as you do things the same way every time you do them, pretty soon you don’t have to explain what you’re doing each time you get ready to do it. But with these events now where you have to clear near $40,000 just to break even, you’ve got to have a show on both Saturday and Sunday. You’ve got to have something for them to see. If not, you’ve just got a test-and-tune session, and those are maybe eight bucks to watch. Outlaw races are 15 or 20 dollars a head, and that’s why there has to be a difference. It’s just business mathematics.