Club Mission and Vision

Club Mission and Vision

Our Mission
The Villages Motor Racing Fan Club has, since its formation in 2006, sought to bring like-minded residents of The Villages, Fla. together to share thoughts, experiences, and interests in all forms of motor racing. Our monthly meetings hold to this mission, introducing our members to representatives of the world of motorsports, from stock car drivers and mechanics, to race track promoters, to sports car enthusiasts, to drag racing veterans, to go kart racers, and even to airplane racers! Although many of us are NASCAR fans, we have adopted a position of strongly supporting the roots of motorsports in America – the local short tracks and the wide variety of racers who participate in racing at its grassroots level.

This latter segment of our mission – local racing – is fed by the availability of many excellent racing venues within a relatively short commute from The Villages. Through our marketing outreach efforts, we have been able to bring promoters to our club meetings to provide background information on their operations, including representatives from Ocala Speedway, Columbia Motorsports Park, Orlando Speedworld, Sebring International Raceway, Auburndale Speedway, New Smyrna Speedway, Citrus County Speedway, Original Speedway Park (Fruitland Park), Volusia Speedway Park and Bushnell Motorsports Park. Our club has conducted carpool and motorcoach trips to most of these venues, and has presented an awesome display of racing solidarity through the stunning array of yellow club shirts and caps. Comments from many quarters of the racing world have verified that everyone knows when The Villages Motor Racing Fan Club is at the track.

Another aspect of our club's mission is to bring our members close to the action. We accomplish this through sponsorship deals in which we negotiate reduced admission prices to local events, and in turn contribute the difference in the form of a subsidy to race teams with whom we have established a relationship. Through this approach, we are able to meet drivers, mechanics and car owners, get to know their strategies, and basically become a virtual part of their on-track race team. During its history, our club has provided over $13,000 in funding to local Florida racers, racing programs, and future stars, and has made a strong contribution to the preservation of local racing.

And it doesn't stop there – we also consider the promotion of charitable organizations to be part of our mission. We support several charities through major fund-raising efforts, and our club has provided well over $7,000 to organizations we support (e.g. Victory Junction Gang Camp, Operation Shoebox, Help Them Call Home, Camp Boggy Creek and others), and local disaster relief following the tornadoes that struck our community in 2007.

Our Vision
Although our club has grown substantially since the original group of 60 interested people who came to our August 2006 exploratory meeting – we now number well over 150 active members – we believe that our growth from this point forward will be more modest. We have settled into where we have a solid, involved membership of dedicated racing fans with a shared interest in motorsports of all forms. We expect to see this foundation remain in place for years to come.

For the future, we visualize our continued promotion of local racing, and we believe that we play a major role in helping local tracks and local race teams maintain their grassroots racing programs. Our club is continuing to gain exposure both locally and outside of Florida, including contacts with race teams and key figures in racing leagues. Feedback we have received has confirmed that there is a growing awareness of our club and its role in the world of motorsports. For example, at our monthly meetings, we have had the honor of hosting many of racing's biggest names, including two of "NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers," the "Godmother of the NHRA" and four members of the famed Reutimann family, all of whom have become friends of our group and who have shared their lives and their motorsports accomplishments with us.

While our vision includes our support of local racing, we will continue to bring our members exposure to whatever form of motorsports they desire. Toward this end, we routinely poll our members for suggestions, and give all of them serious consideration. As our membership evolves, we see the scope of our activities and programs similarly evolving in the years ahead.