SEVWA History
SEVWA was started in late 2001 at one of the first events at Rockingham Dragway in Marston, NC. Many racers were looking for something that they could all get together and race, but still have fun at the time. The current points series at the time, had been going down hill over the past few years and they wanted a change. A meeting was held with the racers at the event and the motion was made to get the SEVWA started. The SEVWA was started with these folks in attendance, Kathy Jacobs, Alan Fore, Keith Bumgarner, Marvin Corley, Steve & Debbie Bowers, The Miller Brothers, Jerry Williams, Mike Gagnier and David Wagner. Plans when into motion with Alan Fore getting a website going and letting folks know in the internet world about us. Only by word of mouth and our infant 2002 season, the SEVWA began to take shape. In 2002, Marvin Corley of Savannah, stepped in and gave us some help as well as getting us our initial stickers and banners made. We all made it through and looked for a stronger and better 2003.
Late 2002, Keith Bumgarner took over Marvin's spot and assisted Kathy in really getting SEVWA off the ground. He saw a potential in this organization. 2003 brought on 26 members with 5 races across the Southeast, such as North Vs South Shootout, The Rock and Bugout in Manassas. Thanks to our sponsors help ( KSR, Pro Flow Performance, Creative Car Craft, Raycar International, Werks VW), we gave out and small amount of cash and prizes for the 1st and 2nd place winners in each class. The future was looking bright for SEVWA and with that in mind plans for a bigger and better 2004 was on the horizon.
Potential Sponsors were contacted for the 2004 season and new race events, hosted by SEVWA were being planned. Take a look at our list of Sponsors here. The 2004 season is to be the best yet, with 9 races and over $3500 in cash and prizes being give away at the end of the year. The 2004 year, the SEVWA had 56 members.
2005 was an awesome year and we thank all of our members and sponsors. You can see a list of 05 sponsors here and 05 members here. The 2005 season SEVWA had 7 points races with 5 of them being run by SEVWA. This year we added two races, Albany, Ga and Greensboro, NC. We will continue our points at the Piedmont Dragway in Greensboro, NC, but the Albany race has been dropped at the moment. We paid over $3500 in cash and prizes for the end of the year payout to our champions. The 2005 year , the SEVWA had 43 members.
The 2006 year was a BIG ONE! We had the Match Race of the century at our season opener at Silver Dollar Dragway in Reynolds, Ga in March. The VW Paradise team from San Diego, CA came out to match race The BRE Top Fuel Dragster from Bradenton, FL. Man was that a sight to see! Click on the following link for a video of the match race. http://vwracingnews.com/images/news/031206_reynolds/bre.wmv This event also introduced our Street Challenge class. This class became very popular at this event with over 20 entries and still continues in 2007. Once again we had 7 races on the schedule with 5 of them being run by the SEVWA. In 2006 we had our first event at Motormile Dragway in Radford, Va. Had a good turnout there and will continue to keep going there for the future. We paid over $3500 in payouts and prizes at the end of the year to our champions. Once again we had 43 members for the 2006 year.
The 2007 year brought our first non-race show/swap at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC in January. The Vintage Performance Street Challenge for the March race was successful again and we added an Unlimited Street Heads up racing class to the Northern Challenge in Radford, Va. This class is based of the popular Unlimited Street Class they have out West and the East version was a success! The Tour 2007 had 10 races on the schedule and a member list of 53. We paid over $3500 in payouts and prizes at the end of the year to our champions, Plus gave away a BUGSTUFF Race Chassis and a East Coast Sandrail chassis!
In the first few years the SEVWA was a non-profit volunteer run group, but in late 2004, it was taken over by K & L Motorsports LLC (Keith Bumgarner & Kathy Jacobs) to be able to put on SEVWA shows as well as a points series. K & L and SEVWA is looking towards a bright new future and bringing more events for racers, show cars and VW Enthusiasts alike in the Southeast region. We hope if you attend one of our events, you enjoy yourself and plan to attend again for the future.