Meet the Nominees
Elections for the 2019 NER Board of Directors will occur at the Annual Meeting. The following 5 candidates have been nominated for a seat on the board. Please take a moment to read their statements in consideration for your vote.
Abhi Ghatak
My name is Abhi Ghatak and I am running for election to the SCCA New England Region Board of Directors. If elected, I would hope to bring my years of business experience in marketing, customer retention and technology to the club. One of my focus areas will be to attract new members from different areas of automotive enthusiasts including Track Night in America. During my years as V.P of Operations at the Skip Barber Racing School, I learned the challenges of running a safe, fun and fair race weekend, while balancing a limited budget and increased competition for track days. If elected I hope to bring that experience and contacts in the
industry to benefit our club.
My passion for motorsports started at a young age. I grew up rallying in East Africa and competed in the East African Safari multiple times. After getting an Engineering degree at Boston University, I started road race karting at the National level. As a factory driver for an Italian Kart manufacturer, I won seven national championships. After a few years in open wheel formula cars at Skip Barber, I have been racing a Miata in the New England Region club racing for the past 12 years.
I have great appreciation for the efforts that our directors, stewards and volunteers put in, and I ask for your vote so I can bring my experience and passion for motorsports to help this amazing team.
Luis Rivera
Hello I’m Luis Rivera and I’m running for a seat on the board of directors. To be honest you guys just seem to have really nice chairs.. I’ve been looking for a nice place to sit, I think this is my best option.
Vote for me
Paul Omichinski
I have been chairing the Time Trials program of NER for the past 3 years and in that capacity attending the Competition Board and Board of Directors meetings. I’m hoping to be able to add something constructive to the management of NER by becoming a Board member and representing the interests of members with
interests in all disciplines.
I’ve been involved in many aspects of motorsports for longer than I’d like to admit and my greatest interest has been road racing. As well as the Time Trial events I actively participate in Autocross and Racing. I’ve been blessed with having opportunities to race many different cars, classes and race series and most importantly I’ve made many lasting friendships. Several years ago while attending a Division scheduling meeting and learning of the first year successes of the Track Night program, I entered a discussion with one of those long-time friends about the possibility to creatively tie together the Time Trial program I’ve been involved with in
a local unaffiliated club, CART. I believed it would complete the linkage between Autocross and Club Racing, creating a clear attainable path for anyone wishing to move between disciplines.
Short story is we made that a reality and I’ve found myself much more engaged at NER. My mission continues to be to make all aspects of this great sport accessible and viable and encourage successive generations to be participants instead of spectators.
Rich Currey
My name is Rich Currey and I am a candidate for the NER Board of Directors. Many of you already know me through Solo and my work in Club Racing. I am currently the Secretary of the Board of Directors and the Chief of Start for NER Club Racing. I would like to start by saying thank you for the opportunity to serve the club these last 2 years on the Board and to continue my life long love of motorsports.
I have been involved in racing for literally my entire life. My father was an oval track racer all through my childhood years and in to my early adulthood. I spent many nights and weekends with racers throughout the Northeast, and came to learn that the racing community is the largest family I have ever encountered. As an adult, I have been a driver, crew member, car owner, and race official. And of course, a member of the leadership team for NER.
Racing faces many challenges in today’s world. There are many tracks and series available for drivers to compete in and for workers to support. One of the greatest challenges facing our club today is how to attract and retain both participants and volunteers to keep our programs successful. Some of our disciplines, like RallyX and Solo, have strong programs that are filled to capacity or close for most events. Others, like Time Trials and Club Racing, work hard to keep participation rates growing. I feel that we, as a club, need to focus in on how to increase participation across all of our disciplines in a world where the competition for entertainment dollars and time is stiff.
I appreciate the opportunity to continue in this role, and respectfully request your support.
Trevor Hermance
Fellow New England Region members, I am honored to again be a candidate for the Board of Directors during the 2019-2020 term. I have been a (now lifetime) member for over 14 years and served as Director for a maximum consecutive six years until 2016. I was the region Secretary for half of those years on the Board and have since continued to support the club as a volunteer in all programs (but with a focus on closed-circuit events due to my day job at Palmer Motorsports Park).
My aims as a Director will be to continue with networking between the region’s programs and partnerships, and (as always) push to get our brand of vehicular fun out to new participants and draw in those of the past as well. Our club has seen some fantastic growth in the last few years with the CART Time Trials program becoming a chapter of the region (and officially SCCA sanctioned, as a result) and Track Night in America seeing the greatest numbers throughout the country at no fewer than four of our venues. NER also now has the highest-percentage membership retention of any Jumbo Region (over 799 members). The new Board and I will be tasked with maintaining this improvement and we will be there for you to answer questions and make connections. Thank you very much for your consideration – I’ll see you in Nashua!
