Teach me about scca membership

I was planning on taking part in a decent number of rallycross events next year and I have a few questions about scca membership. First, if I buy a one year membership, is it valid for one year from the date I buy it, or is it like a fishing license where they have the same preset start and end for everybody no matter when you buy it? Second, if I buy a national membership do I also need a regional membership? If not, what is the advantage of having a regional membership?

Is there a difference between national and regional memberships?

I signed up at the first autocross of this year, and it's 365 calendar days as far as I can tell. There was no national or regional designation, and signing up at the event got me a discount on the days entry fees. I'm assuming it's national because I got a ballot in the mail this year for officers.

Membership is good for 1 year from the day you buy it.

National membership includes regional membership fees (it'll ask you your region when you register). The total differs depending on region (for example DC region has higher fee than Susquehanna, I think).

Membership is good for all SCCA events (autocross, rallycross, rallysprint, track days, etc) and you can use it in any region, regardless of your home region. Also check out the site, it does give discounts for things like hotels, rental cars, etc (which may or may not be better than what you can get through your insurance, work, AAA, or whatever).

Yes, get one. Also comes with a subscription to Sportscar magazine.

In reply to Gearheadotaku:

Yeah, I was gonna, I just wanted to understand how it worked before I did. Since in not going to run again until probably this spring I will wait until then to get my membership.

Thanks irish44j, that clears things up greatly.

BTW, SCCA has a "Black Friday" type sale on - if you know someone who can be talked into renewing their membership before Monday night, they can get you a coupon code for $40 off a new regular membership. Might be worth considering.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

I'm afraid I don't have any close friends that are members, that would be sweet though.

Also, when you do get a membership, be sure to write down a current member's number as a reference. Not sure if it gets you anything, but the current member gets a discount on their own renewal if you do. So find a friend or someone on here who is a current member and pay it forward ;)

In reply to gearheadmb:

A few of us on here are members .

In reply to BoxheadTim:

Well if anybody wants to give me a discount code I sure wouldn't turn it down.

On the semi-annual occasion that I want to run an SCCA event, it occurs to me to check my membership. I get a little pissy that I have been a defacto SCCA member for about 20 years, but my membership starts in ~2015. I hope (think?) they have realized that autorenenwal is good for membership #s in the last couple years.