Nominations are open for the 2015 Chris Fox Spirit of the Sport award.

Memories of Chris Fox are still fresh enough for most of us that she needs nearly no introduction. She had a nearly 40 year history with the DC Region, starting as a flagger in the mid 70's who was soon bitten by the competition bug. She may have been best known as a driver who competed fiercely at all levels of club racing, but she also found the time to work several volunteer specialties, filling in whenever she was needed. She was an expert mechanic who did most of the work on the cars she raced. She was a highly regarded instructor in the Region's drivers' schools for years. She still holds lap records in three classes at Summit Point: E Production, GT-5, and G Production. But perhaps the most important thing about Chris is how much she loved this sport, and how freely she shared that love and enthusiasm with everyone who crossed her path. She volunteered her time, her talents, her tools, and her expertise. She believed making everyone else better made the sport better. But she also had a well developed sense of the absurd, and a grin that told you she was planning something “interesting.”

Unfortunately, Chris took her last checker at the final MARRS event in 2010. The Friends of Chris Fox have donated an award to be presented in Chris's name to a member of the DC Region Club Racing community who best exemplifies the spirit of Chris – her great enthusiasm, her endless generosity, her beliefs in the value of mentorship, her drive for excellence, and her sense of fun, with a side of mischief. We believe those qualities represent the true Spirit of our Sport, and we would like to recognize individuals who share them, who consistently demonstrate some combination of these abilities over time. Previous recipients include Bruce Shelton in 2011, Dave Parker in 2012, Jack Burrows in 2013, and Carolyn Bayer-Broring and Tom Broring in 2014.

If you know a WDC Region Club Racing member (driver, worker, crew, volunteer) who you believe meets the above criteria for this award, please forward the individual's name and supporting anecdotal information to Bruce Shelton (gtp11@comcast.net), chair of the selection committee. Other members of the committee include Randy Canfield, Kevin Leigh, Mike Sabochek, Jim and Betty Harrison, Beth Burkhard, Dave Parker, Jack Burrows, and Tom Broring and Carolyn Bayer-Broring.

Nominations are due by December 1, 2015.

The Award will be presented at the annual banquet to be held on January 16, 2016, at Loews Annapolis.