The 2014 CRA Elections are in full swing.
All voting packets will be available for pickup and filing at the September 2014 CRA weekend at BIR at race registration.
Any packets not picked up during the race weekend will be mailed to the members Monday 9/22 and must be recieved before October 7th 2014 OR delivered in person on October 7th 2014 between 7 and 8pm to:
Richfield VFW
6715 Lakeshore Drive, Richfield, MN, 55423
Considering the 9/22 mail date, mailed ballots should be delivered to members by 9/25/14-DO NOT WAIT UNTIL 10/7/14 TO NOTIFY THE CLUB THAT A BALLOT HAS NOT BEEN RECIEVED. Any questions should be directed to Secretary @cra-mn.com. Please note-only those who were members as of the Date of Record (9/7/20014) are eligible to vote.
This year’s nominees are (in first name alphabetical order):
- Billy Vossberg
- Brian Mattson
- Clint Lee
- Jason Hoffman
- Stephen Johnson
- Harry Jensen
- Nathan Massa
There are three open seats on the board. Members are allowed to vote for a total of three (3) candidates, which may include write-in candidates.
Some candidates have submitted bios, which are found below. Again, make sure your ballot is returned BY Tuesday, 10/7/14.
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Name: Billy Vossberg
Where are you from: Currently Ham Lake, MN, originally from Richfield, MN.
How are you involved with the club (I.E.: racer, corner worker, spectator, family member, etc): I am a racer and
current Middleweight Novice Trash Talk Champion.
Tell us a bit about yourself: I have a degree in Applied Economics and I make my living trading commodities. I
spent much of my childhood climbing the gas tank mountain at Sport Wheels and later incessantly bothering
Tommy and Brad at Topline Cycle.
How long have you been involved with the club: I earned my race license in May of 2008 (fun fact- Devo crashed
out of that race-shocking), raced sporadically until 2012 and have raced most weekends since then.
Why have you decided to run and what would you like to see accomplished: I would like to give back my time to
the club. Without the hard work of our volunteer organization it would be vastly more difficult to engage in our
passion for motorcycle racing. I believe that my combination of professional, mechanical and racing experience will
be a valuable addition to the board of directors.
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Name: Brian Mattson
Where are you from: Currently, I live in Coon Rapids, MN and have resided there for almost six years.
How are you involved with the club (I.E.: racer, corner worker, spectator, family member, etc): My primary
position within the club is the Co-Chief of IT (Information Technology). However, like many of us, I assist with many
other specialties as needed. Most recently I have been assisting our Chief of Comm Tech making sure that the
two-way radios and associated equipment are running properly.
Tell us a bit about yourself: I was born and raised here in the Twin Cities area. I’m married to Kim Mattson (Co-
Chief of Racer Registration), have two kids – Lindsey (works with Kim in Race Registration), and Alex (helps out
the Course Marshals when he is here for the summer), and have a dog and a cat – both named Charlie. When
I’m not up at BIR volunteering for other events I like working around the house, getting together and spending
time with friends and family, and expanding on my vast music collection. For over 8 years now I have worked for
a locally-owned company named Infinite Campus where I am currently a Systems Administrator. My professional
skills of troubleshooting/problem-solving, analyzing critical data, relationship building, and collaboration are vital
to making sure issues brought to the board are discussed and resolved as swiftly as possible. Many of these skills
were proven earlier this year when our shopping cart suffered a fatal glitch just days prior to opening for pre-
registration. Within the span of a couple of days we had the new cart online and ready to take orders. On top of
that – we are now able to take online memberships and perform many other functions not available to us with the
old system.
How long have you been involved with the club: The 2015 race season will mark my 10th
in 2005 my girlfriend, now wife, along with a couple other friends of mine said that I’d have a fun weekend if I
came and worked “corners”. Little did I know that almost 10 years later I would be able to say that I haven’t missed
an event since that May weekend back in 2005!
Why have you decided to run and what would you like to see accomplished: I have decided to run for a board
of directors position for the next three years because I feel that I have a good sense of how the club operates
on multiple facets, and I want to help guide the club to where it needs to be in the future – both immediate and
distant. I feel that over 15 years of professional leadership experience, along with time spent as a Chief in the CRA,
make me a perfect candidate for this position. I’ve attended many board meetings to know that, if elected, this
isn’t something to be taken lightly and requires full dedication. If elected there are a few items that I feel I would
have the most impact on. First and foremost the CRA, to me and I am sure many of you, is like an extension of my
family. Like with any family you want to see it grow and prosper. One of the ways I would like to see us grow as
a club is through an increase of membership numbers. This includes both racers AND volunteers as each “group”
is EQUALLY important, and relies heavily on one another in order for this club to operate. I would also like to
address how we can advertise the club more. Just over the August race weekend I can’t tell you how many people
I stopped to talk with (that had ventured over from the drag side because of rain) that had no idea the BIR hosted
motorcycle roadracing events. The CRA shouldn’t be thought of as an alternative if drag racing isn’t going on –
we should be thought of as a main event that people really need to struggle with to decide which they want to
watch more!! Many folks immediately think that advertising costs a lot of money, when in fact there are MANY
methods of advertising that we can utilize. Specifically, we could utilize social networking and social media to
target a specific audience with a pre-set budget that is MUCH less than what we would pay for traditional print, or
non-print advertising. Lastly, I would use my technology background to put the CRA further into the digital age by
implementing some ideas that members have brought to my attention over this past race season.
I believe that the club has come a long way in recent years due to the commitment and efforts from your board of
directors. It is my goal to continue working towards making the CRA the best it can be. I will continue to give my
110% dedication to the club, and my position, to the best of my abilities. If you have any questions or concerns you
would like to discuss prior to the election – please feel free to email me at bjmattson@gmail.com. Thank you for
this opportunity, and I look forward to serving you!
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Name: Clinton Lee
Where are you from: I have lived in Roseville, MN for the past 27 years, and have always lived in the Twin Cities area.
How are you involved with the club (I.E.: racer, corner worker, spectator, family member, etc): I have been Chief of Tech since the 2007 season. That means, in addition to showing up for the race weekends, I ensure the Tech Barn is staffed, interpret the rules when there are questions, resolve pretests, assist in the New Rider school each March, and contribute updates to the rulebook.
Tell us a bit about yourself: I have a wife and three grown children. The girls are married, and in a month my son returns from 28 months in the Peace Corps. I expect he will be living with us while he gets reestablished.
Professionally, I have been a Software Engineer since when computers had rows of twinkling lights on the front
of them and 256K was an astounding number. Currently I work as a developer at Siemens PLM Software (PLM
is “Product Lifecycle Management”).
I have a collection of street bikes, namely a BMW S1000RR (to scare the crap out of me) an Aprilia Mille (now
mostly for track days and because I love it), a 1985 Suzuki Madura 700 (for the looks on people’s faces when I
roll up on it), and that Honda CT-70 you see me on at the track. Since 1999 there is a group of us that trailers our
sportbikes down to the Ozarks in Arkansas, at least annually and usually twice each year, to tear through a set of
tires in four days. I spend each winter working on assorted motorcycle repair/resurrection projects. That led to
my joining the local chapter of the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club a couple years ago. Over the years I have
had something like 20 or so bikes, including some dirt bikes.
Since the age of 15 I was only bikeless the summer of 1976, due to poverty.
I am also a longtime distance runner. I used to run almost daily, but my knees don’t let me get away with that
anymore so it’s pretty much three times a week now. I’ve completed the Twin Cities Marathon a few times.
How long have you been involved with the club: I raced a GS500 from 2000 through 2002. Going back further, I attended the New Rider classroom session in 1981 (The CB750F was pretty much State of the Art then), and occasional race weekends beginning in 1973.
Why have you decided to run and what would you like to see accomplished: I have been around long enough to understand how the CRA works and the purposes it serves for both racers and workers. I will be forever grateful for the experience I gained as a racer: I had already been riding motorcycles for 29 years, but most of what I now know about riding motorcycles grew from those three years. My involvement in Tech and interest in the BOD is my attempt to pay that back. I also like the company of so many smart, committed, avid people.
I don’t see the Club as broken in any way, but I do understand that maintaining that health takes vigilance. Board
members have to understand what attracts racers and what their challenges are, both when new and as returning
racers. In other words, why do they show up in the first place, and what should we offer to get them to come back? Similarly we have to understand what makes those workers continue to show up, year after year. I have to admit that just baffled me when I was racing, but I sort of get it now.
The Board has to be open to questioning the existing class structures. Are the definitions of Supersport/Superbike/
GP still the best for the current and for future machinery? Which classes are becoming moribund, and how should
the Club respond? Is there a population of potential race bikes we are ignoring?
The Board also makes sure the gears continue to turn, year after year. The next season schedule needs to be
planned. Purchases have to be budgeted and made. The booth at the January motorcycle show needs to be
staffed. Newsletters have to be produced. Research has to be done. Decisions have to be made, many of which
will be less than universally well received.
I am ready to do my part of this.
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Name: Jason Hoffman
Where are you from: Oakdale, MN
How are you involved with the club (I.E.: racer, corner worker, spectator, family member, etc): Primarily as a racer; occasionally as pit crew, corner worker, or spectator.
Tell us a bit about yourself: I was born in Wisconsin and moved to Minnesota to attend the U of M where I graduated with majors in Finance and Management Information Systems in 2001. I am currently a level III candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. Outside of motorcycles, I enjoy snowboarding, yoga, economics, and cooking.
How long have you been involved with the club: I attended my first race in 2008 and contracted racing fever. I purchased a race bike over the winter and started racing in 2009.
Why have you decided to run and what would you like to see accomplished: One specific thing I would like to accomplish is a documented and detailed discussion on the use of slick tires in supersport classes that incorporates feedback from all stakeholders. My career experience has been working with institutional defined contribution plan fiduciary committees. The responsibility of these committees is to make decisions that are in the best interest of the plan’s participants and not in their own self-interest. Complicating matters is the fact that the participants in the plan are not a homogeneous group; decisions that are made on their behalf affect participants differently. Working in a setting like this requires a thoughtful process and documentation to give context to the ultimate decisions. The CRA is similar, with no two racers or volunteers having the exact same motivations and expectations of the club. We also have other important stakeholders such as vendors and sponsors to consider. We must recognize that every decision, or non-decision, made at the board level will affect people and not always equally. I believe the greatest corroboration of good governance is that even those who have changes not go their way respect the process and the ultimate decisions. I believe I can helpcontinue that tradition.
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Name: Stephen Johnson
Where are you from: I live in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
How are you involved with the club (I.E.: racer, corner worker, spectator, family member, etc): This is my fourth year racing with the CRA. My wife, Aimee, volunteers for worker lunches every weekend also. I adopt a new rider every now and then and go out of my way to give Bob Barton a hard time. Hey Uncle Bob, see you at the banquet…
Tell us a bit about yourself: I’m a Minnesota native. I grew up in Waconia about 40 miles west of the Twin Cities and my mother, sister and brother all still live in the metro area. I’ve been married to my wife, Aimee, for 14 fantastic years. One of the many things I love about her… she rides too! I graduated from Waconia High and attended four different colleges, two of them overseas while I spent several years living in Central America and Europe for the U.S. Army. I’ve worked in IT for 22 years and have been Global Product Lead for Network Management at 3M Company for four years now. I lead a global team that manages network and application performance monitoring tools and is the final stop for troubleshooting network and applications issues. I love my job!
I bought my first bike, a Yamaha RD250, in 1982 and traded it in for a Yamaha YZ175 a year later. I took a break
from riding while in the Army, and then bought a new 1994 Kawasaki ZX7R. MSF wasn’t widely known at the time,
so I took my road test on the ZX7R. That thing was stable, but it turned like a truck. Try weaving those cones on
that stretched out rack! A ZX9R, a ZX12R, two CBR1000RRs and 100,000+ miles later I’m still commuting to work
on two wheels whenever I can, and taking the odd weekend joy-ride.
I started track days with ZARS after my sister-in-law got me hooked by letting me ride her Ducati 748 at a small
track in Texas. After a year of ZARS I started to wonder about the competitive side of the track experience (read:
Passing=GOOD!). Gabe Blevins talked me into signing up (it wasn’t too hard) and finding a bike for the lightweight
class and I’ve been running 5 sprints per day ever since. If you haven’t guessed, I’m over 40 and I love mixing it up
with the crusty old CRA demons in Formula 40. They’re some fierce competitors with a lot of experience, and the
race is a blast!
How long have you been involved with the club: I started racing in May 2011. This is my fourth year with the
club.
Why have you decided to run and what would you like to see accomplished: The CRA isn’t some abstract idea,
it’s a great bunch of people and it’s maintained by its members. I want to contribute to keeping the organization
healthy, fun and moving forward.
I don’t have specific plans in mind, but I’d like to see more fans in the stands, more bikes on the grids and more epic battles to the finish line. I also want to be sure our volunteers feel appreciated for the work they do to
make our weekends safe, and fun. I’ll bring ideas and suggestions to promote those goals and to generate some
thoughtful discussion about how we can grow the club.
