What We Do

Our Mission

A 501 C-3 Charitable/Tax Deductible Foundation whose mission is to invest in improved safety, industry education and community outreach all designed to improve the experience of all who engage in recreational motorsports.

What We Do

From The Board

Motorsports men and women, you, are generous, active, and engaged people. You own high-speed and dangerous vehicles. You get on a racetrack for god’s sake! You play on the edge and you enjoy every minute and that is why you are willing to engage in charitable donations from your company or your personal earnings to programs that matter to you and that offer tax deductions that take a portion of the donation from your tax bill. Why not?

For this year you have the opportunity to donate to “Friends of Thunderhill,” a 501 C-3 charitable, non-profit foundation dedicated to improving safety, outreach and community support in motorsports as part of the footprint of the race track you also love, Thunderhill. This is no different than the Speedway Motorsports, Children Charities foundation, owned and operated by Bruton Smith and supported by all his racetracks.

Friends of Thunderhill is in your back yard and you use the track and facilities where the safety improvements and community outreach will occur. And, like SMI, one outcome of the Friends of Thunderhill Foundation will be building friendship and goodwill in the community of Glenn County and beyond for the track. You frequent the track and know that, absent a good community image Thunderhill, any racetrack, is easy pickings when those who want to close it down unite in the community to do just that.

Friends of Thunderhill will build a community presence that will win awards and not inspire the opposition. Most serious racing businesses have a foundation. SCCA has a Foundation. NASCAR has a Foundation and so do we. Please consider how what you donate in 2021 returns value to you and the community of friends and family that you engage with – your fellow racers!

What better way to complete your company or personal tax form knowing that your charitable donation to the Friends of Thunderhill will be evident and rewarding to you and that which you care about. 

The Board of Directors of the “Friends of Thunderhill” Foundation is led by President, Richard Thomas, a long time Willows business owner and local community advocate. The Treasurer of the Foundation, Tamara Hull, is a Certified Public Accountant [CPA]. She keeps track of the finances when not engaged in BMW Club activity.  Dr. Gary Pitts is the Foundation Secretary. His record at the Corporate level in motorsports in unequaled and of extreme value to the mission of the Foundation. Directors include myself, CSRG Business manager Geoff Pitts, Stuart Seitz, a corporate genius when it comes to social media and all modern day electronic outreach that dominates the business these days and Sina Zendenham whose role in growing the new track super power, On Grid, makes him an ideal contributor to the success of the Foundation in the years ahead.

Special thanks go out to Dr. Gary Pitts for being the first official donor to the Foundation with a $1,000 check. Judy Giddings donated $4,000 to the foundation in memory of her late husband and world-famous vintage car racer, Peter. The Foundation received $20,000 from the local Porsche Racing Club [PRC]. They gave the Foundation the money as a result of closing their doors and because they believed that Friends of Thunderhill was the right place for the excess funds from a track-renting Club to go.

More recently Robert Conyeybeer of Seattle Washington donated $6,500 to the Foundation. At present the Foundation has over $31,000 in funds with the current benefactor, the Teen Car Clinics receiving scholarships and free lunch for the kids as the only expenditures thus far.

The Foundation to awarded a scholarship to in the Spring of 2021 to a student from a nearby high school to pursue their Automotive Technical studies.

The Foundation is also looking at new technologies for track safety improvements for flagging and communication. The mission remains, “to provide educational, vocational, and safety advancements through auto racing and on-track activities to all who engage in motorized recreation, sport, and vehicle development.”  

In so doing the Foundation is set up to enhance the community image and outreach of Thunderhill Park through service and community events. I hope that by reading this you will spread the word and encourage others who love our sport and want to make a difference to join you in making a donation to the Friends of Thunderhill a part of your 2021 charitable donation kindness.

The track continues to operate despite COVID realities but with a perfect record when it comes to endorsing and enforcing COVID protocols and providing a clean, safe venue for people to enjoy. The return of business has the company above the breakeven line on the profit and loss statement which was not expected when the COVID pandemic hit.

Stay tuned and please consider donating to the Friends of Thunderhill in the name of a loved one, to fund a pet project, get a tax deduction and/or just to help that special world that is such a big part of your life in Northern California.

Donations can be made to “Friends of Thunderhill,” P O Box 966, Willows, CA 95988.