During my tenure as AX chair (2005-2006), I had been told by several people, including board members that AX participation required PCA membership due to insurance requirements. I could not find this in ANY written rule anywhere, so I worked with the PCASDR President (Margi Knight) to find out what the requirement really was. It turned out that there was NO insurance requirement for membership. There was no PCA National requirement for membership. There was NO Zone 8 requirement for membership.
It turns out, as stated previously in this thread, that when we were having AX attendance of over 120 - 160 and before we had implemented many of the procedures that now allow us to handle that kind of attendance, someone (most likely the then current AX Chair) decided to require PCA membership simply to limit attendance and reserve it for people who had paid their membership. THERE WAS NO OTHER REASON AT THE TIME. Someone most likely stated an insurance requirement to stop any arguments.
This issue was addressed with the 2006 BOD. The standing rules were amended to what Greg Phillips stated.
PCA members and Affiliates are regarded as the same. Non-members can participate, if driving a Porsche, with either the "sponsorship" of a member or the approval of an AX Chair. A Member can run a Non-Porsche only with the permission of an AX Chair. A Non-member and a non-Porsche would take an act of God, but might be possible.
As also stated earlier, the non-member cannot pre-register. This means that the cost is the late registration fee, which is currently $60, not the discounted pre-registration fee of $40. So, a PCA membership will get you the lower fee if you pre-register.
The issue of 16 and 17 year olds has indeed changed at the National level and is bizarre and I will leave that to a verbal explanation if anybody needs it.
As to why we still require the tech crew to check membership cards, I can only offer what was told to me by a BOD member when I asked the question. It was stated that many of our members end up with their membership lapsing due to "forgetting". Having the tech crew check, helps remedy this. This story is then followed by the story of the member who lost out on the opportunity to own one of the Club Coupes because he had let his membership lapse unknowingly.
I strongly suggest that anyone who thinks that this is an undue burden on our overworked tech crew or those participants who are annoyed at having to look up their membership number at every pre-registration because the PDF form will not allow it to be remembered or those who have to remember to find their card and bring it with them to every event or those who forget their card and have to go through aggravation because they did forget it - all to show something that is not even a requirement - bring your concern to board member or post it to this forum.
For those that think it still should be done, please post your thoughts here so we can hear the other side.
BTW, I may have got some minor technicality wrong in this, so for those who are into minutia, please forgive me.
(Personnally I have my own opinion ... but that is what makes it so arbitrary 
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