2017 Targa Traverses Southland

All totaled, 50 teams took the challenge of the 2017 SCCA Targa Southland.  Teams began their adventure at the zMAX Dragway for an autocross, then on to Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motorsports Park and Memphis International Raceway.  Along the way the teams autocrossed, competed in a TrackCross, Time Trial and RoadRally, participated in peer judged awards and lapped on all three tracks.

The event is broken into two categories, Experiential Teams get to enjoy the event without being scored on the times elements while the competition teams competed for a win in each of the seven classes.  The top score on the Experiential side went to the Hottie Wheels team drivers Laura Adams and Jennifer Mills, in their 1991 Honda Civic Si on the strength of an overall RoadRally win and finishing second in the Underdog team voting.  This was a return to Targa for Hottie Wheels, who set a goal of winning this year’s rally, and did so in dominate fashion.

Team Stranger Danger, featuring Scott Willoughby and Jeffrey Spangler, also returned to Targa Southland this year and claimed the Underdog Award for being voted to have done the most with the least, competing in their 1993 Nissan Sentra XE.  Team Bandit, with Brian Katz and Kevin Free, took the Best in Show award on the strength of a Smokey and the Bandit-themed Corvette, complete with Burt Reynolds’ mustache and Snowman vest. 

The top prize for Targa, the Spirt of Targa award, went to Team Laurel and Hardy’s Justin Arnette and Michael Jones, who arrived in their team stickered Mini Cooper sporting bowler hats and bow ties.  While the presentation was spot on, the award also recognized their fun first attitude and willingness to support other teams in the event.

On the competition side, the top score was earned by Outrun Motorsports brothers Justin and Blair Deffenbaugh in their Acura Integra in the Touring 2 Class.  Outrun claimed best in class scores in the autocross and TrackCross and finished an impressive fifth overall in the RoadRally.  Second in overall points went to Stock 1 competitors Big Plaid VooDoo Daddy, driven by Casey Henry and John Roeder in their Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang, who took autocross and TrackCross wins as well as third in show.   The third spot overall went to Bark’s Driving School’s Mark Baruth and Rebecca Turrell, teaming up to take on Targa in a 2017 Honda Civic Type R.

The largest class in the event was Stock 1, made up of autocross classes A Street, B Street and F Street. While Big Plaid VooDoo Daddy took the win, the margin to Team BaconSpeed and pilots Brian Flanagan and Karl Rickert was the narrowest in the event. BaconSpeed set the top time in the AMP Time Trial element and was second quickest overall in the TrackCross on their way to a second-place finish in Stock 1.

The Unlimited class was also an event stand out, featuring the Ariel Atom of Wubba Lubba Dub Dub’s Brian Cheaney and Zac Sitzberger, Team Exocet’s Jason Owens and Randy Pobst, and Team Duff Beer’s team of Robert and Roger McDaniels competing in a 1994 Honda Civic, complete with window mount AC unit installed inside the hatch of the car.  The class win went to the Exocet team and the masterful driving of SCCA Hall of Famer Pobst, but it was Duff Beer who stole the show, claiming second place in the class with a second place overall in the best in show voting and the third-best overall RoadRally score.

Event organizer Heyward Wagner serves as the TargaMaster for this event and described it as the most positive SCCA Event he had ever been a part of. 

“It is amazing how setting a clear expectation on fun can define the culture of an event,” Wagner said. “By the end of the weekend, teams used phrases like ‘best weekend of their lives’ and ‘dreams come true’ to describe their experiences.”

Complete results, including breakdowns from each event, are available here.

Plans for Targa events in 2018 are not in place yet, but interest is high within the organization to stage multiple events next year.

 

Photos by Jon Krolewicz

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