The SCCA® Targa program was built around a dream of teams running on as many racetracks as possible, multiple days in a row – that’s what it was all about. Next, toss in something fun to do between the tracks (like a scavenger hunt or poker run), and maybe add the periodic autocross, and bam! You have the making of an automotive adventure no one will forget! Well, SCCA did exactly that, and the program has taken off just like you’d expect.
The 2026 season jumped into action with Targa Tex-ish (which was kind of in Texas), then shifted eastward to Targa Carolinas (which was definitely in the Carolinas), event coverage of which can be found here and here.
Yet that wasn’t the end of the fun.
Summer hosted two more SCCA Targas in two different parts of the country – both equal in excitement, and both a heaping handful of fun. Targa New England, running July 15-18, began on Wednesday at Palmer Motorsports Park, where teams hit the track for their first timed sessions. Thursday was a visit to historic Lime Rock Park and then a Friday morning of TrackSprint at Canaan. That led to the grand finale on Saturday at Pocono Raceway and a slew of exhausted Targa maniacs joining in the Tire Rack SCCA Time Attack Challenge fun taking place at the Tricky Triangle that weekend.
(SCCA Targa New England kicked off the summer Targa fun with a romp around some of the best racetracks in the northeast. Photo by Carrie Lee.)
Targa Great Lakes, occurring barely a week later on July 29-Aug. 1, was yet another late-summer party. We could tell you how great it was, or we could let Lee Grimes, the former-KONI-employee-slash-retired-SCCA-staffer-slash-all-around- good-guy-who-has-spent-a-lifetime-behind-the-wheel, tell us about his experience.
“One of my most anticipated highlights of this summer was running the Sports Car Club of America™ Targa Great Lakes event,” Grimes posted on the SCCA Targa Facebook group following the event. “We drove on four different racetracks and the Tire Rack HQ test track and transited between tracks on a very tight schedule that kept us always hopping. It was an amazing adventure and I recommend it for anyone who loves an action-packed road trip.”
Teamed with his long-time racing buddy Tom Lamb, the duo got the chance to compete in one car and contribute to a team score. That began with a drive from Lee’s home near Cincinnati to Blackhawk Farms for registration and the opening session followed by a 300 (ish) mile drive to Grattan Raceway near Grand Rapids (with some mixing it up and opting for the ferry). Morning laps at Grattan were followed by a drive to Tire Rack HQ for some skid pad action and autocross, along with a warehouse tour, near South Bend (another 140 miles).
(A stop at Tire Rack's HQ involved a facility tour and a chance to rip around the company's test track. Photo by Andie Albin.)
From there, it was back north about 60 miles to GingerMan Raceway, where Friday’s laps took place. Not finished, the group caravaned back to Tire Rack for an autocross on Friday, then headed to Autobahn Country Club for Saturday morning’s sessions and awards (which took place alongside that weekend’s Tire Rack SCCA Time Attack Challenge).
If you’re keeping score, door to door, that was about 1,750 miles for Grimes and a lot of hard (and fun) driving.
“The vibe is like summer camp for gearheads, with friendly competition but more emphasis on camaraderie and teams helping each other succeed and have a good time,” Grimes said.
All of this is to say that an SCCA Targa event requires a nice, very expensive car, right? Not exactly.
“There were all kinds of street-legal cars allowed and no trailered racecars, and we literally had everything from a recent Porsche 911 GT3 to an early 280k mile Toyota Prius, plus about 30 more teams in between,” Grimes continued. “A real mix of cars from Chevy Corvettes to a Chevy Sonic, a modern performance Cadillac to a 50-plus-year-old Fiat X1/9 that ran and sounded great, and more."
(This Fiat X1/9 was an eyecatcher. Photo by Alison Hill.)
Diversity in cars is welcome, and the same is true for the age of participants. Case in point, SCCA’s Targa New England witnessed a 70-year age gap between two drivers, with the youngest being 16.
“Every team had to carry all their gear and tools in their cars and use only one set of streetable and trackable tires for the full event,” Grimes added. “Most teams had two drivers, but a few hardcore folks did it solo on both tracks and transits.”
(The last stop for SCCA Targa Great Lakes was at Autobahn Country Club. Nice! Photo by Alison Hill.)
Exhausted yet appreciative, Grimes wanted to be sure to thank the folks at Tire Rack for their support – including feeding 50 road-weary souls – and the SCCA team that put on these events.
Yes, he’ll be back next year, and you should join the fun, too!
Keep up to speed on the latest SCCA Targa news by following the SCCA Targa Facebook group and signing up for SCCA’s weekly SportsCar® News newsletter.
Lead photo by Alison Hill
