Nearly 100 RallyCrossers took to the Alabama dirt over the Oct. 17-19, 2025, weekend to battle for who would win the coveted title of SCCA® National Champion. Of those, 12 left the Hollytree Off Road site in Hollytree, AL, with a gold medal — and undoubtedly a target on their back for when they try to defend their titles next year.

Numerous battles came down to less than a three second margin after three days and in some cases 12 runs, although the narrowest margin was sub two seconds. In Prepared Front Wheel Drive, Christian Retterer bested Matt Thompson by a margin of 1.741sec — though that doesn’t tell the compete story. Truth is, while Retterer was putting down solid times all weekend, he was third going into the second day of competition, nearly four seconds back of Thompson, the class leader at the time.

The largest margin of victory during the event came in another Prepared class, this one being Rear Wheel Drive. Shawn Roberts had three RallyCross® National Championship titles to his name coming into the 2026 event, and now he owns a fourth — with a vengeance. Of his 83.108sec margin of victory, more than one minute of that came during Sunday’s mucky conditions.

The Showdown

Friday began with drivers running the “outer” course clockwise; Leon Drake had designed two courses with competitors running each one in both directions. The day started cool, but warmed as the sun crested the mountain, with temps hitting the 70s by the start of competition. Come midday, the mercury peaked around 85 degrees — a perfect start for the annual winner-take-call event, which was expertly hosted by Tennessee Valley Region.

When it comes to hosting, Tennessee Valley Region knows where it’s at. The welcome party featured pulled pork, beans, and mac-n-cheese for dinner, along with a band.

Arguably, the weekend’s most disappointing story — both for the driver and for all to witness — began on Friday as Mod Front’s ZB Lorenc’s supercharger failed before the event. He attempted to run without it, but as the car pulled to the line, it became obvious the car wasn’t going to make a run that day. Or any day that weekend. The five-time National Champion’s weekend was over before it began.

This cloud has a bright lining, however. Despite the misfortune, Lorenc stayed for the majority of the event serving in several support roles and as a coach for drivers. For his struggles and team spirit, he was awarded the RallyCross True Grit Award.

Saturday’s weather was cooler than predicted, with a nice breeze that kept dust clearing throughout the day — stagnant air was an issue the day before, causing some delays due to dust clouds. The breeze allowed for a total of six runs on two different courses. In the morning, everyone ran the “inner” course clockwise, then in the afternoon, the group returned to the “outer” course for a counterclockwise go at Drake’s design.

Saturday was when shakeups began, largely in the afternoon, intensifying competition. Prepared All Wheel Drive’s Mark Hill hit a cone that cost him the lead, and in the afternoon, the battle raged between him and Jason Fuller. In Stock Front, a VTEC issue that had been plaguing Ryan Finch and Christopher Raglin was resolved and they began chipping away at the time they lost on Friday. Neither had enough to pull through, but the duo did end the weekend in second and third, both claiming trophies.

The script flipped on Sunday, as cool temperatures and mud welcomed everyone to the site. The Chief Stewards established a two-hour time limit for each run group, with a guarantee of at least two runs per driver. The rain largely abated after first runs and the sun even peeked out. In the end, Stock, RallyCross Truck, and Prepared all logged two runs, while Modified and UTV scored three runs.

Tennessee Region’s Tom Harrington — the eventual winner of Stock Front Wheel Drive — served as the primary Region logistics person for the event, which included organizing the Welcome Party with a band, finding volunteers to grill food for lunch every day, running the tractor on Sunday to pull stuck cars out, and more. For this, Harrington was presented with the Hagerty Keeping it Cool Award.

While complete event results can be found using the link below, keep scrolling and you’ll discover the dirty dozen who cleaned up the competition.

Event Results

The Champions

Stock Front Wheel Drive: Tom Harrington, Tennessee Valley Region
2007 Honda Civic; Winning time: 759.206

Stock Rear Wheel Drive: Michael Golden, Washington DC Region
2001 Toyota MR2; Winning time: 810.326

Stock All Wheel Drive: Timothy Thompson, Wichita Region
2016 Ford Focus; Winning time: 718.484

Prepared Front Wheel Drive: Christian Retterer, Atlanta Region
2001 Acura Integra; Winning time: 675.346

Prepared Rear Wheel Drive: Shawn Roberts, Washington DC Region
2002 Mazda Miata; Winning time 678.910

Prepared All Wheel Drive: Mark Hill, Kansas Region
2006 Mitsubishi Evo IX; Winning time: 671.531

Modified Front Wheel Drive: Andrew Thomas, Washington DC Region
2003 Toyota Celica; Winning time: 662.214

Modified Rear Wheel Drive: Vaugn Micciche, New England Region
1987 Porsche 924; Winning time: 702.072

Modified All Wheel Drive: Todd Briley, Texas Region
1993 Subaru Impreza; Winning time: 662.563

* Constructor 2WD: Rick Myers, Detroit Region
1999 Mazda Miata; Winning time: 1,061.28

UTV Sport: Evan Williams, Tennessee Region
2024 Yamaha YXZ1000R; Winning time: 700.500

RallyCross Truck: Eli Drennan, Tennessee Region
1992 Chevrolet S-10; Winning time: 833.910

(* = Class did not achieve minimum participation needed to crown a National Champion)

Photos by Dante Donati

When it comes to fun, everyone knows Miata Is Always The Answer. Other than, maybe it’s not. If a Miata is not in your future, the problem becomes figuring out what vehicle can offer the thrills of a Miata without breaking the bank — and if you’re shopping on the used car market, this problem compounds as there are so many choices. Luckily, this is where SCCA’s Official Insurance Partner Hagerty excels, and in a recent article, one of their editors decided to dive into the ins and outs of the early generations of the Porsche Cayman.

“When a new enthusiast car comes out, the usual course of action is that the coupe comes first, and the convertible comes later,” wrote Peter Nelson. “Take the venerable BMW 3-Series, for example, or several versions of the Corvette, which is as common to find in open-top form as it is with a fixed roof. It’s rarer for the opposite to happen, for vehicles that start out as convertibles to later be offered as coupes. That’s just what happened with the Boxster/Cayman cousins, though. When the debut 986-generation Porsche Boxster hit the market in 1997, it became an instant success and went for its whole production run in drop-top-only form. Then, the follow-up 987 followed in 2005, and just a year later, Porsche introduced a 987-based model sporting the Boxster’s chassis but with a solid roof — the Cayman.”

Nelson recounts why the 987.1 Cayman is such a steal on the used market, which in large part includes its M97 3.4-liter engine, rated at a sprightly 295 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque. That’s not to say another engine wasn’t available, offering buyers shopping for a used Caymon a few options.

“For the 2007 model year, Porsche introduced a lower-output model commonly referred to as the ‘Base’ Cayman among enthusiasts,” he stated. “While the M97 engine’s exterior dimensions are the same, its displacement shrank to 2.7 liters, with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard and a six-speed manual as a rare optional upgrade. It produced 240 hp and 201 lb-ft of torque, which was good enough for a 5.8-second 0-60 run. Again, this increased nearly a second when paired with the same five-speed Tiptronic.”

This led to the 987.2 in 2009, which added the PDK gearbox and the introduction of the MA1 engine, which eliminated the intermediate shaft, a known weakness in the 987.1 models. Power also jumped to 320 hp and 273 lb-ft for the S model and 265 hp and 210 lb-ft for the base, with the Cayman R joining the fray in 2012 with an additional power bump.

The article then moves onto driving impressions, used car valuations, what to look out for while shopping, and more. For that, click this link and read on. Just don’t blame us when your next purchase is a Cayman.

Photo courtesy Peter Nelson/Hagerty