As a college student in the late 1960s, J.R. Todd fell in love with SCCA’s Canadian-American Challenge Cup, better known as the Can-Am series. His fascination with those sleek, loud, and fast machines was permanently cemented after he spectated at Laguna Seca while in the Navy and stationed on the West Coast.
“I had a ball walking around that track,” J.R. admitted. “That got me interested enough that I wanted to spectate more road racing events, and once I was released back to North Carolina I discovered a new place called Road Atlanta.”
J.R. and his wife, Lynn, visited Braselton, GA, many times to watch the excitement from along a fence at Road Atlanta. Then one day he worked up the nerve to have a chat with people wearing white and waving flags who were right next to the action.
“We asked, ‘hey, how do we get to be over on your side of the fence,’” J.R. recalled. “They introduced us to the SCCA and told us about the benefits of joining.”
Jumping Into the Action
That conversation with volunteers spurred J.R. and Lynn to join the Club in 1973. From there, they went through the various ‘schools’ to get educated on flagging, firefighting, rescue, and more. Then the duo jumped right on in and have been enjoying their SCCA lifestyle at tracks around the Southeast for five decades.
“Back in those days it was wonderful,” J.R. reminisced about marshaling at SCCA events. “You had feet on the track, there were large crews at every corner, and it was a lot of fun.”
Being close to exotic cars, and chumming around with drivers, added to the adventure. There were evenings spent wandering paddocks to watch crews work on machines, and plenty of time for camaraderie with friends.
“We just had a good time,” J.R. said. “It was a completely new world, and we were getting educated about racing. It was really great and exciting.”
HillClimb Expert
Helping out on grid, assisting in the tech shed, standing on the starter’s stand or sitting in the timing/scoring room, J.R. has done a lot over the years to help out SCCA’s Central Carolinas Region where he is a member. A bunch of his focus has been on HillClimbs, which are events conducted on a section of mountain road closed to commuter traffic and where competitors take turns seeing who can complete the course fastest.
“HillClimb is the kind of thing I’ve enjoyed very much,” J.R. said. “Being an equipment wrangler, I’d get to run up and down the hill occasionally in a non-timed vehicle. I had a lot of fun scooting up and down the hill in various vehicles.”
Autocross was the only competitive activity J.R. could afford to participate in for most of his time with SCCA. Raising a family meant he wasn’t in a position to put extra money and effort into building a car and going road racing, as much as he would’ve loved that undertaking.
When a bit of extra money finally made its way to his bank account, a Zenos E10 S was added to the Todd garage. It’s a lightweight car, and only a handful were built before the manufacturer shuttered operations. During use at track days, J.R. said the turbocharged Ford motor pushed the car up to 130mph down a straightaway.
With an exotic car now at his fingertips, J.R. made plans, saying, “What’s the point of having a toy if you’re not going to play with it?”
His Time to Shine
In April 2024, after years of helping on the operational side of things, J.R. registered as a driver for the Pine Mountain HillClimb in Kentucky. Part of the Appalachian HillClimb Series, the Pine Mountain course is two miles long with 10 turns and features an elevation gain of 650 feet. Those numbers, however, did not concern J.R. who drove his Zenos in the Special Open class.
“Because I had worked the HillClimb events, I had some familiarity with where the road went,” he noted. “That allowed me to just let it all hang out and have a lot of fun.”
After five decades of soaking up everything SCCA could offer as far as friendship and adventure, J.R. got to experience even more that spring weekend. At 77 years old, he fired up Pine Mountain on his first official timed run.
“It was finally my turn to run up and down the hills, and I enjoyed it immensely,” he said.
The Zenos made the trek with no problems, and J.R. found himself at the top, after which he stated, “This feels like home.” The adrenaline rush left him shaking in a good way and certain his time has been well spent having #funwithcars as an SCCA member.
“If I could manage it I’d be here another 50 years and be the only guy with a 100 year membership pin,” J.R. said with a chuckle. “I plan to be a vehicle operator for as long as I can, then I’ll probably go back to waving flags again. As long as I can stand and wave a flag, I’ll do it.”
Being a member of SCCA and volunteering at events opens a whole realm of experiences and adventures few can truly comprehend. Learn more about volunteering with SCCA by clicking here.
Photo by Kristen Poole
