By REID TUCKER
The threat of rain might have kept some of those invited to participate in the second BlackTie Classic Rally off the road, but it doesn’t take many cars of this caliber before you’re looking at more than a million dollars’ worth of ultra high-end machinery.
Such was the case of Saturday, Nov. 7, when a few of the most diehard and dyed-in-the-wool sports car fanatics hustled point-to-point throughout the Panhandle for the rally, the second hosted by BlackTie Motorsports Magazine in as many months. Just like the previous BlackTie Classic Rally, which stormed into DeFuniak Springs during a break in the inclement weather of Sept. 12, some of the choicest exotica in the region made the downtown historic district the halfway point of their trip. The rally started at the Air Force Armament Museum near Fort Walton Beach and ended at Lulu’s Restaurant in Destin, though it also wound its way through some of Walton County’s best driving roads on the way to its final destination.
BlackTie publisher and event organizer “Alabama Charlie” said the DeFuniak area has become a point of interest from big-time players in the motoring world of late, and rallies like the ones he puts on will become a more and more common sight as time goes on. These automotive and motorsports industry developments have been getting a good deal of support from local government, and Charlie expressed his thanks to DeFuniak Springs residents and businesses for being such a welcoming host for his events.
“[DeFuniak Springs] is going to continue to be a favorite stopping point for our rallies, and we’re going to up the ante there too,” Charlie said. “You’ll see BlackTie Motorsports take a bigger involvement in the community. We really appreciate all the hard work Mayor Bob Campbell has done to support our cause. We’re working on other major automotive programs and our focus, as far as BlackTie is concerned, is DeFuniak Springs is a big part of that program.”
Though several drivers participating in the BlackTie Classic were locals, the event also attracted auto aficionados from across the Southeast, including a few from Atlanta, Ga., and Baton Rouge, La., and even one from as far away as Germany. The guest of honor this time around was Jeff Andretti, son of racing legend Mario Andretti and a famous driver in his own right, having won the coveted IndyCar World Series Rookie of the Year award in 1991. With visitors like these passing through the area (Charlie said there have been approximately 100 automotive-related visitors to DeFuniak in the last month alone), it gets harder and harder to make good on the promise to do it bigger and better each time, but that won’t keep BlackTie from trying.
“Each event we try to bring things up a notch,” Charlie said. “This will all lead up to an even bigger event in September 2016, which will be a four-day event. We hope to see over 100 cars here, all exotic, with a major car show at Burnt Pines (Golf Course) in Sandestin. I’ve got cars coming that nobody’s ever seen before.
“If you can imagine how hard it was to get Andretti here, just wait until you see what I’ve got planned next.”
