Paradise couple living life in the fast lane

By Mark Squibb

Justin and Erin Crant of Paradise are 2026 Targa Newfoundland champions.

“We’ve been competing for a couple of years now and have had a second and third (place showing) so winning first place this year is pretty amazing,” said Erin.

“We’ve been close a couple of years before, and we always knew we could do it,” added Justin. “But this year was really hard because we were tied with the eventual second place car right up until the last stage of the last day.”

Justin began autocross racing with Vinland Motorsport in 2005, and in 2009 won a championship race. The prize was free entry into the 2010 Targa race.

Justin entered the 2010 race with a friend and began to compete regularly thereafter.

Justin and Erin first competed together in the Targa Bambina event in Marystown in 2017.

“My friend couldn’t make it and so I jokingly asked Erin if she wanted to do it with me, thinking she would say no,” said Justin. “She’s always been supportive of me competing and racing, but I didn’t think she actually wanted to be in the car. So, I asked her thinking she was going to say no and she said ‘Yes.’”

The husband-and-wife racing team have since competed in Targa on a regular basis.

“We have to have a lot of trust in each other,” said Erin. “We’ve been together for 26 years, so we’ve been through a lot together. Being in a car with him at 150, 155 kilometres (per hour) is absolutely nothing compared with some of the things that life has thrown at us. I love it. We get to make memories together inside the car and outside the car so it’s extra special.”

“It’s really cool being able to do this with your wife and your best friend and sharing these memories that we’ll share forever,” added Justin. “I always tell her I would still take her with me as my navigator even if she wasn’t very good but she’s great.”

The couple, who race a 2009 BMW 135 with six cylinders and a twin turbo engine, say their favourite leg of the race is Brigus. Their second favourite is a stretch through Gander.

“He really likes the fast town stages, but it means more work for me as a navigator, getting my calls out super quick, and making sure we don’t go off the road,” said Erin.

The pair enjoy the adrenaline rush of racing, but also the camaraderie of the sport.

“It’s really cool getting to see all our scenery and also getting to show it off to people who come here from other parts of Canada, the ‘States, and sometimes other parts of the world,” said Justin. “We have lifelong friends that we consider family that we have met at these events.”

And while the event has courted controversy over the years with people even calling for a ban on the rally, which sees race cars ripping along rural roads and through small communities, proponents like the Crants say that not only are the races safe, but the economic spinoff is undeniable.  

“I don’t think some people realize how much revenue this brings to the island,” said Erin.

“One of our really good friends that we meet through Targa, his father actually bought a house in Brigus, and comes here for half the year,” added Justin. “So, it’s even a week of spin off revenue. People want to come back.”

But Justin admitted that he can understand why some people might think of racing as unsafe.

“I know some people say the events are not safe, and from the outside I can see how they can see that,” said Justin. “We’re tearing down these roads that probably have a 30 km speed limit and doing 150, 160 sometimes, but between the safety measures on the cars, like roll cages, harnesses, head and neck restraints, and fire suits that we all have to wear, there’s also a big safety push to close the course down and make sure people aren’t on the course.”

The couple say that for the most part, people are supportive of Targa and are only too glad to host events in their towns.

“There are so many places that we go and there’s community centres filled with townspeople cooking us lunch, serving us food, and they’re so happy and gracious that we came to visit,” said Erin.

Targa Newfoundland boasts two competitive divisions.

The Crants placed first in Division One. That division features cars with a single hoop roll bar and top speeds of 155 kilometres per hour. Division 2 is a higher speed competition for cars with roll cages. Speeds can reach 180 kilometres per hour in that division.