The Great Race : Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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June 15, 2011 8:16 a.m. Wally SuperDork

Has anyone gone to their stopovers? I'm thinking of taking my nephew tomorrow night to the one in Saratoga.

The Great Race

THE GREAT RACE COMES TO THE GREAT PLACE

The Great Race, America’s premiere old car rally, is coming to Saratoga Springs Thursday, June 16, and is expected to bring up to 100 antique automobiles to the city. The overnight stop will be marked by a public event at the Saratoga Automobile Museum to mark their arrival in the Spa city, one of America’s premier vacation destinations.

The 2011 event, sponsored by Hemmings Motor News and Coker Tire, starts in Chattanooga, TN and finishes in Bennington, VT. Run from coast to coast from 1983-2007, it is not a speed race, but a time/speed/distance rally. The driver and navigator are given precise instructions each day that detail every move down to the second, then scored at secret check points along the way and penalized one second for each second either early or late. As in golf, the lowest score wins.
June 15, 2011 8:27 a.m. EastCoastMojo SuperDork

Wish we could go check it out. Chuck and I did a couple TSD rallys locally a few years ago, it was a lot of fun. We got second place!
June 15, 2011 9:04 a.m. Jay_W HalfDork

My old man won this event back in the eighties. Is it still a serious competition or have they turned it into more of a parade than it was back then? Ain't knocking it, it's a helluva event. Where else are you gonna see machinery of that caliber running down the freeway... Tom Lester's 1902 Mercedes springs rather immediately to mind...what a car
June 15, 2011 9:25 a.m. rob_lewis Dork

Take him. If he's remotely interested in cars, he'll enjoy it. It's just an amazing thing to get out of a modern car and walk around those things.

-Rob
June 15, 2011 9:33 a.m. iceracer Dork

Forgot about that. I'll have to run over. One year they came through my home town. In the rain. A lot of really interesting cars. A couple that really caught my attention were model A Fords with full flow oil filters on the side of the block.
June 15, 2011 9:40 a.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director

Definitely go. We ran the Coker Rally--similar event run by the same people--a couple of years ago. It was a neat mix of cars and we had a great time.
June 15, 2011 5:21 p.m. Will HalfDork

I did the Coker Rally one year, too. My buddy drove his '40 Ford pickup (327 small block with triple deuces) and I navigated. Neither of us had ever run a road rally, but somehow we managed to finish second in the novice class and picked up some cool trophies.
June 15, 2011 8:16 p.m. vwcorvette Reader

Saw a few of the cars today in the Burlington, Vermont area while taking kids out in the DE car.
June 16, 2011 8:57 a.m. iceracer Dork

You didn't see the Great Race cars as they are just into NYS with a lunch stop at Cooperstown. They will be in VT tomorrow I believe. Might have been some other event.
June 16, 2011 11:57 p.m. Wally SuperDork

Here are some pictures

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/set/?set=a.10150664219430500.688945.8984...

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/set/?set=a.10150664231360500.688949.8984...
June 17, 2011 12:00 a.m. triumph5 Dork

It IS a serious competition in a TSD way.
June 17, 2011 1:31 p.m. iceracer Dork

There were some neat non-competing cars as well. Especially when the "replica" of the 1911 Indy 500 came roaring up the road.

Yes this is serious when you see all of the backup equipment. Ie: tractor trailers etc.