We kicked up some dust today as we blasted across the state of Iowa and saw our share of farm land. We started the day in South Dakota, took a short jaunt through Minnesota and then entered Iowa for a tough day of rallying. John Classen gave the racers a challenging route, which included a maze, a few lengthy transits and lots of 90-degree turns. We’ve fully adjusted to the lack of hills and mountains, and now we’re embracing the corn fields because that means we’re close to the finish. We stopped for lunch in Mason City, Iowa, and we were greeted by an awesome turnout of folks. The hospitality was great, and so was the provided lunch, so we hit the road with full bellies and a full tank of gas before a long afternoon of rallying through even more farm lands.

Late in the afternoon, there was a lengthy transit, where the racers were off the clock, but they went back on the clock just outside of our evening stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was a little tricky to stay on time, but the pros weren’t shaken by the last minute bit of rallying. Soon after the racers went off the clock, they rolled into Cedar Rapids, where we took over the Third Avenue Bridge with right at 100 cars and thousands of spectators. The venue is super cool because part of downtown Cedar Rapids is an island in the middle of the Cedar River. Scoring is a little different on the last two days of competition, as it is called the Championship Run, which means that no legs can be thrown out of the daily score. Howard and Doug Sharp came out on top for the daily win in their 1916 Hudson Hill Climber, but it’s no longer the Martin’s in the overall lead, heading into the final day of rallying. G.R. Pike and Bobby Hadskey inched ahead of the Martin’s today in their 1916 Hudson…who’s going to take the win? Tomorrow we enter Illinois and the birthplace of John Deere for a big finish, where we crown the winner! Stay tuned!