The day has finally come! It’s the start of the 2023 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Coker Tire. Today, thousands of spectators came out to Francis Field in St. Augustine, Florida to watch more than 120 teams take the green flag. We had sunny skies and a nice breeze during the green flag ceremony, but we did experience a heavy downpour as the racers made their way to the rally starting point. From there, a few more showers came through, but the majority of the afternoon route was sunny and dry. Much of today’s route was straight and flat, with long stretches of pine trees as we crossed over into Georgia. We were excited for our evening stop in Tifton, Georgia, as we have experienced the hospitality of the small South Georgia town in the past. We last visited Tifton in 2017, and this year’s stop was just as impressive. A great crowd came out to welcome the racers to town and we were treated to some of the BEST country cooking we’ve ever had on the race. At the end of the day, it was Olivia and Genna Gentry taking the daily overall win with an astonishing score of 1.62 seconds. Tomorrow we head to Alabama…be sure to follow along with us here on the website for daily updates, and go follow our action on the Great Race Instagram page and the Great Race Facebook page.
Wonderful pictures of day 1! Looking forward to watching the two LAuber cArs each day.
Congratulations to Olivia and Genna Gentry!! Great job girls 👍
love all the pics! GO Tiajuana Taxi!
Go Fraser and Kaddie! You look great.
Love all of the wonderful pictures. I’ll be waiting for you in Tupelo
Way to go Uncle Tom and Gary! Keep up the good teamwork! Accurate times win the race!
#39
Hey .guys:
My friend Tom Kucera is the navigator of car 59. ….. and this is his 30th year of being in the race. Appreciate it if you can give him a special callout of some sort.
Thanks.
Tony Arata
You go Tom!!!!
Great trophy run Brian and Steve. 6th.. very good.
Very tight times yesterday…..
We are with you in spirit. Hope to see you next year.
Dave and Peter
“Team Phoenix”
Great to see you back, Grey/Mattingley Volvo 1800.
You are flying the Volvo flag on your own this year.
Good luck and safe travels.
dave and Peter
“Team Phoenix”
G0 Bill and Katie #44
To team 29. Enjoyed talking with you about your MG and it’s history. Good luck and safe travels!
Good luck to Pete and Trinity. Southern Star Bonnie.
Go TeamStahl!! To finish is to win!!!
Go Ken Walsh ’61 408 Chevy & Evan, also Ellen & Steve Austin 70 Chevelle, from Purcellville, VA
I’m not sure I’m guessing day 2 they are coming through cusseta ga. I seen a few cars,a camaro vw thing.another red car I could not identify late 50s or early 60s. Where do thet finish?
Team Ferretti- best of luck see you guys in Memphis!!!
We live in Saint Augustine so we thought we’d head out to Francis Field and see what all the fuss was about. First time ever seeing The Great Race. So happy we did, very exciting race. The experience make my wife and I want to participate next time in amateur division with our 62 Coupe Deville. Looking forward to see how this race turns over the next several days.
I’m confused though as to how the scoring is done. Can someone explain the process?
Jairo “Hiro” and Leah
What a fun time at Francis field. Beautiful cars and nice folks. Arthur
Go #157.
My nephew Jake Exline and his class from Alhambra High. Have an amazing race.
To my new friends I met at the start on Team #45 64′ Studebaker, Team #48 64′ Jaguar, and My Aussie’ mates from Brisbane AU Team #15 66′ Merc. You’ve inspired me to try this in my future. This race rocks!! If you ever need a navigator, look me up.
Good Luck this year.
Go Maine Kaddie!! Rooting for you Fraser!
I seen all those wonderful cars as they went across the levee at Sardis Lake(MS). I would love to do that, but don’t think my Silverado is old enough.
Love your day 1 cover photo! Good luck Christian and Bill!
And they aced that first day!
You’re doing a great job rookies Billy and Christian (car #60)! Keep it up, be safe, and have fun!
Go team RPM Foundation! We are rooting for the four of you (Kinzie, Noah, Olivia, Betty)! Continued safe travels 🙂
Great job Steve and Diana Pusey!!
You are rockin it!!
Good luck and stay safe!