Championship Run will start Saturday morning, June 25, as the Great Racers pull out of Sioux Falls, S.D., and head southeast toward Iowa (but only after a few miles in the state of southwest corner of Minnesota). Championship Run is the last two days of the 9-day event and the racers have to keep all of their scores from both days. During the first seven days racers can drop some of their worst legs (the number depends on what division they are in). But with a week and nearly 2,000 miles under their belts, it is time to see who is the absolute best at the Great Race and will take home $50,000 of the more than $158,000 in prize money.

And the state of Iowa will determine who the winner will ultimately be. The Hawkeye state is one of the best to rally through, and the participants will get a great workout on their way through car-crazy Estherville and into Mason City for lunch. The first car will arrive in Mason City’s East Park at 12:30 p.m. during the peak of the city’s Cannonball Days festival. Cannonball is an 1800s steam locomotive that is on display in the park. Mason City is home to a Frank Lloyd Wright hotel which is still in operation downtown. After lunch, racers will make their way to Cedar Rapids for the final overnight stop before the finish in Moline, Ill., the following day.