Yeah that’s right, we saw snow on today’s route from Evanston to Cheyenne, Wyoming. It’s June, it’s summer time, and it varied from the mid-70s to the mid-80s throughout the day, depending on our elevation. The timed portion of our morning route was rather brief without too much complication, but multiple transits and restarts made it tricky for the racers. A long ride into our lunch stop left everyone hungry and ready for a break, so the warm welcome in Rawlins, Wyoming was just what the doctor ordered. From there, racers went through the old town of Sinclair, Wyoming (think Sinclair gas stations) and drove right past the big refinery plant in town.

Onto the afternoon, we anticipated a trip to the Snowy Range Scenic Byway, but there was a lot of rallying to do before we got there. We rolled through Saratoga, Wyoming and then made a high speed turn onto Highway 130 to start our trek up and over the mountain. Since we were already at a pretty high elevation, the altitude on the mountain reached more than 10,000 feet on the road. At it’s highest peak, Snowy Range is more than 12,000 feet tall! Altitude can play tricks on an old car’s performance, as the thinner air can greatly affect the fuel mixture. We saw several racers struggling with the altitude, but the problems were short lived as racers came back down. We were surprised to see snow on the ground, but it sure made for some great pictures and video. Even more surprising was the 73 degree temperature on top of the mountain, yet the snow remains.

After our mountain adventure, we rolled off the big hill and into the valley (which was still 8,000 feet in elevation in certain areas) and eventually made our way into a massive evening stop in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming. The state capitol pulled out all the stops, and hosted us at the historic Depot. Thousands of spectators watched as the cars and trucks made their way through the finish line gate, another day closer to the big finish in Moline, Illinois. A huge congratulations goes out to the Toyota team of Jamie Bestwick and guest driver Drew Bezanson for getting team Toyota’s first ACE award! And of course, we congratulate the daily winners…a fifth different winner in five days of competition: Daniel and Brad Epple in their 1934 Ford York-bodied produce truck. Tomorrow is a BIG day for us so stay tuned as we roll into South Dakota.