Wow, what a crazy adventure. Nine days and approximately 2,300 miles later, we’re in Tacoma, Washington for one of the most awesome Great Race finishes in quite some time. The LeMay – America’s Car Museum offered the perfect venue for our event, and the local car community came out in full force to support the event. The racers had a very challenging final stage of the Great Race, with a multitude of speed changes and maneuvers, leading to the culmination of the 2019 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty. While the scores were being tabulated, we stopped at Pacific Raceways, to watch a little bit of drag racing action and partake in some good ol’ race track food. Then, it was time to head back into Tacoma, where the crowd would welcome each car across the finish line and then reconvene for the announcement of the winners. We went class by class, and the crowd went wild when announcer Jason White would reveal the class winners. X Cup kicked off the show, as Scott Culp and the Murfreesboro, Tennessee team took top honors in their 1953 Pontiac Chieftain. Then it was the Sportsman team of Neil Myercough and Shanna Chatraw taking fifth place overall and winning their division. The Expert class was highly contested, as always, and it was Olivia and Genna Gentry getting the job done in their new 1932 Ford five-window coupe rally car. Finally, we announced the winner of the Grand Champion, which was the team of Howard and Doug Sharp from Fairport, New York. Their 1916 Hudson was bullet proof all week long, and the Sharps were diligent with their strategy of repeatability…do the same thing every day and never look back. Take a look at some of our photos from the finish line festivities, as well as photos from this morning’s route, our adventure at the drag strip and our Awards Banquet.
X Cup Winners – Team Murfressboro, TN
Rookie Winners – Rick Horne and Rob Roemer
Sportsman winners – Neil Myercough and Shanna Chatraw
Expert winners – Olivia and Genna Gentry
Grand Champions – Howard and Doug Sharp
What a great event for all the Rally Teams and congratulations to Doug & Howard for another Grand Championship. I was lucky enough to have a short ride in that 1916 Hudson thanks to John Hudson ( #60 Stovebolt) a few years ago.
John & Greg Hudson looked great in their 1940 Master in all of the great pictures.
Congratulations to all the teams, well done!
Congrats to everyone and to Rex on the Spirit of the Event Award. Very deserving!
Congratulations to all who participated-our group of enthusiasts from the LakeLords Car Club from Lake County Ca were fortunate to see the race at Willits.The event is a bucket list event..The enthusiasm of the participants plus the great vehicles of all types and styles represent what motivates our moving forward in the car culture and displaying automotive history..The job of putting smiles on people’s faces and the interest it draws brings a positive in a society that has much negativity.Kudos to all the participants and sponsors….a great job and great event and a great race!
GREATEST TIME!!! Thank you to ALL the Great Race staff, followers & RACERS!!! We appreciated all the Great people & friends we made.
Metal in Motion is a sight to behold!
Congratulations to all the Great Racers. But specifically to Rex Gardner for receiving the Spirit of the Event Award – it is well deserved & long overdue!
Great Job! Scott and the Murfressboro Team on winning the X Cup. Missed seeing
you’ll this year.
Thank you Hubert and we missed you this year!!! The team took a 5 second penalty EVERY DAY and we are so proud to bring the eagle trophy home to Tennessee!!!
Congratulations to the Gentry sisters who looked great in their 1932 5 Window Coupe. Hope you had fun & were safe.
My wife Gloria and I got to see the start of the race at Riverside, Ca. We enjoyed looking at the cars, and meeting and talking to several of the participants, including staff members. Everyone we met was friendly and very informative. We bought a
program along with a t-shirt, jersey, and a hat. The program was excellent. We were
able to follow the race by looking at the blog daily and referring to our trusty program.
The pictures in the blog were outstanding. Thanks for letting us experience the race!
Nice! What is Best of show classic car award?
Who won the Rookie Class?
Saw most of the cars in Astoria, Or. We were very impressed with the friendly drivers and great cars. Would like to try it in my Shoebox Ford someday!
Congratulations to Rex Gardner not only the Spirit of the Event Winner, but great ambassador to Vintage Car Rallying. Well Deserved!
Thanks for posting, nothing on tv, I hope to continue following yearly. Congrats to all racers.
To all the organizers and “Great Race “staff go a thousand Kudos, for all the effort that made this such a spectacular spectator event. The daily reports and photographs of the race made us feel like participants. My buddy didn’t win, but finished, and that was a win in my book. What a grueling trek! Think I’ll take a couple of day trips on the route, because the scenery was to die for! Will hope to see everyone next year in Texas!