As the race wears on, we made our way into Wisconsin, after a tough battle with rush hour traffic near Chicago. Once we got off the Interstate, things got better, as today’s route sent us on a beautiful tour of Wisconsin farm land. The rolling hills and scenic views were great, and the course was challenging with more turns than the past few days combined. Some turns were taken at speed, and some were at intersections, so it made for a mixture of tasks for the drivers and navigators to manage throughout the day. For lunch, we stopped at historic Angell Park Speedway, located in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. This track is known for midget racing and still has Sunday night racing programs. The crowd was great, and so was the food, which included some locally-made ice cream. From there, we had another challenging route during an abbreviated afternoon portion. The Great Race staff arranged an early arrival into Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin to take advantage of the amenities of the Chula Vista Resort. Even with the shortened day, the competition was still intense and for the sixth consecutive day, we have a new daily winner. Jeff and Eric Fredette took the daily win with a score of 5.71 seconds and didn’t get a single Eckler’s Ace in the process. An interesting side note is that the Wagner team in the 1947 Chevrolet scored three Eckler’s Aces, and got a better raw score. Unfortunately, they had a five-second penalty due to an extra passenger, so their final score did not win the day. But they have some major bragging rights and certainly had a smile on their face this afternoon.
Have there been and serious accidents and any serious mechanical problems that were not able to be taken care of?
There are always mechanical failures, each race loses about 10 cars. There have been very few accidents over the decades, but we have had civilian cars hit racers. In 2022 the Fredettes lost their bumper to a car in a construction zone that went through a barrier. They lost their bumper but nothing worse than that.
Great looking pics in the back roads of southern WI. Enjoy your race to Duluth…wife is from there…got married there. Stop in Minong homebase for Jack Links Jerky…the BP station has cheap jerky and more flavors than you will find anywhere. Enjoy the ride…be safe!
What a special day for us to get to see these amazing cars and trucks in Sun Prairie.
So happy to see all those smiling faces in the sunshine and hope you can continue your ride in good weather. Thanks for coming to Wisconsin.
Cool photos! Makes me miss wi! we will catch you in Duluth tonight! Safe travels everyone. Can’t wait to meet you and say hello!
Great photos. Enjoy your stay in Brained on Friday hopefully the weather will be in your favor to Detroit Lakes on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing the #117 of Karl and Joan on Saturday. Drive safe
How cool to see an Austin Healey Sprite in the mix. That was my first car back in high school (1971). A perfect car for a high school kid, fast and agile enough to be fun, but not excessively dangerous. I also learned a lot about wrenching from that one 🙂 Two of my buddies also had Sprites and we had no money to pay someone to repair them, so we got pretty good at fixing them ourselves (not that British sports cars ever need fixing 🙂 ). Good luck with your tour, hope you make it all the way.
We wanted to meet the tour in Plainfield, Il, but life interfered (home A/C took a dump).
My buddies and I are heading south to Fargo for the Sunday finish. Weather is looking to be great so we’re bringing the cool cars down!
Was surprised to see the MG Midget!! It was the 2nd car I owned. Bought it when I returned from overseas in 1966. Remembered driving it to Winnipeg, Manitoba in beautiful fall weather only to run into a blizzard on my return trip. Believe me an MG Midget is not the car to be driving in a snow storm. Besides, it had the removable sliding windows that didn’t keep in much heat but they were better than nothing ( I guess.)
Does anyone know if the Volvo is a 544 or a 444?
That’s a Volvo 544 Sport. The 444s had the split windshield. I owned a 544 for years.
That’s a Volvo 544 Sport. The 444s had the split windshield. I owned a 544 for years. Good to see 3 classic Volvos in the mix! A 544 Sport, 122S and a 1800e!!
How do the racers win the Ecklers patch and what do they represent??