Here we go! It’s time to start rolling in St. Augustine, Florida. Great Racers have been in town for a few days, preparing their cars for a 2,300-mile adventure. Wednesday kicked off with an open house and reception at the Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine, then we had a full day of registration and tech inspection at the host hotel. Today, we hit the road on the Trophy Run, which is a warmup rally to get ready for tomorrow’s green flag! Typically, the Trophy Run doesn’t include a hosted lunch stop, but today was different. We went back to the Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine, where we were met with a huge crowd of spectators and great food. From there, racers went on the clock for the first time in the 2023 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Coker Tire. Even though today’s Trophy Run scores do not apply toward the overall race scores, it’s still a great chance to get acclimated to the conditions and cars. Our short route had some challenges, and sunny skies and great scenery made for excellent views. We finished the day with a little dirt (sand) road action before coming back to the host hotel in St. Augustine.
Once everyone was back at the hotel, it was time to reconvene in the ballroom for the opening banquet. Live music, great food and an awesome auction, led by Brad Phillips made for a fun evening. The auction raised more than $20,000 for the Scott Henderson Student Scholarship program to benefit students in our growing X-Cup division. Auction items includes a custom neon sign made by Jeff Hermanson, a beautiful painting by Sarah Stahl, several items donated by Great Racers, and the very last “Monster Cruiser” bicycle built by Coker Tire.
We also awarded the winners of the Trophy Run. With a very close finish at the top of the leaderboard, it was Neil Myerscough and his daughter Shanna Chatraw barely edging out three-time champions Howard and Douglas Sharp for the number one spot…2.46 seconds to 2.64 seconds! Let’s get some rest and get ready to blast off from Francis Field in St. Augustine tomorrow morning!
Best of luck Ellen & Steve Austin, car #130. We’ve had the best time hanging with you these past few days, learning about the Great Race, and meeting many wonder people. Also a shout out to Kenny & Evan, car #40…good luck guys!!!
Congratulaions to all making it through tech inspection and the Trophy Run!
Best wishes to all involved in this year’s event!
The once in a lifetime experience you get to experience more than once!
Shout out to the Support Crew of the 130 & 40 team, Billy! It was a pleasure to meet you. Save travels!!!
What is todays route?
Every day, the Racers don’t know the route
They only know the lunch spot and the dinner spot. The rest is given to them 30 minutes ahead, but it’s just time and turns not locations.
Best of luck to the Loeb team, #131.
Let’s go Rich from VT!
Best of Luck Steve and Ellen Austin car #130. We look forward in seeing y’all at Toomer’s Corner!!!
Go Team 157, Team Shelby!
We’re routing for you, Brian and the crew!
Go team Webster!!! Your puppy says to get a “MOOve” on! You can do it!!!!
Please show ALL of the Vintage Motorcycles in The 2023 Great Race…
Go team 156, Olivia, Kinzie, Noah, and Betty!!
The Phillips family would like to extend our congratulations to Neil and Shanna on nailing the Trophy Run. We look forward to following your progress. Now go win this thing!! (Oh, and do have fun)
Best of luck to #155! Go Team STLCC (St. Louis Community College-Forest Park Campus). We are all rooting for you! Have a blast of a time.
Wishing Ted & Mary Stahl car #80 the BEST OF LUCK. It was a pleasure meeting you both. Have a GREAT RACE!
Joe Watts
Thank you so much for going through Girard, Kansas and down Osage Street, it was awesome to see all the competitors and their beautiful cars and trucks…we really enjoyed it very much.