had the opportunity to check out most of the cars (and girls selling program books... mwuhahahahaah) today when i took a bunch of shifter knobs to the post office. gotta say, it was pretty cool. quite a few flathead powered roadsters, and alot more traditional hot rods than i expected to see. the old tymee racers killed me, man. corky coker was one of the first to come into town in a 37 buick shafer 8, and he did it in style... chariotshop, a former lurker and recent member here saw him... sideways and smokin the tires onto main street, haulin balls down main in front of the court house, locked the tires up and slid to a smokin stop and calmly backed into his space, changed out four fouled plugs from creeping at 15 mph to stay on the scheduled time. i didn't get to talk to him, but it was a cool stop. lots of interesting stuff. if they come through your town, it's worth seeing everything...
I would love to build a fabric covered boat tail speedster and run this one some time. You will see cars of all kinds. It's definitely a strategy and skills game.
about 5 years ago the race started in boston and went right past my front porch... a couple of em doubled back to check out my cars as a couple were parked on the front lawn. quite a surprise watching them roll by! this year there is a 34 roadster running with a 40 engine i built....hope it does ok
I thought the Great Race would suck. It came through about 30 minutes away last year. Man, there were some really cool old hot rods and race cars. Loved it!!! There was a great car show too. Met Corky- nice fella!- and a most all driveres wanted to talk even thought they were dog tired. I've got a buddy running in it this year....
not my idea of racing at all, but i sure the hell won't bitch about interesting cars coming to my podunk town...sheesh. i almost didn't go downtown but i'm glad i did. i got to see some INTERESTING STUFF. no shit, if i want to see a flathead powered HOT ROD it is 99% of the time at goodguys in columbus, let alone the more exotic cars that came through town today all wearing a thick coat of dirt from being driven. i think that right there is kinda great if the race isn't...
They will be here in Wichita this Friday - arriving on their last leg of the day. A display of local cars will also be part of the event, and our club is taking a few cars. I'm looking forward to checking out the machinery.
They came thru downtown Anderson a few years ago,,,,,,on a sunday and I thought it was great to see all the cool and classy rides ,,,from former indy racers to bone stock 32 3-windows,,,to a Jack Rousch prepared thumpin flathead 34 ford coupe,,, A lot of exotic cars to simple model T's,,,,, I could picture myself hot footin' that corner with tires rasin' hell in a cool ol' racer ,,,,of course I have done the smokin' tire thing on main st. in the past but I paid the price and got to meet the honorable judge,,,but thats another story. If The Great American Race is ever near here again I woundn't miss seeing the cars go by,,,,,HRP
the race started this past saturday on the jfk parkway in philly. i brought my wife and kids there to check them out. the cars were awesome in that they were either gorgeously restored or original, yet they weren't museum pieces. several people invited my 3-year old daughter to climb into thier cars. she even met someone for me who had some '32 chevy parts for sale. it's funny how my 3-year old has more social skills than i do! anyway, i took a lot of pictures and plan to post them soon. did anyone catch the "la carrera panamerica" chevy sedan? what was its story? i overheard that it actually ran the race, but couldn't find the owner/driver to talk to them. the old racers were awesome, especially when the drivers were beating on them a little. that's something you never see on this side of the velvet rope. ed
I think it's a great race the cars are either built or restored. they have a few legal updates like brakes. then they are driven coast to coast. its no cannon ball. but to drive old cars is what it's all about. I've got a customer that has placed 1st and 2nd in class in six tries. an open car original in all kinds of wheather. takes him a month to recover but he's always smiling so I know its fun. Nothing Wrong with that. Did I say they drive them?
Of course it is a matter of opinion, but this is an awesome event. The cars are amazing, in that they make such a trip. They do ooze money, but how else are you going to run such iron across this distance. If you can get out and see the cars, it is truly a step back in history. Appreciate it for the cars, and the fact that they are doing what they were created to do,. Drive.
Ran in it twice, '98 and '99 on a high school team. It's incredibly grueling but I'd love to do it again. There's a handicap, the older your car is, the better you do. The entry fee for a regular entry is a lot of $ (at least, it always was) plus you need a car and it's best to have a crew to follow behind, so it's not cheap at all, but there is some HUGE prize money to be had. A HAMB Great Race team could do some real damage on those courses and there'd always be someone nearby to help out.
Saw part of the race last year while Roadstar and I were in DesMoines IA. We stopped at the hotel that most were staying at and started checking out the rides. One of the racers, I forgot his name but he owns Currie, invited us into his motorhome, sat us down and explained how the whole race works. Even went so far as to whip out the drive sheets that they use daily and explained in detail each step. Very, very interesting and something I don't think the average person would do well at. It takes a shitload of teamwork and patience. Rudy and I came to the conclusion we would probley end up killing each other by the end of the trip.
The Great Race will be arriving in St. Louis, MO tonight (6/28) at the Eads Bridge around 6pm. Never seen it before so I plan on checking it out.
we're blogging the Hemmings efforts at http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/category/great-race/ Corky Coker's blogging his efforts at http://coker.com/blog/
Hey guys, I am new to this site, but I wanted to post here to let you know that Coker Tire has a blog up following Corky in the Race. You can take a look at it at coker.com/blog. If any of you guys see any progress of the race let me know by emailing me at cameronc@coker.com. For all of you that are at all interested in joining the race, I can tell you from experience that it is a BLAST! I started navigating with my father when I was 12. My mother took over last year as I was not available to go. If there is any seed of thought that you are interested in going, I would look into it if I were you. It is the time of your life. Cameron C
Hey Cam post a bunch of pics of your pops Buick Indyracer, I need some side shots and some detail shots,.... the pics available on the various websites are usually obscured in some way or another,.... and some technical details too. Many Thanks
If you go look for car no. 45, a 29 A Roadster with a flathead. It's run by some friends of mine, Steve and Janet Hedke. The nicest people you will ever want to meet. If you see them, tell them Kurt from TRSC says hi and good luck.
Sounds like the cars in the 'race' have changed a lot since it started back in the 80's. The first year of the GAR it came through the KC area and a '39 Ford was having mechanical problems, seems like it was the differential that was going south on them. One of my dad's buddies was the navigator in another car ('40 Zephyr) and told them my dad might have the parts, so the crew from the chase car came out to my dad's place and got the parts they needed from a spare '40 rearend that was laying around. They got back to the car about 1 am, and worked on it 'til around 4am to get it back on the road and eventually finish the race. Looks like fun, but It'd be hard to keep the speeds in check.
Beach Bum, I know the Hedke's really well, you are right they are the best sort of people. They would give you a part for your car if it meant taking one from theirs. I raced with them for several years. For what its worth anyways. Cameron C
I took my son and nephew down at lunch and watched it here in Jefferson City, MO. Nice lunchtime activity.
My personal favorite. The red and white chevy is one of the pan americana cars that Ryan posted about today.
Hey! Thanks for the heads up. Just checked and I had no idea they would be here in Springfield. In about an hour too! Thats HAMB service for 'ya right there!
They came through my home town today. A great display and lots of really nice people. Don't miss it if it is close by. Pete
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