The Great Race

Before hanging out with Corky Coker, I had no idea what the Great Race entailed. Frankly, I thought it was an excuse for a bunch of old farts to take a few weeks off and drive their old cars around the country. It wasn’t until Corky’s wife (his navigator) showed me a map that I began to really understand the sport. I blew it and didn’t get a scan of the map, but here is an outtake of sorts:

1. Turn left on Rosedale Ave. and proceed at 23mph for 47 seconds.

2. Accelerate to 35mph.

3. At the Deer crossing sign, decelerate to 30mph and hold for two minutes.

4. Turn right on Reagan Way. Proceed at 45mph.

And it goes on and on like this from one end of the country to the other… See, this is a timed race and the team that finishes closest to the “par” time wins. These guys take it pretty seriously and it is not uncommon for a team to “ace” a segment. Meaning, they drove the day perfectly and finished with the exact elapsed time called for. It must be exhausting…

Still… As scientific as all of this seems to be, my favorite aspect of the race is the cars themselves. The Submarine, ’32 Fords from Mexico, vintage Indy cars, old Brass era stuff, etc… Cars from tons of different eras with tons of different nationalities competing on an equal playing field and they are all driven and driven hard. Rad.

Anyway, the Great Race is currently making rounds around the country and the coverage is pretty intensive around the net. If you’re interested, check it out:

1. Corky blogs almost daily.
2. The Official site sports a map that you can watch progress on.
3. And of course, the H.A.M.B. is full of photography.