Day 7 Eastern Kentucky to West Virginia

On the Great Race they always say to finish is to win. It is a long 9 day rally in an old car. Most of the old cars in the rally do not have air conditioners or power steering. The cars are expected to climb mountains, idle in traffic and run through rain (and in 2019 we had snow).

We have about 25 pages of detailed instructions each day. We are also very hard on the cars. We don’t drive like we are going for a cruise, we drive hard. When we start, we put the pedal to the floor, and when we brake, we brake as fast and hard as possible. The cars break, and are repaired. One of our friends thought his alternator was going out Thursday morning. He packed a backup in his trunk, and Thursday at lunch, he and a friend changed it right at the lunch break.

We have another friend who we rally with, that was not so lucky this year. Brad shares a Birthday with our friend Sawyer Stone. Sawyer started rallying when he was 9 years old with his grandfather Dave Reeder. Sawyer and Dave have won the rally and are always very competitive. Unfortunately, this year, their 1932 Ford Victoria broke and was not fixable. They were out of the race the first or second day.

We started with 110 cars and as of today 17 did not finish. So, although this has not been our greatest year results wise, we remind ourselves each day how lucky we are to be out playing car games and seeing out country.

We always try to share the highlights of our journey, but I cannot help but share how fortunate and sad we felt while driving through portions of West Virginia. We are so blessed to live in places where there are many opportunities. You can tell their were once opportunities in West Virginia, however many of the areas we drove through were sadly warn out and dilapidated. There was once industry in West Virginia, and it is now gone.

We had lunch in Huntington, West Virginia, where we were greeted by the towns people. The organizers from the town hosting lunch are always so kind and friendly and happy to have us come through their town. The lunch stops are brief, but because there are about 100 cars and one coming in about every minute, it gives the towns an hour and a half parade and a car show.

Yesterday after finishing lunch in Huntington, we were headed toward the freeway and we saw several sorority and fraternity houses. We knew their must have been a college near by, but didn’t know which one. We stopped for fuel, and there was Marshall’s stadium.

Marshall has a Division I football team, but is probably most famous for losing most of their football team in a plane crash in 1970. Marshall’s modern football team has held their own in Division Championship games.

People are what make this race so fun, and there are many families that make this a family vacation. The Stahl Family are big supporters and sponsors of the Great Race. They provide all of the shirts, hats, and souvenirs sold by the Great Race. Aside from being so generous, they also compete in the event. The Stahl’s have 5 cars participating, four of their adult children and one of their grandchildren are in the cars. Mary & Ted Stahl drive their 1967 Pontiac GTO, Mary is the driver.

Aside from being so generous with the event, the Stahl family exemplifies what a family event this is. Aside from three generations participating, many family members come to see the country with the group.

Below is a picture of Jane with Reliable. Reliable has always sent one of their teams to the Great Race to help sweep the field for breakdowns. Mike and Cindy White worked as a husband wife team and retired from Reliable last year. Jeff Stumb the director of Great Race, called them, and asked if they would come back and help again. Sure enough, they said yes. They have been at the finish every day with a big smile on their face. Thanks Mike and Cindy for all you have done for the Great Race!

The pictures below are from our afternoon transit to Buckley, West Virginia. We rallied until the early afternoon, and then started our journey. We weaved our way through the Blue Ridge Mountains, and poor Brad had to listen to my rendition of “Country Road” by John Denver. We drove across the New River Gorge Bridge, and made a pit stop at the Gorge.

Saturday is Championship Day, car rallying like racing comes down to seconds. No legs will be thrown out on Saturday or Sunday.

We are not in contention this year, but we are hoping our friends win. We look forward to enjoying North and South Carolina