Great Race 2025 June 28th & June 29th

June 28th

The last two days of the rally are considered Championship Days. These two days are the most important days of the rally.

Each day we are given 5 to 8 scores. There are check points throughout the course where we are marked for our time. The goal is to arrive at the check point at the perfect time. Throughout the rally you are allowed to throw out a designated amount of legs based on the class you rally. Brad and I rally in the Expert Class, so we are allowed 4 throw out legs.

On Championship Days, you are not allowed to throw any of your scores out. This creates a little more stress going into the day, especially if you are in contention for a win.

This year we are not so close to a win, but anything can happen to change the scoreboard. Brad and I don’t typically follow the board because we know things can change drastically on these two days. That being said, throughout the rally people will comment on our position so we often find out where we are.

We were in 10th place going into the day. We strive to finish in the top 10, it is a competitive group and finishing with them is a win.

We were on our way toward Galax, Virginia. The morning was busy with directions. Stop signs, turns and changing speeds at every other sign kept everyone on their toes. Our eyes were on the road for signs and the speedometer to hold our speed. There was little opportunity to enjoy the scenery.

We were especially concerned because we had a 1913 American LaFrance in front of us. The La France is a chain driven car that cannot keep speed, especially through the mountains.

We made a plan if we saw them ahead. We drove all morning and never saw them. We dodged a bullet.

We stopped for lunch in Galax, Virginia. We have been to Galax on previous races. It is located in Southwest Virginia, just north of the North Carolina border. Galax has an interesting history, it was a land grant given to James Buchanan in 1756 by the British. The meadowland sits at 2500 feet and is bisected by the Chestnut Creek.

After what felt like a clean morning and no interference from the American LaFrance we were feeling good. We set up at the restart after lunch and saw the old car. We reiterated our plan and continued to rally.

The afternoon was as busy as the morning, looping around farms with fields of corn five feet high all around us. We would pass other rally cars going the opposite direction and have other cars come up behind us. It was like a real life PacMan game. It was important to stay focused on the directions.

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If you pushed the triangle to see the route, we drove similar routes 9 days in a row bringing us from North to South. This and the heat create the endurance part of the rally.

We continued the afternoon heading south toward Mooresville, North Carolina. We arrived in Mooresville in the late afternoon to a nice crowd of spectators.

Mooresville is located north of Charlotte, and is most notably known as Race City USA. Many well known NASCAR teams are from Mooresville. Mooresville has a walk of fame on their Main Street with the plaques embedded on the sidewalk highlighting successful racers like Dale Earnhardt. The Penske Team also call’s Mooresville home.

We made it through the day with a score of 15 seconds. It wasn’t a bad score, but it wasn’t moving us up either. We had one more day to hold our 10th place position. One sign can change everything.

June 29th

The final day was a shorter day of rallying, but still had 5 checkpoints. Everyone’s nerves were high, but some competitors felt their chances of winning were low so their stress was under control. This is a game of seconds and really tenths of seconds. To make up several seconds is rare on the last day, but occasionally people make errors and it brings the next team up.

We were one of those teams that was not too stressed because we were so far down. We rallied down toward Irmo, South Carolina. With the exception of some civilian traffic, we had a pretty clean run.

North and South Carolina are full of pine trees. We drove a portion of the Blue Ridge Highway. The highway connects the Shenandoah National Park and the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. The roads are lined with forests of pine. We were driving from mountain roads to backcountry roads, but even there you saw the pines.

We traversed our way into South Carolina. We finished the day and had completed our eleventh Great Race. The finish line was located in a park in Irmo, South Carolina. The heat continued to pummel us, but it did not stop people from coming out to greet us and see the old cars.

The winners of the rally were announced at the finishing arch.

We were thrilled to cheer for our friends JeanAnn and Gary Martin who were in second place in the Expert Class going into the day.

JeanAnn & Gary won the expert class by .5 seconds. JeanAnn and Gary have both had major health issues over the past 6 months, so we were thrilled to see them take the class win.

We finished the evening with an awards dinner for all of the racers.

We finished 10th overall, it is a competitive group and we are always pleased when we finish in the top 10.

This award is a team effort. Brad and I have to perform, but like most sports it takes a huge effort by many people.

Thank you first to Barry Jason our friend and mentor. Barry crams his 6’3 in body into the back seat of his Mustang affectionately known as “Hannah” several times a year to work with us. We cannot thank him enough for his friendship, guidance and hospitality throughout the year as we prepare to compete.

Thank you to the team at Mustang Country, Allan, Brandon, and Doug. Not only do you go through Jane with a fine tooth comb before the race, but your work throughout the race as well. We love that you have joined us the last few days of the race. The a/c the last day was especially appreciated.

Thank you to McCollister’s Transportation, your sponsorship is a wonderful gift to The Great Race and Brad and me personally. We love working with you, and promoting your fantastic services.

We are already excited about doing this crazy adventure again. Next year we start in Springfield, Illinois and finish in Pasadena, California!

We hope to see friends and family at the finish next year. Dates will follow!

Thank you to all of our friends and family who also support us throughout the rally and always!!!