Back in March, Great Race and Coker Tire Company owner Corky Coker announced that the 2016 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty – the country’s premier time/distance vintage car rally – would travel along the historic Lincoln Highway. The initial release held tantalizing clues as to some of the potential sights and along the California to Illinois trek: Bonneville Salt Flats? Mount Rushmore? The Badlands? All that speculation has finally come to an end as Great Race has finally announced the complete list of city stops and sights after months of careful consideration and logistical planning.
Teams are scheduled to begin arriving in San Rafael, California, on Tuesday, June 14 and should all be on-site two days later for registration and inspection. During that time they will be able to tour local wineries, catch the re-premier of the 1965 classic film The Great Race at the historic San Rafael Theater and experience track time at Sonoma Raceway. The Great Race’s traditional preliminary event, the Hagerty Trophy Run, will be held on Friday afternoon, which will start and finish in San Rafael (the exact location of which is still to be announced).
The 2016 Great Race will officially commence on Saturday morning, June 18, in downtown San Rafael, using the same street that served as the setting for the “cruising scenes” in American Graffiti. Once teams have taken the green flag they head east to a lunch stop in downtown Vacaville before proceeding to Old Sacramento, California, for an overnight stop.
Destinations to follow over the next eight days are lunch in Heritage Park in Gardnerville, Nevada, with dinner at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada on Sunday. Austin and Elko, Nevada, will play host to the lunch and dinner stops, respectively, on Monday, June 20, at which point entrants will embark for West Wendover, Nevada, for lunch the following day, and if all goes according to plan, they should also have enough time to visit the nearby Bonneville Salt Flats before heading to Tuesday’s finish line at the Union Pacific Roundhouse in Evanston, Wyoming.
Rawlins and Cheyenne, Wyoming, will play host to the lunch and overnight stops on June 22, and as entries stream east their next breaks include lunch in Lusk, Wyoming, and an overnight in Rapid City, South Dakota, with a visit to Mount Rushmore built into the day’s schedule. That evening there will be an optional trip to see the Crazy Horse monument as well.
Teams will meander through South Dakota on Friday, June 24, with stops in Chamberlain and Sioux Falls before heading to Mason City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday. The final leg of the epic journey on Sunday, June 26, will take entrants to Walcott, Iowa, for lunch before crossing the finish line on River Avenue in Moline, Illinois, where the team with the lowest cumulative time will be bestowed with a check for $50,000, in addition to other prize money.
First run in 1983, the Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty is open to all 1972 and older collectible cars and trucks. Based on experience, team entries compete in five divisions: Grand Champion, Expert, Sportsman, Rookie and X-Cup, the latter reserved for college and high school teams. Registration is already open for 2016 for teams wishing to compete in this northern west-to-east adventure along the Lincoln Highway, but available spots are filling up fast. For more detailed information, or to register, GreatRace.com.
A quick note to those who would like to catch segments of the 2016 Great Race: As is always the case, the exact rally route is kept secret to prevent teams from practicing. Before the start of each day’s stage, teams are given course instructions just one hour before their start time; no GPS or maps are permitted in the rally vehicles, so drivers and navigators must rely on analog watches and course instructions to get from point A to B successfully and on time. The best locations to see the cars and meet the drivers/navigators are at the day’s lunch and dinner stops. Exact locations for each day’s stops will become available as details are finalized, or you can monitor the official Great Race website where you can also learn more about the Great Race history, rules, and award structure.
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