Great Race takes break

Nine-day classic car rally stops in Germantown

Motorists in the Great Race received a warm welcome Wednesday night as they pulled into Germantown’s Municipal Park.

The Great Race is a nine-day rally for antique and vintage cars. This year, it began June 22 in St. Paul, Minn. The finish line for the circuitous route, set for Sunday, is approximately 2,100 miles away in Mobile, Ala.

But these classic cars aren’t vying for top speed; they’re aiming for endurance.

Each team has two members, a driver and a navigator. About a half hour before a leg of the race starts, the team is given 18 to 20 pages of instructions detailing every turn, every speed change and every stop.

The goal is to arrive at a checkpoint at exactly the right time. There are penalties for being early or late.

To add to the challenge, racers are restricted from using GPS systems or computers to navigate.

“No technology in the car. We can have a stop watch, analog wrist watch, a kitchen clock under 6 inches in diameter, but no calculators,” said Tabetha Salsbury-Hammer, who is driving a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro in the rally. “You really have to be good at quick math.”

PHOTOS BY YALONDA M. JAMES/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Tom Lawson of Lithonia, Ga., a support team member, cleans Dave Haverty’s 1937 Ford following a leg in “The Great Race,” a classic car road rally that stopped Wednesday night at Municipal Park in Germantown. The race began in St. Paul, Minn., last...

An iconic eagle resting on a globe highlights a 1941 Packard 120 Coupe competing in “The Great Race,” covering about 2,100 miles.