Let me start off by saying that this year’s “Great Race” was a “Great” disappointment due to the drop in entrants down from 115 to 72.  Don’t get me wrong. Everybody had a great time and the competition was fierce. It’s just that there was this feeling that something appeared to be missing.  Before starting out in Concord North Carolina, The competitors and crew got to visit The Roush Fenway race shop and got the full tour. Additionally, they got to drive into and around the Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

           Things started out well for the subject of last years report on the Great Race, Frank Currie and his grand son Cody contesting the race in a 1911 Selden (the oldest car in the event). They finished the first day in first place with 105 points and took home the newly established Daily Winners Purse of $1500. Cody was ecstatic, but it didn’t last long. The second day they scored poorly and dropped well back in the standings.

          The team of William Harper and Larry Blair in their LaSalle flathead powered ’32 Ford roadster moved quickly into the running for the big bucks as last years GR winners Dave Reeder and Sawyer Stone had a rather dismal start. They had switched from their winning 1911 Hudson to a newly built Brookville ’32 Ford three-window and had great “out of the elements” expectations. While they didn’t fare very well in the early going, they did finish third overall in the final standings and picked up the trophy and the bucks for that lofty finish.

          There were a total of eleven ’32 Fords in varying configurations and all provided the 75^th Anniversary of the Deuce to have lots to cheer about. At the end nine of the total finished with two going half way ending in Dallas. Mike Goodman in the sharp Honest Charley’s Speed Shop/Coker Tire (ambidextrous) ’32 Ford roadster had commitments that required him to return to Chattanooga and I’m sure he would have liked to have gone all the way.

          Seven Deuces placed in the top half of the finishing order and more importantly two finished in the top five. The team Reeder and Stone finished third overall and came within eight points of second place finishers Harper and Blair. The Deuce contingent certainly made its presence felt. Prize money for winning each day was new this year and it paid back 3 places on each of the 14 stages. There was also a payout for the championship stages (The best total score for the last 3 stages) also carried with it prize money.

          Our man, Frank Currie and his grandson Cody soldiered on in the ’11 Selden , through the elements including golf ball sized hail in the Albuquerque area. They managed to take 

home a good chunk of the daily stage payout garnering two firsts, two seconds, and the additional first for the best score on championship days for a grand total of $10,000.

          The entry list this year was expanded to include hot rods, muscle cars, imports built prior to ’71 and hybrid vehicles. This explains how the team of Pat and Ali Schulte won the rookie class, and the $10,000 prize money in their 1965 Porsche 356C. Overcoming gear box troubles, this rookie pair drove their little yellow coupe into the winners circle and accepted the applause from all present. No strangers to adventure, this couple had just completed a three and a half year trip around the world in a sailboat.

          Regardless, they will be well prepared for next year Great Race that will replicate the Great Race of 1908 by going around the world from New York to Paris via Vancouver Canada, Peking China, and Berlin Germany ending at the Eiffel Tower .

          Now that’s an undertaking - maybe I can get to go and report to you next year.