On August 25, 2011 it was announced that the 2012 Hemmings Motor News Great Race will start in Traverse City, Michigan on June 23, 2012. For 2012, the Great Race route will travel north to Canada, crossing at Sault Ste. Marie. From the Soo, the route will extend east along the north shore of Lake Huron, south toward Lake Ontario, then go east to cross back into the United States at the Thousand Islands. The Great Race will then travel west along the south shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, ending in the Detroit area on the following weekend after traveling approximately 2,000 miles.
The Great Race’s Scoring System Favors Older Cars
Some of the planned stops along the Great Race route include the Pierce-Arrow Museum in Buffalo, N.Y.; the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio; and the Automotive Heritage Museum (the last Hudson dealer) in Ypsilanti, Mich.
I’m not sure about that claim to be the last Hudson dealer. There is a shop in my town that was a Hudson dealer, but he now restores old cars. I don’t think that he ever stopped selling Hudsons and even Terraplanes. He has a “junk yard” out back that is probably a gold mine.
Entry fee for the 2012 Great Race will be $4,000 for private entries and $5,000 for corporate entries. A $500 discount is available to any team – private or corporate – which pays a $2,000 deposit by Sept. 18, 2011, and the balance by Dec. 31, 2011. The Great Race is not cheap, but there are some attractive cash prizes, so if you do well, then it’s a very good deal. Look for a sponsor as well. The Great Race has a lot of visibility as it travels over its route. It’s a traveling car show with well publicized events each night in the cities where it stops for lunch or for overnights.
Car Up to 1969 Are Eligible For the Great Race
The Great Race is a speed/time road rally (no odometers allowed) open to all 1969 and older model year automobiles. A handicap system gives a competitive advantage to older cars, and there is a separate class – with a separate prize fund – for rookie teams.
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