A vintage automobile rolls through one of the stops during a past Great Race event. Courtesy photo
The Hemmings Motor News Great Race, an endurance rally for 1974 and older collector vehicles, will roll into Freeport on June 28, two days before the race hits its finish line in Gardiner.
The cars should be rolling into downtown Freeport around 4 p.m. The event has taken place each summer since 1983, with this year’s edition starting in Owensboro, Kentucky, on Saturday, June 22.
“We are excited to bring this unique event to Freeport for the first time ever,” said Jeff Stumb, the race’s director. “There will be more than 500 people just in our entourage from all around the world. When the Great Race pulls into a city, it becomes an instant festival. Last year, we had several overnight stops with more than 10,000 spectators on our way to having 250,000 people see the Great Race during the event.”
Teams from Japan, England, Australia, Canada and every corner of the United States are driving over 140 vintage automobiles dating back as far as 1912. Most entries having been manufactured before World War II. Last year, a 1916 Hudson Hillclimber won the event from St. Augustine, Florida, to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 2024 winners will again receive $50,000 of the $160,000 total purse.
Each racer’s goal is to accomplish the day’s route as closely as possible to the rally master’s perfectly scored time. The team closest to the perfect time wins their racing division. Cryptic instructions and speed changes create a difficult task since the route stretches across 2,300 miles over nine days. The 140 cars will travel to 19 cities through Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine.
The Great Race is free to the public and spectators. All cars will be on display at each lunch stop and evening stop every day of the event. You can find the full schedule of events at greatrace.com.
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