Stage 8 Beckley, WV to Mooresville, NC

It was a short drive around 175 miles to reach Mooresville and we arrived before 10 am.  We were lucky to get our rooms early.  Paul's took a little bit becasue they could not find the reservation.  We later found out one room was in one hotel and the other in another hotel.

Darrin and Sam were headed out to a day of Championship racing. Every morning is the same routine.  Sam gets the directions and Darrin gets the car ready to go.

The landscape was someting else.  We saw train trussells and tunnels and some of the countries most beautiful landscape.  On this route we reached the highes elevation of 3100 feet above sea level.

We arrived in Mooresville and headed to park the trailer and check into our hotel.  We made our way (less than a 1/2 mile) to the North Carolina Auto Racing Museam where one car is owned by Jeff Stumb. I picked the Hudson because Jeff collects them.  Of course I was wrong it was the car facing the Hudson.  3 peolpe did pick the correct car and one person won $100 in Great Race gear.

We did take in the video about the Nevada Salt Flats.  It was interesting to see how the weather and other infulunces are changing the Salt Flats.

30 minutes away is the City of Charlotte.  We travled down to see the NASCAR Hall of Fame Museum. Before entering and getting Paul's Canadian Mounty discount (Military) we did find Curt's brick.  It was nice to see it was still there even though it had moved.

The NASCAR Musem was done very well.  I enjoyed the car display that went up 2 sotries.  The platform was a denmonstration on the degeree angle of tracks.

As we were headed back to Greenville we got a call from Annie Goldman.  She was in Greenville and I sent her to see the local museum.  We cought up with her there and then headed down to see the finish line.

We all headed into a very nice reatraunt and enjoyed a very nice dinner.  We had been enjoying race food all the way so far and it really was time for a change.

After seven days of rallying, the competition always intensifies on Championship Days. The final two days of competition are always challenging and the course gave the teams a true workout today. The morning route was a scenic ride through the mountains in Virginia. Speed changes and terrain changes were plentiful on the first legs of the rally. We rolled into Galax, Virginia for lunch, and were welcomed by a nice crowd of locals. Just south of Galax, we hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for part of the afternoon rally, then the racers took part in one of the most intricate mazes in Great Race history. The series of turns sent racers into multiple loops all afternoon long. It was challenging for both driver and navigator, but it was certainly fun to watch the cars maneuvering in every which way. As the course concluded, we had a relatively short transit into Mooresville, North Carolina, also known as Race City USA. The stop downtown was one of the most well attended stops we’ve ever seen–shoulder to shoulder for blocks.

As the cars came in we enjoyed the celbration of each one.  Some wer glad to have completed the day sand some like our mentors Christian and Jason were excited about 2 ACEs.

After the sunsets ecverybody returns to the hotels and begin to work on the vehicles.  This is te first night that Darrin did not woork on the Cadillac  One more day of ralley and she would go on the trailer for the trip home.

This Caddy had a head gsket go out.  It is a copper gasket and they had to rebuild the top end of the motor twice.

Stage 7 Lexington, KY to Beckley, WV

Last night while working on the car Darrins glasses got slammed in the car hood and it broke the frames. They boys had a late start. They did their normal routine.

Paul and I went to Walmart to get them fixed and buy some stuff.  We raced back to the start to give Darrin his glasses just moments before they headed out.

The toll roads are just a comom occurance in the north.  I always seemed to get in the wrong lane and it would take for ever (2 -3 minutes) to get throught them.

Paul and I decided to head out and try to go to Big River National Park. I set the GPS for the park and away we went. Little did I know it was set for the center of the park.  We left the main hiway and traveled some beautiful back country roads. They kept getting smaller and smaller until we were on a logging trail.  We were able to turn around at a farmers house and get back to the main road and to the town of Berckley.

The landscape is quickly changing on the Great. The scores are settling in. There were incredible views of mountains, valleys, hills, twists and turns. It was quite the tour, as we crossed over into West Virginia after rallying in Eastern Kentucky for most of the morning. We made our way to Huntington, West Virginia for lunch, and were greeted with a great crowd and a quick lunch to get everyone re-energized for a long afternoon. The rally course for the afternoon only consisted of one leg, and it gave the teams some time to unwind, even though the roads were pretty twisty. The reason for the short rally time was to give teams some time to visit New River Gorge National Park. After our fun trip down into the gorge, we came back up to the highway and rolled into Beckley, West Virginia for our Day 7 overnight stop. Thousands of people crowded the narrow streets as the racers parked.

Big Red crossed the finish line and Same proudly displayed the ACE thay had won for the day.  This brought their total to two. Darrin would place his on on the driver sida and Sam would place his on the passenger side.

Big Red was so long that they chose to put her in the handicap area instead of block the whole street by backing her in.

Stage Six Owensboro to Lexington

The boys are 70 out today so start time is around 9 am.  They left for the host hotel and we went for parts. 

Super cool bridges in Kentucky

 We chose to head over to Lexington pretty quickly and do some sight seeing. Paul and I went to see the castle.  It is a hotel and you could only get in with reservations.  

So we went to a horse farm. 

We met with Paul's friends Ron an Charlotte.  We toured to farm and saw the work horses and the champion barn. This was the home off the retired race horses. 

I left Paul to go back to watch the cars come in.  I hung out with the WTF guys as we waited.  One car after another would arrive a drive up on the grass to park. Looked like an old fashion car show.

When Darrin and Sam arrived theybparket in the parking lot as they were told.  They had some impressive scores today They would have had a better day but they turned around and knew they did the wrong thing. That cost them a 39 second leg.

Day 6 of the Great Race kicked off in Owensboro, Kentucky and it was a day PACKED full of rally maneuvers. Today was less about covering a bunch of ground, and more about putting those teams to work! We crossed over into the Eastern Time Zone today, so that made for a short morning, before we rolled into the lunch stop in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. From there, we zipped over to Bardstown for a pit stop at My Old Kentucky Home State Park. We enjoyed a few minutes of hanging out under the shade trees before getting back into an action-packed afternoon route. Hills, hard turns and TONS of speed changes wrapped up the day’s rally, before rolling into a great evening stop at the Griffin Gate Marriott hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. The beautiful lawn offered a great parking area for the cars, and once again, we enjoyed a nice crowd. 

The venue this time was held at the hotel. They had food trucks for dinner. The mexican was very tasty. 

We called it an early night

Stage Five Cape Girardeau to Owensboro

Sleep in today! Darrin and Sam both looked refreshed and ready to go.

Paul and I are doing laundry.  We did some running around as well.  We had left a block of wood at a previous stop that would go under the trailer.  The block has an angle cut on it that acts as a jack.  The manager at Lowes gave us three pieces of wood to use for this purpose.

Then we went to do laundry. Paul had his done and I did my own.

We traveled the backroads of the midwest today.  I navigated (not the best thing for me to do) Paul drove. We only had to turn around once.  

We arrived at our destination and checked in and dropped the trailer. 

The corn shimmers in the wind

Interesting churchinteresting ascend towns

We found our way to the finish line about a half hour before the cars were scheduled to arrive.  We walked the riverfront and played with the adventure app.  They had a memorial to all wars, water fountains and the coolest kids park.

The cars began to come in and not many people were there but as the cars came so did the people. Before you knew it the place was packed. You could hardly see the cars.

We had a little less ground to cover today, so the route featured lots of turns, speed changes and maneuvers compared to previous days. But before we reached the hosted stops, we saw beautiful farm land and we actually crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois on our way to lunch. It was a surprise for our racers, as we had not publicized our small taste of Illinois in any of our marketing materials. Another special surprise consisted of a quick photo opp in front of the giant Superman statue in downtown Metropolis, Illinois. After that, we went across the Irvin S Cobb bridge, crossing the Ohio River, to enter Paducah, Kentucky for our lunch stop.

Before we got back on the clock, we crossed the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River. The scenery was wonderful this afternoon with a mixture of rolling hills and flat farmland. We rolled into Owensboro, Kentucky with high expectations after our last several nights of huge turnouts. And, when we rounded the corner on Veterans Boulevard, it was a major shock! One of the largest Great Race crowds we’ve ever seen welcomed the cars and drivers to town. Thousand of people surrounded the cars, and we all enjoyed live music, delicious food and fellowship with the awesome car-crazy community in Owensboro. 

I sat with Peter Lamountain's navigators wife and talked about the Great Race.  The boys had a good day.  The had a 1 second leg. Darrin figured out the tranny and how to make it work. 

After a little time hanging with the car we all headed to the park for dinner of pulled pork, mutton and chicken.  While eating the band started up.  I left the boys and walked to see all the cars.  Paul headed out to the part store and back to the hotel.  Darrin rewired the brake lights at the show.  

I rode back to the  hotel in Big Red.  Darrin changed spark plugs and we called it an early night.

Stage Four Joplin to Cape Girardeau

Every morning exactly 30 minutes before start time Sam picks up the instructions.  You must wait for your car number to be called.  At that point any changes to the route or special instructions are given.

Darrin will give the car a final go over, check tires then relax. 

Sam will set the clock to the official race clock.

As navigator you will go through the instructions and mark them up.

We found all the parts we have been looking for!!!  We set the GPS and headed to Cape Girardeau. We were to busy talking and it cost us an extra 100 miles of travel. We saw lots of the old cars traveling on the original Route 66. We arrived a little early today at the finish line.

The city was on the Mississippi River.  To protect the town they have built walls with doors that can close to keep the flood waters out.  These walls we painted with the faces of the people who made history in the area.

The locals had a car show with about 60 cars.  There were some very cool ones.

Day 4 of the 2021 Great Race sent us on a long haul across the state of Missouri. We started the day in Joplin and headed east early in the morning with a lengthy trek on the interstate, before going on the clock. After we peeled off the interstate, it was time to start the day’s competition, and it was a tough one. There were quite a few long stretches of steady speed, but way more maneuvers and challenging terrain than previous days. We also encountered plenty of traffic, which plays a huge role in the competition. We made a lunch stop in Rolla, Missouri and this small town came out in full force! We were treated to a delicious lunch, and hit the road again. After navigating the beautiful, rolling hills, we made our way to the Mississippi River for yet another spectacular evening stop. This one was familiar to our longtime Great Racers, as we visited Cape Girardeau, Missouri for an evening stop on the 2013 Great Race. Once again, thousands of people came out to cheer on the Great Racers. 

Darrin made his way through  the crowds down the main street.  Eventually parking along the riverwalk. Dinner was directly across from where the team parked. 

After dinner Darrin was interviewed about the team and what the Great Race meant to him.  The interviewer would ask a questions and Darrin would respond with a recap of the question and the answer.

Some of the most fun you have is explaining the race or the car.

A sunset ride back to the hotel in Big Red is quite a thrill!