When the 2012 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty came to a close, the racers and staff were exhausted, and ready to enjoy a great meal in the awesome Henry Ford Museum. We also anticipated a great awards ceremony to finish off the evening, and send everyone home on an exciting note by announcing the start of next year’s event. The 2013 Great Race will kick off at the Back to the ’50s event in St. Paul, Minnesota, so get ready for a huge send-off with nearly 100,000 people on hand! We’ll have more details on the finish of the race in the coming weeks, but for now, let’s take a look at the winners of this year’s Great Race!
Bill and Carolyn Croker won the Tom McRae Spirit of the Event award this year, for their undeniable efforts to help our rookie teams. We had 30 rookie teams this year!!!
The Hedke family (Steve, Janet and Allison) won the Hagerty “Never Say Die” award for their desire to finish the race, even though their Model A roadster was severely damaged in a crash during Stage 6 of the 2012 Great Race.
And just after Brad Phillips presented the Hedke’s with the award, Corky gave him a belated Never Say Die award for his extreme efforts in last year’s event. Here’s Corky doing his best Tom McRae impression while Brad accepts the custom made award.
X-Cup winners, Chad Nelson and Brandon Schindler with Corky at the awards ceremony.
Bryan and Ian Deering from Bad Axe, Michigan took home the hardware in the Rookie division!
Brian Blood and Stephen Keller had a tough task by driving the newest vehicle in the Great Race, a 1969 Saab. That means they had the worst age factor in the scoring system, but still came through with a win in the Sportsman Division!
Jody Knowles and Beth Gentry came in third place overall, but won first place in the Expert Division, which gave them a nice trophy and $10,000 to take back to Georgia!
Barry and Irene Jason have a big laugh, as Howard Sharp storms the stage to pass off his crown. The Jason’s were on their game all week long, and it paid off with the Grand Championship Division win, as well as the overall win, making them the Grand Champions of the 2012 Great Race!
I love the photos of the winner but I would still like to see photos of the winning CARS. When you are watching the race pass by you can not see the drivers inside them, you only see the cars passing by and wonder if they will be the winners. Our car club at home makes this same mistake of great photos of the winners but no one knows which cars belong to which owners &/or drivers.
CONGRATS TO ALL, ESPECIALLY THE CROKERS FOR THERE EFFORTS IN PERPETUATING THE RACE!
Thank you, Thank you Corky for the race. Jeff for managing it all(also my lost passport). John Classen for the great course. Bill & Carolyn Croker for the mentor program. Joe Correia, you’re the best! Thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors, we will always support you. Bill & Bud Green -Car #64 – We know we won:)!