Your Next Great Adventure

Why Join the Great Race?

Maybe you've watched the cars roll through your town, followed the competition, or wondered what it would be like to be behind the wheel. The Great Race is more than a competition. It is an experience you carry with you long after the finish line.

More Than a Rally

The Experience Is the Reason

Ask anyone who has done the Great Race why they keep coming back and you'll probably hear a dozen different answers.

For some, it is the competition. For others, it is the chance to see the country from the seat of a vintage car. For many, it is the friendships, the unexpected moments, and the feeling of being part of something unlike anything else.

Underneath all of those answers is the same thing: the Great Race is about the experience.

Why Racers Come Back

Five Reasons to Join the Great Race

See America Differently

The Great Race takes you away from the interstate and onto the backroads of America. You'll see scenery, towns, and communities that you might otherwise drive right past.

Go Places You Didn't Expect

Every route brings something different. Historic landmarks, unusual attractions, small towns, and unforgettable stops become part of the adventure. The Great Race has a way of turning places you've never heard of into places you'll never forget.

Meet Your People

The cars may bring people together, but the friendships keep them coming back. You'll spend your days surrounded by people who share your passion for cars, travel, competition, and adventure.

Drive the Car You Love

Your vintage or classic car was built to be driven. The Great Race gives you an excuse to put some serious miles on it — and to experience what it can do along the way.

Make Memories That Last

For many racers, the moments between the checkpoints become the stories they remember most. The unexpected detour. The perfect sunset. The town that welcomed you. The mechanical problem you somehow overcame. The people you met along the way.

Those are the memories that stay with you.

The Great Race Experience

It's About the Journey

Since 1983, enthusiasts have traveled across the country in their vintage and collector cars to compete in the Great Race. Winning is certainly part of the challenge, but it has never been the only reason people come back.

The cars, the people, the scenery, the cities, and the challenge all come together to create something that is difficult to explain until you've experienced it yourself.

“

It was then I knew — I was hooked.

Jeff Stumb
Previous Great Race Director

How Jeff Stumb Got Hooked on the Great Race

Long before becoming a director of the Great Race, Jeff Stumb was a participant. His first race came when a friend invited him to join the team.

He arrived at the starting line with no idea quite what he was getting into. His navigator and car owner, Ken Downing, had already participated in the race for years, so Jeff followed his lead.

As they left the coast and headed toward the desert, Jeff encountered one of the things that would become a hallmark of the Great Race: discovering places he'd never seen before.

Their route took them through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the community of Lone Pine, where many early western movies were filmed. From there, the adventure continued across the country, through places including Nevada, the Great Salt Lake, the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Badlands, and the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Along the way, they experienced the excitement of arriving in towns filled with enthusiastic crowds and discovered parts of the country they might never have visited otherwise.

For Jeff, that first experience answered the question of whether the Great Race was for him.

He was hooked.