2026 Hemmings Great Race presented by Coker Tire - Day 5

Another day in the books! We crossed over the half way point today, both in the number of days on the road, as well as the official half way point of Route 66. The teams crossed into Mountain Time zone, so the stops were a little earlier than normal, but wow what a turnout! We rolled into the New Mexico Route 66 Museum in Tucumcari, New Mexico for a delicious lunch. A special surprise was a great display of Kaiser and Frazer automobiles, which were taking part in their national convention. The cars and owners were so great!

From there, we took a detour off of Route 66, tackling one of the toughest drives of this entire race (so far). Highway 104 heads Northwest into the Canadian Escarpment. While beautiful, this was a tough climb for some of the cars in 90+ degree heat. From there, we made our way to Las Vegas, New Mexico for a quick fuel stop and then back on the road toward our evening destination of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our stop was held at the Balloon Fiesta Park, which is known for its incredible hot air balloon rides. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, but the crew improvised by positioning the baskets near the finish line gate for a special flame throwing show each time a team would pass through the arch. Another amazing meal, complete with "Route Beer Floats" sealed the deal on Day 5 action. Long scoring legs made for a challenging day, regarding scores, but it was Jody Knowles and Beth Gentry taking the stage 5 victory with a mind-blowing score of 3.24 seconds on the day.