Here are a couple of announcements from the Great Race staff:

Car numbers will be assigned beginning Feb. 1 to those who have registered and are paid in full. Veterans, as always, will get the number they had in last year’s race. Veterans who missed last year can get their requested number as long as no one picked it up last year and wants it again in 2012. Rookies will be assigned numbers. If you want your regular car number and have not signed up for the 2012 Great Race, this is your last warning.

Hotel room registration will begin around Feb. 15 once the travel agency has completed the reservation web site. All racers who have registered by that time will be given access to the secure web site and will be able to select the type and quantity of rooms they desire. We have enough rooms on hold in all locations, so no one who is paid in full by Feb. 15 will be left out. In several cities, all participants will be staying at the same hotel, so the selection will be room preference only (two queen beds or one king; smoking or non smoking). In other cities, we will be split into two hotels near to each other. The choice in those cities will be hotel price and room preference.

We have been reminding participants even before the route was announced to get your passports. Time is running out to get your passport if you are going on the 2012 Great Race (or if you are still thinking about going). It can take 6 to 8 weeks to get your passport, so please make those arrangements if you have not already done so. If you have had a passport for a while, please check it because they are good for only 10 years before they have to be renewed, and must be valid for at least an additional six months (through Dec. 28, 2012).