Day 5--North Carolina, Southern Hospitality

Wow, another adventurous day on the Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty. Today's route didn't cover near as much ground as yesterday, as we crossed into North Carolina and rallied on every back road John Classen could find. We had loops, we had multiple checkpoints, and we had some iffy weather moments at times, as well as some delays, thanks to road construction, tractors, and draw bridges. We eventually crossed the Albemarle Sound on a long (and bumpy) bridge. Our lunch stop was a pleasant visit to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where the folks greeted us with a warm welcome, and a great prepared lunch for us. As we rolled into New Bern, North Carolina, we could tell it was going to be an incredible stop, as we saw folks watching the cars roll in several miles away from town. Once we rolled into downtown, the streets were packed with people and it was wall-to-wall with folks who were very excited about the Great Race. New Bern, thank you for the amazing support!

As with any day of rallying, there are ups and downs. The scores were all over the board today, proving that it's still anyone's race. Our Japanese team driving a 1972 Nissan scored their first ACE award, and they were beyond thrilled! Knowles/Gentry had a strong day and moved up a few positions in the overall scores. Jeff and Eric finished 8th on the day, but still hold the overall lead.

Check out today's scores here.

Unfortunately, a heavy hitter (David Reeder and Sawyer Stone) broke a rear axle key during the morning's route, which put them on the Tommy's Trailers sweep truck for the remainder of the day. Another breakage includes the team of Harper and Blair blowing a head gasket on the Cadillac V8 that rides under the hood of their green '32 Ford roadster.