If there’s ever a day on the 2017 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty that we would consider “busy”, this is it! We’ve had some long and strenuous days, but today’s route sent us to three museums in three awesome towns. Without a doubt, today’s Great Race route put our remaining 115 racing teams in front of more eyeballs than ever before in one day of rallying. First was a pit stop at Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum in Shipshewana, Indiana, which had hundreds of people on hand to welcome the racers for a quick peek at the museum and a wonderful breakfast, complete with some much needed coffee! Next was a challenging mid-morning route, which featured a maze that sent racers into the same intersections three times in a matter of about 10 minutes. This confusing leg of the course eventually led to a magnificent stop at the Gilmore Auto Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Thousands of spectators came out to view the Great Race, and we made a quick blast through the various buildings at the Gilmore to see the unbelievable collection of cars and trucks. There’s no way to put into words how awesome this collection is…it’s a must see!
From there, we hit the road again with a route that featured numerous high speed turns (relatively speaking), and that’s always entertaining for the media crew and a little sketchy for the drivers. Today was a tough day for breakage, as John Corey, Chad Caldwell and several others suffered from mechanical misfortunes. Finally, we rolled into our evening stop in Ypsilanti, Michigan with a warm welcome from thousands of spectators. Ypsilanti is a car town, and it’s home to the last remaining Hudson dealership, which is now an auto museum, right in the middle of downtown. Our last visit to Ypsilanti was on the final lunch stop of the 2012 Great Race, and it was great then…but the stop tonight was massive!
With another day of challenging rallying under their belts, the racers fought for precision all day. Trying to match the perfect time is a team effort between driver and navigator, and of course, the car! Today’s winners were Beth Gentry and Jody Knowles in the “Pop’s Passion” 1932 Ford Cabriolet. This is their second daily victory, and it was enough to push them into the overall lead! They actually tied with Jeff and Eric Fredette today, but the age factor of the ’32 Ford (versus the Fredette’s ’33 Ford) gave them the advantage. It’s time to get down to business, and these vintage Fords are knocking it out day after day! We’ll see what happens tomorrow as we continue our Michigan route from Ypsilanti to Stahls Automotive Museum in Chesterfield, and finally downtown Frankenmuth. Take a look at today’s highlights and follow along tomorrow!
GREAT to have you all here in Ypsilanti! So glad I identified Dick Sullivan at the barricade and let him in! Ypsi Real and Ann Arbor welcome everybody for this truly wonderful stop on the Great Race. Special shout-out to Jake and Elwood and the big man, Jeff.
Yours,
Tom Urich, CTA – Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti
I’m wondering how the Studebaker Land Cruiser is doing. Sorry, I couldn’t help the owner more.
My wife Dixie and I drove from Cincinnati, Ohio to French Lick, Indiana to see the cars pull in for lunch. After the last car pulled in, we packed up are chairs and drove to Franklin, Indiana to see you all pull in to the town square. At Franklin we got to meet and talk to several of the teams. What a pleasure that was. You are all very nice people. We hope you are all having a great time and we pray that your journey will be safe. To team #7 the Kaplan’s, thanks for the picture that we took together. We are rooting you on. We hope you finish well. Stay safe.
Tom & Dixie, it is people like you that make this race so special. Thanks for the note and making the effort to join our parade. Hope we cross paths again.
Hello Erin and Brad! We continue to watch your progress. You are doing great!! Well it all wraps up today. I wish we could be there to see everyone finish the race. Please be safe on your way back home.
Thanks for following along. I am sure you saw the incredible finish. We are so happy for the Gentry/Knowles family! We were proud of our finish and are looking forward to Nova Scotia. Rallying on! Thanks again for the support!
Was driving from Ann Arbor to St Joseph on Thursday the 29th. Had NO idea why there were SO many classic cars rolling down 94! It was great to see!!!
My wife and I live about 14 miles south of Auburn, IN. We learned about the Great Race in the Sunday Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette. We decided to drive up on Thursday afternoon (yesterday) to watch all the participants arrive at the checkpoint in front or the fabulous ACD (Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg) Museum. The weather was fabulous and we loved watching all of you drive by and park. And ironically, another great race has just begun in Europe, the Tour de France. You have something special going on with your Great Race. Keep it up. Thanks for coming to Auburn, IN!
Sooooo, What was the fate of that Studebaker Landcruiser?