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!