Great Race 2019 Day 9 -- Crossing the Finish Line
Wow, what a crazy adventure. Nine days and approximately 2,300 miles later, we're in Tacoma, Washington for one of the most awesome Great Race finishes in quite some time. The LeMay - America's Car Museum offered the perfect venue for our event, and the local car community came out in full force to support the event. The racers had a very challenging final stage of the Great Race, with a multitude of speed changes and maneuvers, leading to the culmination of the 2019 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty. While the scores were being tabulated, we stopped at Pacific Raceways, to watch a little bit of drag racing action and partake in some good ol' race track food. Then, it was time to head back into Tacoma, where the crowd would welcome each car across the finish line and then reconvene for the announcement of the winners. We went class by class, and the crowd went wild when announcer Jason White would reveal the class winners. X Cup kicked off the show, as Scott Culp and the Murfreesboro, Tennessee team took top honors in their 1953 Pontiac Chieftain. Then it was the Sportsman team of Neil Myercough and Shanna Chatraw taking fifth place overall and winning their division. The Expert class was highly contested, as always, and it was Olivia and Genna Gentry getting the job done in their new 1932 Ford five-window coupe rally car. Finally, we announced the winner of the Grand Champion, which was the team of Howard and Doug Sharp from Fairport, New York. Their 1916 Hudson was bullet proof all week long, and the Sharps were diligent with their strategy of repeatability...do the same thing every day and never look back. Take a look at some of our photos from the finish line festivities, as well as photos from this morning's route, our adventure at the drag strip and our Awards Banquet.
X Cup Winners - Team Murfressboro, TN
Rookie Winners - Rick Horne and Rob Roemer
Sportsman winners - Neil Myercough and Shanna Chatraw
Expert winners - Olivia and Genna Gentry
Grand Champions - Howard and Doug Sharp There are quite a few other specialty awards, including Best Dressed, Our Best Friend, Best Race Car, Best Classic Car, Never Say Die, "Tag & Marybeth Lewis Best of Show" and the "Richard Fredette Perseverance Award". As the finale of the Awards Banquet, we announced the winner of the Tom McRae Spirit of the Event award. This year, it went to Rex Gardner, a man who is a fixture in the Great Race community. His efforts to promote vintage car rallying and raise money for the fight against Autism are just a couple of the many reasons he is deserving of this award.
