The Tale of Two Navigators
Kathy: In the Summer of 2015 our youngest daughter Kacie landed an internship with Nickelodeon in Burbank, California. Kylie and I flew out for a visit and Jeff, being the adventurous one, rode his Harley from Indiana to California to meet us. In New Mexico on Interstate 40, he started seeing Great Race vehicles. He stopped to get a room, and every hotel in the area was booked. That night he looked up the Great Race website and found out the race was finishing at Santa Monica pier, where we happened to be staying nearby. Kylie and Jeff went out to the pier and “experienced” the finish and Jeff said, “If I can find a vehicle, we’re going to do this!”
In the Fall of 2015, Jeff found our ‘39 Ford pickup truck in Mississippi. He immediately called Jeff Stumb to get into the 2016 race and of course it was sold out. Jeff Stumb put us on the waiting list, and in December, he called. We had no clue what we were doing, but we were in! We told him we were just doing it for fun, and he said “Yeah, that’s what they all say.“ The Feeney’s were our mentors for 2016. They tried to get us to do a Spring rally, but we chose to go in blind. Jeff checked the truck over, the best he could, but left everything stock, which eventually led to issues with the distributor, overheating and vapor lock. Richard Fredette and Rex Gardner were our saviors. Richard loaned Jeff a distributor so we could finish the race. We later sent the old distributor to Rex for a rebuild.
I navigated the first 7 days and Kylie navigated the Championship Run days (per my request). We’re not sure how, but Jeff and I got one Ace and you would have thought we won the Lottery. We finished 95 th that year and truly, To Finish, Was to Win! Despite everything, we had such a good time, we were hooked!
In 2017 we were unable to do the race, so Jeff Stumb saved our deposit for 2018. Jeff made some improvements to the truck and we finished 42 nd . Kylie took over navigating on Friday before the Championship run. In 2019 Kylie wanted to do all the navigating, and I told her if you start, you finish. I wasn’t coming in for the Championship Run! That year things really started clicking and we won 2 days in the Sportsman division and finished 20 th overall. I wouldn’t trade that time in the truck with Jeff for anything, but performance charts, stopwatch duties, calculations, were more than I was capable of doing well. It was time to turn it over to Kylie. “Momma got booted!”
Kylie: Starting out your navigating duties on day 1 of the Championship run isn’t something I would suggest doing. But at that time, I didn’t know what I didn’t know! All I knew is I wanted to try my hand at this navigating thing. Famous last words! Luckily for me, my mom was all for giving up her seat in the ‘39 Ford, for a comfy, air conditioned seat in the support crew truck! As most of you know or can imagine, starting your navigating duties after seven days of the race is a bit tricky. And after the first year of competing only those last two days, I begged to have at least one more day to “prep” myself before all the scores counted. I was getting the hang of things, or so I thought, and wanted to see what I could do with a little more time. After we got our first ace… I was HOOKED!
And even though I still really didn't know what I was getting myself into, I asked to take over full navigating duties in 2019. My mom couldn’t say “yes” fast enough… And dad wasn’t too mad either! Spending 9 days in a truck with no cell phones and no one else around except the two of us is something I will NEVER forget or take for granted. It is honestly the best week and a half of the year. Dad and I have our own code, as most drivers and navigators do; I know how many times to repeat instructions to him, he knows when to confirm he has seen something. We never yell, never fight, and rarely even get frustrated with each other (usually only when we are off the clock and I get us lost trying to get to the hotel LOL).
It’s hard to explain to people what we do for 9 days in a truck with no cell phones and no air conditioning… Do we listen to music? What do we talk about the whole time? Do you know where you are going? Do you get to stop at all throughout the day? These are just some of the questions we get asked. To answer, I usually just show them pictures of the truck, pictures of past instructions all marked up with three different color highlighters and scribbles everywhere and tell them it is one of the best things I have ever done in my entire life. That time is something I will cherish forever. From the West Coast to the East, and everywhere in between, I couldn’t be more thankful for the experiences, sights, sounds, exhaustion, and fun that I have had over the last eight years. Here’s to the next! Trucks Rule!
Jeff: I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all of the people that have helped us over the last 8 Great Races. I'm sure it wasn’t easy answering all my dumb questions, especially in the first few years. Special thanks go to our good buddy Mike McClure.
Mike has hauled our truck to and from every Great Race we have participated in. I truly believe that the Race is one of the highlights of his year, every year.
Mike and Kathy make sure that our hotel rooms are ready for us each night and that our luggage is where it needs to be. Then, they make sure that they are at the finish line every evening to cheer us on. The Great Race has become a vacation for us every year. Getting to spend time with Kathy, Kylie and Mike is a gift that I will never forget. As we wind down our cold Indiana Winter, it will soon be time to get out our ’39 and test out all the improvements that I’ve worked on since the last Race. Hopefully it will prove to be a trouble-free race this year.
