Meet the Great Race Team
The people behind the Great Race work year-round to bring this one-of-a-kind event to life. From competition and events to hospitality, partnerships, photography, digital media, and everything in between, our team is dedicated to making the Great Race an unforgettable experience for everyone involved.
Brad Phillips
Brad Phillips has served as Director of Great Race since 2025, bringing nearly 20 years of experience as both a competitor and longtime member of the Great Race community.
Over the years, Brad has competed in a wide range of vehicles, including a 1968 Porsche 911, a well-worn 1941 Ford truck, an Amphicar, and most recently the “Spirit of Stahl’s” 1916 Hudson Special.
“There’s no better way to make a friend than to drive an old car.”
Professionally, Brad has spent his career in the collector car world through specialty insurance and is a familiar face at Concours and driving events across the country.
Today, he brings that experience, enthusiasm, and longtime connection to the Great Race to leading the event into its next chapter.
Houston Gibson
Houston Gibson serves as Events & Experience Manager for the Great Race, helping bring each event together with organization, energy, and attention to detail.
Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Houston has been part of the Coker Tire family for more than a decade. His love for vintage cars began early through his family and the local AACA community, where he grew up surrounded by classic cars and the people who preserve and enjoy them.
One of his favorite cars is his 1955 Chevy Bel Air, and he can often be found cruising the backroads of Tennessee behind the wheel.
Houston brings that lifelong enthusiasm for the collector car community to the Great Race, helping create memorable experiences for competitors, spectators, and host communities along the route.
John Classen
John Classen has served as Director of Competition for the Great Race since 1990 and has played a central role in shaping the competition for more than three decades.
John got his start in road rallying through the Sports Car Club of America rally program, where he won several National Championships during the 1970s and ’80s.
His Great Race connection began with the inaugural event in 1983. Founder Tom McRae asked local SCCA regions to provide routes through their territories, and the Southern California region selected John to write the route from the official start at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park to the Arizona border.
John went on to compete in the Great Race for the next five years, winning the Grand Championship once and finishing second another year. He also navigated for Curtis Graf during several of those events.
In 1989, McRae asked John to assist with race operations, and the following year he became Director of Competition. He has written every Great Race route since 1990 and, with his wife Rachel Simon driving, has run lead car on each of those events.
John and Curtis Graf are the only two people who have participated in every Great Race.
Harriet Markham
Harriet Markham works with Great Race partners and sponsors, helping build relationships and create partnership opportunities that support the event and its community.
A Chattanooga native, Harriet has been part of the Coker team since 1993 and has served in a variety of roles within the Marketing Department, with a particular focus on media partnerships.
She joined the Great Race team in 2023, bringing years of experience representing Coker Group as a sponsor and helping develop tailored sponsorship packages that align with each partner’s goals.
Harriet’s connection to the collector car world began with her father’s love for automobiles. What continues to draw her to the hobby, though, is the generosity, camaraderie, and kindness of the people within the collector car community.
Amber Gregg
Amber Gregg serves as the Hospitality and Partnership Coordinator for the Great Race, helping manage the details that support participants, partners, and host communities from start to finish.
Her work includes coordinating hotels and concierge services while also working closely with Great Race partners to help create smooth and successful experiences throughout the event.
Amber became part of the Great Race family in 2017, when her husband, Brandon Gregg, began competing. What started as supporting him quickly became a family affair, and Amber soon found her own place within the Great Race community.
Over the years, she has worked behind the scenes with the X-Cup Legacy program, supported teams along the route, and helped with many of the details that keep the event moving.
Today, she brings that firsthand understanding of the participant experience to her role, helping make each Great Race as organized, welcoming, and memorable as possible.
Jason White
Jason White serves as Digital Marketing Manager at Coker Tire Company and is the official announcer of the Great Race.
His involvement with the event began in 2011 through video production and television coverage. From 2011 through 2016, Jason helped capture and produce Great Race media while also supporting other forms of event coverage.
As the event grew, so did its production needs. Video production was eventually handed off to a dedicated production company, freeing Jason from the long nights of sorting and editing hundreds of hours of footage.
In 2017, the Great Race needed someone to help announce at hosted city stops, and Jason stepped into the role.
His humor keeps racers smiling, while his enthusiasm for the Great Race helps bring the event to life for the thousands of spectators who gather along the route each year.
Tommy Lee Byrd
Tommy Lee Byrd has served as the Great Race Photographer since 2011 and also manages the event’s social media presence.
A member of the Coker Tire Marketing Department, Tommy Lee is a diehard car guy with a garage full of project cars — none of which, by his own admission, are quite ready for the punishment of the Great Race.
During the event, he is usually somewhere along the route with a camera in hand, and racers may occasionally spot him hiding in the bushes along the roadside waiting for the perfect shot.
His photography has appeared on the cover of Hemmings Motor News and throughout Coker Tire and Great Race marketing materials.
Known around the team as TLB, he helps document the people, cars, and moments that make each Great Race memorable.
The people behind every mile.
From planning the route to welcoming teams at the end of the day, the Great Race is built by people who care deeply about the event, its history, and the community surrounding it.