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More than 100 antique automobiles will be making their way through Elizabethtown this Wednesday as part of the Hemmings Great Race.
The nine-day, 2,300-mile classic car rally takes the drivers on a different route each year. This year’s route runs from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Irmo, South Carolina. The driver’s will be stopping at the Swope’s Cars of Yesteryear Museum for a hosted lunch stop.
“We have 120 vintage automobiles, all 1974 and older,” said Great Race Director Jeff Stumb. “The majority of the cars are pre-World War II cars, which is 1941 and older. The oldest car in the event this year is a 1913 Chevrolet.”
Stumb says the Great Race is much more than a vintage car show. Drivers are given specific instructions and scored at secret checkpoints along the route based on how well they follow the instructions. The instructions are adjusted for each automobile for fairness.
“The winner will be the one who does the event the most accurately,” Stumb said. “He drives the exact speeds we tell them, makes every turn, stops for the exact amount of time for nine days, 2,300 miles, and the winning team will get $50,000 out of a $162,000 total purse.”
Stumb says spectators are in for quite the sight.
“Every car gets an hour break, and they do the same route a minute apart, so as the first car arrives, the last car is still two hours out, and when the first car has been there an hour and leaves, the last car is still an hour out, so there will be cars coming and going,” Stumb said. “Spectators will think it’s 300 cars because they’re coming and going.”
Visit www.greatrace.com or the Swope’s Cars of Yesteryear Museum on Facebook for more information on the race stop.
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