By Steve Hedke, who is representing LeMay – America’s Car Museum with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in the Great Race

There are few “˜easy’ days on the Great Race, and there certainly are hard ones. Every so often you have a day that just defies description.
Our day began in Gardnerville, Nevada, from which we headed north to Reno, then we hung a left for California and famous Donner Pass. Our first “˜on the clock’ run was just west of Truckee, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains: slow speeds, rough roads, and high altitudes were the challenges. Up over 7,000′ we still had snow on the ground alongside the cars, the cool air was refreshing compared to what was to come.

Winding down through the pass on secondary roads once again provided some spectacular scenery and a nice rally, until we saw that dreaded sign “flagman ahead- prepare to stop”. Dang! We saw a group of about 5 cars waiting for the flagman, right where we were supposed to be doing 40 mph.

“First Sweep” is a team from the rally staff that goes out on the course the day before to make sure the roads are still open and all the signs are still in place that the route instructions have us looking for. The “Fast Sweep” team leaves before the racers to make sure that everything is still in place.

Almost inevitably there will be a road crew that pops up after the sweep teams and before the rally gets there. Surprise! How well you deal with this is part of the game. Obviously you have to stop for the road crew, calculate how much time you have lost, and if it can’t be made up you fill out a time delay form. If you can’t go back to the assigned speed, you may have to go slower, say half speed, and factor that in to your time delay as well. If you get stopped again while at half speed, well, you have a couple of overlapping calculations happening at once. In short, a mess.

Everyone had time delays today. So much so that timing and scoring had over 200 time delay sheets to process. We turned ours in at the control point at the lunch stop in Grass Valley; she already had a stack of documents to call in.

Grass Valley is one of those quaint gold rush communities with the false front downtown shops. A fine and unique lunch of Cornish Pasties was provided, along with a lovely garden setting to enjoy them in. As we descended the Sierras for the rolling foothills south of Oroville the temperature went up- a lot. Narrow, twisty, and rough old roads gave the cars and crews a pounding. It was nearly impossible to hold speeds when the road constantly undulated and snaked its way along. If you own a collector car chances are these are roads you would avoid at any cost. In fact, “˜pathway’ might be a better description.

Then, just as we were all tired and uncomfortably hot, we were brought to an oasis. A “˜Pit Stop’ is a Great Race feature that we haven’t seen much of for a while. It’s a brief stop to get gas, a snack, and a bit of a rest. It is about half an hour long, hosted by a town on the route. Oroville provided us with a place to park along their old downtown Main Street, volunteers provided cold drinks, snacks, and air conditioning in their restored silent era “˜State’ theater, where an organist played their Wurlitzer pipe organ! What a treat!

Back in the cars, we ran the last 2 legs of the day still descending, heading for flat ground in to the central valley of California. Still in the Sierra foothills, the roads got even narrower and rougher, as the weather grew hotter. Wrestling our cars down these roads at 20-25 mph is about as tough of a job as the drivers and cars can face. Everyone was glad to see the finish line except for the timing and scoring crews, who were still working on the hundreds of time delays. A nice supper in the town square gave us all a chance to rest and cool off.

The LeMay – Americas Car Museum Studebaker sucked up everything the rally route could throw at it, and once again we had some very good leg scores with 2 more Aces! A couple of higher scores at the end kept us out of the win column, but considering the circumstances we did really well. We were especially proud of the :02 seconds we ended up with through that nasty construction zone! We are still 4th in the Expert division, 14th overall (we moved up a few spots there} and running strong.

We head for the Pacific Coast and the Redwoods tomorrow; that will be beautiful too.

Thanks for riding along!

By Steve Hedke, who will be representing LeMay – America’s Car Museum with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in the Great Race

Official start this morning on Mission Inn Ave in Riverside! The entire street was filled for blocks with Great Race cars and hundreds of spectators for a couple of hours, then the ceremony kicked off with a color guard, the National Anthem, and then the green flag dropped for each team. Thanks to friends from work and our Studebaker and Triumph car clubs who came to see us off. It means so much to us to see you there!

After an hour-long speedometer calibration on the freeway and before we were even officially on the clock we were treated to lunch at the Route 66 Museum in Victorville. Then for the next two and a half hours we rallied through a succession of mazes – multiple turns within a residential area at low speeds, often seeing other race cars in the vicinity going in other directions. Great fun but you have to stay focused as one wrong turn can ruin an otherwise great day.

A quick trip up into the hills above Lancaster for some mountain driving and it was into town for a great reception on The Boulevard. We were provided with “Boulevard Bucks” we could spend on dinner and treats at our choice of a couple dozen locations, then off to the hotels.

There were five legs today and we had excellent scores for four of them, including two ACEs. Then there was a mystery score of 16 seconds late on Leg 4. We thought we’d executed everything perfectly but sometimes there’s no logical explanation. Thankfully the way Great Race works is that there are a certain number of leg scores dropped from your total, based on your division. So we will be able to drop our four worst legs. Hopefully that will be the worst but you never know what’s coming the next day.

Tomorrow will be a long day, with an early morning start, all the way to Gardnerville, NV with a lunch stop in Bishop. Another adventure awaits!

By Steve Hedke, who will be representing LeMay – America’s Car Museum with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in the Great Race

Each race officially begins with a general meeting for all participants: race teams, support crews, timing and scoring, and checkpoint crews. This year that consists of nearly 500 people working their way up to Tacoma, and we filled a large meeting room at the Marriott in Riverside this morning.

Cars were still being repaired, and at least one was abandoned: that team bought another car to race. Hey, it’s Southern California and we still have lots of old cars around. And it’s not the first time this has happened.

After the meeting we have the Great Race director of competition explain how the race is run, followed by the presentation on the techniques for rallying. Once those are over its time to leave for the Trophy Run. This year’s run was held southeast of Riverside in the shadows of the San Jacinto Mountains, which is “˜horse’ country with many large ranches nestled in to the rocky countryside.

The Trophy Run is a half day rally designed to get your skills up before the “˜big’ race. Scores don’t count for the main event, but trophies are awarded for the best in each division. We are proud to announce that the LeMay – Americas Car Museum entry finished 4th overall and first in Expert Division! On top of that we earned 3 “˜Aces’, which means we had perfect scores on 3 of the 5 legs. We also got “˜Ace’ stickers for the car, and watch for those as the cars come in to Tacoma: there is a prize for the most Aces, and you’ll see them all along our doors.

As you would expect we feel really good about going in to the official start tomorrow. Our Studebaker is performing nicely, clearly our speedometer is calibrated correctly (at least for now), and our team is healthy and ready for the adventure to come!

By Steve Hedke, who will be representing LeMay – America’s Car Museum with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in the Great Race

Pre-race activity has begun at the host hotel in Riverside, California. The ACM team left home early this morning and made it to the hotel just in time for our registration appointment. The Daytona is running well: all we needed to do was to collect our registration materials, pass through tech inspection (horn, lights, etc.) and have the remaining official stickers put on.

After that we ran the “˜Measured Mile’, a 9 mile test section that allows us to check the calibration of our electronic speedometer. We were running early, since the speedo was set for the previous rally in Joplin a few months ago. Others saw the same thing. We made the correction, ran the calibration in reverse, and we had made the correct change. We were now ready to rally.

The rest of the day was spent greeting our friends and catching up. There was drama already! Just getting the cars to the start can be a challenge. Yesterday we were coming out here to attend a reception and came across a team on the side of the road, with a flat tire on their trailer. Turns out this was the SECOND flat on the trailer, with the tires just shredded. We introduced ourselves, and took the spare to the closest tire store, about a half hour away, and got there just before they closed. They got the wheel on and we followed them in to Riverside, just in case. They replaced ALL the tires on the trailer this morning. Adventure before the race even starts!

We heard stories of other tow vehicles breaking down; the Maine Boys had to borrow a 5th wheel truck to get their cars in, as the rear axle of their truck was being repaired. Twice. Many folks from the east coast had their cars shipped out, but reported problems with making flight connections. There are cars that are here but not running well; a Corvette needed a new distributor right there in the parking lot, which of course became a spectator event. It can be stressful until you are finally ready to race.

For those not desperately getting their cars fixed, Great Race had arranged for a really good cover band to play 60’s and “˜70’s rock hits in an outdoor venue in front of the hotel, while providing burgers, dogs, and drinks. Great fun!

The weather is surprisingly cool, even chilly! Amazing since it’s not unusual to be in the 90’s this time of year. We’ll take it! Tomorrow we have the mandatory meeting, rally school, and the Trophy Run, a short local rally used both for practice and its own trophies, plus the better Trophy Run scores can be used to break a tie at the finish.

So far, so good!

By Steve Hedke, who will be representing LeMay – America’s Car Museum with his wife Janet and their daughter Allison in the Great Race

As I write this it is 2 weeks before the race start, and almost everything is ready to go. Preparation is, of course, critical: It’s not the invasion of Normandy, but the philosophy is similar. With the time and investment the race requires, not to mention the prize money and trophies available, it’s smart to make sure you have what you need, or may need, well before the race starts.

Paperwork: There are forms to fill out, lots of them. Releases, declaration of insurance (a minimum amount of liability is required), entry forms, crew information, support crews, hotel reservations, etc. These, along with the fees, are required six months or more before the race starts. Some documents like your list of hotel reservations are vital to keep with you: the race does not make these arrangements, but give you a list of options. If you break down you are required to cancel your reservations or you will be billed for them. You go nowhere without the dotted I’s and crossed T’s taken care of.

Car: The cars are old and things break, and even new parts can be an issue. Getting the car prepped well before the race is not only prudent, it’s required if you want to get some test miles on it. Sure, like most car guys I am guilty of midnight thrashes and paint drying at the car show. But for the Great Race a thorough shake down is a really good idea, because not finishing is the worst thing possible. Plus you’ll need time to fill in your performance charts. Working all night in the parking lot during the race is dramatic and happens just about every night, but it is not fun, especially rallying the next day with little or no sleep.

I only bring the spare parts I can replace at roadside, such as a fan belt or a trigger for the Petronix ignition. Anything I can’t fix quickly puts me out of the competition for the day, and the sweep truck will be along soon. Once I get back in I have some time to make proper repairs. Same with tools: I bring just enough hand tools for minor repair jobs. The Great Race also has a list of required items, including a fire extinguisher within easy reach, tow ropes, water, flashlights, and other safety related items. These will all be checked for at tech inspection. Then I add in things that may be hard to find, like the Buss style glass fuses that used to be commonplace.

Personal: This list varies with age, if you get my drift. 40 year olds have different “˜requirements’ than those of us in our sixties. For example, carrying a second set of glasses or contacts, just in case you lose one. If you are on prescriptions or supplements, you don’t want to be experimenting with a new regimen on the race: medications can really affect your memory and concentration. And if you do find that you need something, the only time to find a pharmacy or urgent care facility is after the day’s racing is over. I once had a bee fly up the leg of my shorts and sting me while on a timed section. The navigator couldn’t help either, since she is busy keeping us on course and on time. The bee sting be damned, suck it up.

Another issue should be mentioned. While the Rallymaster provides for rest and gas stops, they might not be right where you need them. As we age some “˜things’ become harder to control than they used to be. Some racers have used “˜truck driver solutions’ which can be found at medical supply stores. If you require such equipment its best to have your preferred method of assistance ready to go before you get to the start. More racers are prepared in “˜that way’ than you might think.

Clothing: There was a time when trophies for “˜Best Costume’ were a regular part of the show, but over time the same people always won and it was dropped. The tradition continues however, with some folks dressing up in period clothing, and most wearing “˜Team Gear’ especially made for them. Most towns have local businesses that provide team embroidery, and almost all of the racers will have specialized shirts, jackets, and hats. The coordinated “˜team gear’ is also carried over to support crews. And since we rally in both hot weather as well as rain, it includes everything from t-shirts to jackets. If you have an official sponsor for your car, your clothing will be advertising, in much the same way as in any motorsport. It makes for a colorful crowd!

Laundry is an issue too. If you have a support team, they can get your dirty clothes in to the machines at the hotel before you even arrive. For us, we simply will have no time for laundry, and no support crew, so we need bags and suitcases that will fit in the trunk and carry all the clothes we will need for 10 days or so. Some of that can also go in the back seat, which makes driving a larger car a real help.

You also have to have room in the car for “˜gifts’. Most of the stops we make will have a reception committee from that town, presenting us with goodie bags full of local “˜swag’. We’ve received some pretty nice gifts over the years, including bottles of wine, embroidered jackets, even afghan blankets! You need to have a place reserved to put them all.

Division of Tasks: On our team, I take care of the car and equipment, which includes the navigator’s tools. My wife, as navigator, controls the clock: when we go to bed, when we get up, when we pick up instructions, what clothes we wear for that day. The driver is important but not in charge; someone has to control the whole operation, and in our case that’s the navigator. I do what I’m told: for us it works best that way.

No one is ever completely prepared, however. Unseen issues and innovation are part of the “˜game’, and each day brings unique stories for after dinner each night. It’s all part of the challenge!