georgia
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September 16, 2017When September rolls around, we know that we'll be covered up with events, as events like the Street Rodder Road Tour, Somernites Power Cruise and more occur in the busy month. The Coker Tire Challenge to be the third weekend in September, and we can always count on many of our Great Race rally friends to join the fun at our little hometown regional rally. It's a much more relaxed atmosphere than the hustle and bustle of Great Race, but the competition aspect is still there, so it gives the veterans awesome practice and gives them a chance to win a few bucks too! This year, we had about 40 teams join us on the Coker Tire Challenge, even after a few dropped out due to the unfortunate hurricanes of late. Great Race regulars, like Curtis Graf, Rex Gardner, Gary and Jean Ann Martin, and of course, Brad Phillips from Hagerty were among the field of stellar teams in this year's Coker Tire Challenge.
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April 28, 2015We've worked pretty hard to encourage our customers to get out and drive their collector cars, and events like the Coker Tire Tour to the Mitty provide even more inspiration. There might be an ulterior motive hidden in there (to sell more tires, or in this case Sports Car Tires). The Mitty is a road race for vintage cars, and it's held at Road Atlanta, which is a couple hours away from our headquarters here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This year, we partnered with Classic Motorsports Magazine to create a driving experience like no other--a trip through some of the most beautiful scenery and twisty back roads with a final destination of the Mitty. With more than 50 cars participating, it was a big hit, and we're hoping to do more of these driving events in the future.
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June 29, 2014We've driven all week to get to Florida and now we're here! Today was another long transit from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida with a lunch stop in Savannah, Georgia in between. It was a long day of rallying with the heat and humidity playing a factor in our comfort level yet again. Both Coker teams are rockin', although Coker #2 (Karen Stumb and Whitney Brown in the Corvair convertible) had a flat tire and had to finish the day with a space saver spare. Our stops were awesome, and we had a great time truckin' through the backroads of South Georgia for most of the day. Tomorrow is the final day of competition, so we're ready to buckle down and get it done!
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April 28, 2014Racing a vintage car is a gamble--it's putting a priceless piece of racing history in harm's way around every corner. Parts can fail and drivers can make mistakes, so to say vintage road racing is dangerous and exciting is an understatement. We love racing, especially if it involves vintage cars, so it was no-brainer for us to be a part of the Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty. The race is held at Road Atlanta, which is just down the road from us in Braselton, Georgia.
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September 16, 2012This morning was crisp and cool, and we headed out of the Coker Tire compound at 8am to get started on the day's route. We motored north, toward Cleveland, Tennessee, and started the timed portion of the route on beautiful Lake Ocoee. The county roads sent us through the small community of Reliance, and we made our way around to Etowah by mid morning. From there, our route consisted of many maneuvers as we snaked through the back roads of Tennessee. We finally made it back to Cleveland for lunch, and then found ourselves in a maze of back roads that sent us into Georgia. Overall it was yet another great day of challenging rally action, and we had a parc ferme when we returned to home base. Tomorrow is the final day of competition, so there will be plenty of action to cover. For now, enjoy our favorite shots from today's route!
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September 14, 2012A fine day of rallying saw 40 vintage cars hitting the back roads of northwest Georgia on a beautiful Friday. Cool temperatures and a bit of cloud cover made for great driving conditions, and we had a great time snaking through some of the great Georgia mountain roads on our way to Dalton for lunch and ultimately Wildwood, Georgia to have a great dinner at Corky's place. Overall it was a great day of rallying with very few mechanical issues for our racers, so we're gearing up for another good day tomorrow! Here is our photo recap....enjoy!
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May 23, 2011It's hard to believe, but it's been nearly a month since the deadly tornado outbreak hit the Tennessee Valley. Devastation was unbelievable, and our region was absolutely shocked by the damage. Just south of us, Ringgold, Georgia was hit hard, leaving a path of destruction, and just to the East of us, Apison, Tennessee received lots of damage. Joe Lombardo, a longtime Honest Charley Speed Shop employee is near and dear to us here at Coker Tire, and his Apison home was leveled during the storm. His property had many trees on it, which are now gone, and his barn is now in pieces.
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May 17, 2011Although we spend most of our time talking about antique cars and motorcycles, Coker Tire is also heavily involved with professional drag racing by offering a wide variety of drag racing tires, available at www.dragracetires.com. With our Phoenix Race Tires brand, which are born from Firestone heritage, we have a great number of supporters on the track. One such supporter is Mike Crutchfield--he campaigns a Pontiac G5 in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, running in the Super Stock class. Oh, and we should probably mention that Mike is our Vice President of Performance Brands! [caption id="attachment_1409" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Photo by www.dragracecentral.com"][/caption]
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May 16, 2011There's something to be said for a historic race track, be it a dirt track, a paved track or a drag strip. Knowing that gear heads just like you were racing on that very surface 50 years ago is an eye opening experience that will put a smile on any car guy's face. With this in mind, folks around the country are flocking to nostalgia drag racing events at historic tracks. One such event and track, is the Paradise Show-N-Go, held at Paradise Drag Strip in Calhoun, Georgia. [caption id="attachment_1395" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Paradise Drag Strip is known for its uphill burnout box and slightly unlevel starting line, which causes cars with manual transmissions to roll backward at the line. Even with this flaw, it was a state-of-the-art track during the \'60s."][/caption] The track opened in 1961, and it was home to lots of big-name match races and also a home track to many Super Stock racers in the mid-60s. Legends of drag racing, such as "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick and "Dyno Don" Nicholson have raced at Paradise Drag Strip, drawing huge crowds to watch the exciting action. Back then, every driver had a nickname, and every car had a distinct personality, unlike today's professional ranks in NHRA, where each car in its class is identical, aside from a few sponsor decals.