route 66
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July 13, 2015The Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty is an annual vintage car rally that puts driver, navigator and car to the test through nine days and 2,400 miles of intense competition. The route changes every year, and this year, it featured a Route 66 theme, starting in Kirkwood, Missouri and ending on the Santa Monica Pier in Southern California. It was the ultimate road trip for a car enthusiast, and the field of 120 cars filled quickly when the route was announced. We covered the entire trip with daily blog entries with cool pictures from each day's adventures, but we'd like to sum it up here with a collection of our favorite photos, and to let you know that more than half of the 120-car field was running on bias ply or radial tires from Coker Tire! Even the winner, Howard and Doug Sharp's 1916 Hudson, was running our tires--more specifically a set of Excelsior Stahl Sport Radial tires. The Great Race is the adventure of a lifetime that you can do every year, and we certainly enjoyed our involvement with the event this year. Next year is gearing up to be even better, as the race starts in San Rafael, California and ends in Moline, Illinois, using the Lincoln Highway as the theme. Be sure to check out www.greatrace.com for more information on how you can participate!
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June 28, 2015It's been a long run, and we're getting close to the end of the 2015 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty. Today was another hot one, but we saw a 20-degree drop when we rolled into our overnight hosted city of San Bernardino, California. An awesome crowd of spectators came out to view the Great Race, and we enjoyed a challenging route throughout the day. A lunch stop in Twentynine Palms, California was packed out, and we enjoyed a few pieces of fried chicken before we hit the road toward San Bernardino. We passed by a crazy Wind Farm with hundreds of windmills visible from our route. It was another big day, and we're in Championship mode, so tomorrow is obviously a day that cannot have any mistakes. Take a look at the day's highlights and stay tuned to find out the winner tomorrow, as we finish on the Santa Monica Pier at 2pm.
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June 27, 2015The Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty presses on, as we make our way across the country. We've spent plenty of time on Route 66, and today was no different, as the course instructions put us on one of the longest uninterrupted strips of Route 66 early in the morning. We made our way to Kingman, Arizona for lunch, were three-digit temperatures were already in play. It was then time to do some mountain climbing, as we scaled the Hualapai Mountains, and eventually made it to Sitgreaves Pass for one of the most amazing scenic views in Great Race history. At the bottom of the mountain, we rolled into Oatman, Arizona, which is one of the coolest old towns in the country. Donkeys greeted us as we stopped in town for a quick look at some of the establishments. The temperatures climbed to a maximum of 117 degrees, and it's still over 100 degrees here in our overnight hosted city of Lake Havasu City, Arizona as we write this recap. Enjoy the scenery and take a look at our favorite shots of the day!
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June 26, 2015Things are changing on the 2015 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty. We're heading into new territory and we had a wild range of temperatures and terrains throughout the day's rally course. The day started at our overnight host city of Gallup, New Mexico but we jumped into Arizona right off the bat. From there, we entered the Petrified Forest National Park and saw some extreme scenery on our way through the park. Unfortunately, Team Coker Tire's Volkswagen Beetle continues to have problems, but that's not keeping them from finishing each day's route. As they say, "to finish is to win" and sometimes that can be easier said than done. After a hot lunch stop in Winslow, Arizona, we climbed to a much higher elevation and drove through a beautiful forest atop the plateau. It was a nice break in temperatures, and the evening hosted stop in Flagstaff, Arizona offered a bunch of spectators and LOTS of choices for dinner. We're anticipating a scorching hot day tomorrow, so wish us luck, as Team Coker Tire's air-cooled VW fights through the desert.
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June 25, 2015It's starting to heat up on the 2015 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty, and we mean that in a couple different ways. It's heating up in the sense that the competition got a huge shake up with a very challenging route with lots of opportunities for mistakes, and it's also heating up in terms of the temperature. We're sure the next couple days will be scorching hot, as we spend two full days in Arizona. This morning's scenery wasn't outstanding, but we made up for it in the afternoon with big mountain scenes and beautiful canyons. Lunch was hosted at the Unser Racing Museum, which covered many eras of the Unser family of racing and offered an excellent venue for a big crowd of spectators. Our hosted evening stop in Gallup, New Mexico was also a packed out stop, and we enjoyed coming through town on Historic Route 66, seeing all the cool vintage signs. Check out our highlights from the day!
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June 24, 2015Wow. That sums up today's route on the 2015 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty. We started the day in Amarillo, Texas and made a quick pit stop at Cadillac Ranch, which was just a couple miles from our host hotel. From there, it was a LONG morning of rallying on some of the flattest and straightest roads in the United States. The wind was a huge factor, as the strong head wind gave the driver's yet another challenge when it came to holding speed. Speaking of which, most of the day was spent with the speedometer needle on 50 miles per hour, and that presented quite a challenge. Sometimes, our courses feature dozens of turns, speed changes and other maneuvers, but today, it was all about the driver holding steady. We stopped for lunch in Tucumcari, New Mexico and embarked on a challenging afternoon route in the middle of no where. We drove for MILES without seeing other cars, other humans or buildings. We finally made it back to civilization and rolled through Las Vegas, New Mexico before hightailing it to our overnight hosted stop in Santa Fe. Tomorrow's another big day in New Mexico, but for now, enjoy the photos!
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June 23, 2015It's not often that you have a flooded bridge in the middle of the day's course, especially in Texas, but it happened today. As we made our way toward our evening stop in Amarillo, Texas, we came across a flooded bridge with just enough water to make a nice splash without causing too much of a problem. We certainly saw some terrain changes, and had a challenging day on the course. Team Coker Tire is still dealing with mechanical problems, but made it to the Day 3 finish in Amarillo. We had lunch in Elk City, Oklahoma, and covered a LOT of ground today. We're headed to New Mexico tomorrow, and it will likely be another challenging day on the course. Check out our highlights from today and enjoy!
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June 22, 2015Another awesome day of Great Racing is done, and we're hanging out in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for the evening. We had an excellent time on the route, and even more fun at the hosted city stops in Claremore, Oklahoma and OKC! Spectator turnout was spectacular at both stops and we saw lots of cool landmarks on the course. Route 66 has a lot to offer, and we're taking advantage of it. Team Coker Tire's Volkswagen Beetle is having a few mechanical issues, but it's a freshly-rebuilt car so that's to be expected on a road trip of this magnitude. The scores are tight and it will only get tighter as everyone gets in the groove this week. We're having a blast and we hope you enjoy our daily recaps. Check out www.greatrace.com for scores and additional pictures, and also remember to keep an eye on our Instagram and Facebook pages for live updates of all the cool stuff on the road!
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June 21, 2015We are truly blessed to be in the position to sponsor the Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty, and we are also blessed to own and operate the event from our Chattanooga, Tennessee headquarters. Over the last five years or so, we have poured a lot of effort and time into the event to bring it back to its former glory and it's working! This year, the Great Race had 117 entrants, all 1972 or earlier, so that means that between racers, support, staff and others, we have about 400 people rolling from town to town. It's amazing, and we're glad to be a part of it. The 2015 event is super special, because the theme is Route 66, and driving Route 66 in an old car is on every gear head's bucket list. Our time in the start host city, Kirkwood, Missouri was excellent and the teams departed with thousands of spectators on hand to cheer them on. Greg Cunningham is once again representing Team Coker Tire, but this time, he's in his customized Volkswagen Beetle, which is (of course) riding on a set of whitewall radials from Coker. Check out today's action from Day 1 of the 2015 Great Race, as we traveled across Missouri, from Kirkwood to Rolla and eventually to Springfield. Stay tuned for daily updates and you can also watch our Instagram and Facebook pages to see live updates each day.
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February 24, 2015Coker Tire Company has been a huge supporter of the Great Race for many years, and continues to be a sponsor of the event each year. The Great Race promotes DRIVING old cars, and that's what we're all about. We're excited to announce that the Great Race has expanded its format to include the Great American Tour for this year's course on historic Route 66. And while the Great Race is geared toward competition, with $150,000 up for grabs, the event organizers decided to offer a more laid back option for car enthusiasts who wanted more of a tour and less of a race. The result is the Hemmings Motor News Great American Tour presented by Hagerty, an epic journey on historic Route 66 to see all the sights of The Mother Road.