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June 14, 2011That's right, we're up here in beautiful Cumberland, Maryland, having an awesome time. We went through a long, and very difficult route today with lots of stops, turns and speed changes, so all of the racers felt the pressure. From Salem, Virginia we headed north on a bunch of wonderful back roads through lots of farm land, and a mountain here and there. Our lunch stop was in Harrisonburg, Virginia where the town gathered at the Turner Pavilion to watch the racers file in from their hard morning of rallying. We scarfed down a couple of hot dogs and hit the road again, headed to our final destination of Cumberland, Maryland. We had a surprise at the end of the days route, just as the racers went off the clock, as we passed over on America's only remaining privately-owned toll bridges. It was AMAZING to see these old cars cross over a bridge built in the same era! Dinner stop was in downtown Cumberland, which is one of the coolest downtowns we've ever seen! So much fun, and the people were great...right now, we are loading pictures and getting ready for tomorrow. Check back for updates, but for now take a look at some of our favorite pictures!
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June 13, 2011Here we are after day two of the Hemmings Motor New Great Race! Today, we started off in Asheville, North Carolina and hit the mountain roads wide open. Lots of twisty roads with tricky speed changes made today's rally a tough one for many racers, but we saw a lot of good driving out there. Our lunch stop was held in the small town of Galax, Virginia...more specifically, we had it at the Old Cranks Motorcar Museum. We had some good ole BBQ at the museum, and enjoyed the crowd of spectators. Then it was back to the twists and turns of Virginia, as we scaled a bunch of cool back roads. We did get some rain on the afternoon leg of the route on our way to the Dinner Stop at the Salem Civic Center. These guys know how to party!!! Tons of hot rods, muscle cars and just plain cool cars stopped by to help celebrate the Great Race festivities, and we had another great dinner...you know car guys like to eat! Tonight we'll be preparing for Day 3, where we'll eventually end up in Maryland, one step closer to our big finish in downtown Bennington, Vermont! Check out our favorite pictures from today, but you should also know that www.greatrace.com had a LOT more photos! See y'all tomorrow!
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May 24, 2011Great events dont happen by accident and they certainly dont happen in the blink of an eye. It takes a lot of work to develop, organize and run an intricate event such as The Great Race, and it took a lot of work behind the scenes to get it off the ground. Tom McRae and Norman Miller did just that in 1983. The two individuals were partners in the deal, and bought out an ailing race promoter who planned to race pre-World War II automobiles across the United States for a massive purse. There were plenty of folks who doubted the feasibility of an event of this magnitude, but with help from a crew of like-minded car nuts, McRae and Miller made it work. From the inaugural event in 83 to the return of The Great Race in 2011, there have been lots of memorable moments, and with the events new ownership and new direction, there will be plenty more in the years to come.