120 Antique Cars to Arrive at the Great Race Finish Line in downtown Moline on June 26! (Two local driver teams participate in the race)
(submitted by Charlotte Morrison)
Quad Cities – Downtown Moline, Illinois, will host the finish line of the 2016 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty Sunday, June 26, race organizers have announced. The Great Race stopped in the Quad Cities area before, but this is the first time it’s had the distinction of being the finish line. The race was in Moline in 2000, Rock Island in 1993, and Davenport in 1990 for lunch stops. In 2013 and 2005 the Great Race traveled through the area for an overnight stop.
The Great Race, the world’s premiere old car rally, brings 120 of the world’s finest antique automobiles to downtown Moline to finish on River Drive for the $150,000 in prize money. Cars built in 1972 and earlier are eligible, with most entries having been manufactured before World War II. In the 2015 Great Race a 1916 Hudson Hillclimber won the event when it finished on the Santa Monica Pier. That vehicle, driven by Fairport, N.Y., native Howard Sharp and navigated by his son Doug, will again be in this year’s event. They won $50,000 for finishing first overall. A 1916 Hudson Indy Racer, a 1916 Hudson Four Passenger Speedster, a 1916 Chevrolet Phaeton, a 1917 Peerless Racer and a chain-driven 1918 American LaFrance Speedster are the oldest cars in the event. The 2016 winners will again receive $50,000 of the $150,000 total purse.
“When the Great Race pulls into a city it becomes an instant festival,” says race director Jeff Stumb. “Last year we had three overnight stops with more than 10,000 spectators on our way to having 250,000 people see the Great Race during the event.”
The race starts June 18 in San Rafael, Calif. Along the 2,400-mile route, competitors travel parts of the Lincoln Highway in six states – California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Iowa and Illinois – in addition to a side trip to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and the Badlands.
The Great Race, which began 33 years ago, is not a speed race, but a time/speed/distance rally. The vehicles, each with a driver and navigator, are given precise instructions each day that detail every move down to the second. They are scored at secret check points along the way and are penalized one second for each second either early or late. As in golf, the lowest score wins.
Cars start – and hopefully finish – only one minute apart if all goes according to plan. The biggest part of the challenge other than staying on time and following the instructions is getting an old car to the finish line each day, organizers say.
“We are very excited to have the Great Race finish in downtown Moline,” says Lynn Hunt, VP Sales, Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We are encouraging people to come for lunch and stay for the day. The Great Race Finish Line will offer a festival atmosphere filled with not only antique cars from the Great Race, but also cars on display from the Antique Automobile Club of America, Antique Ford Club, and even 4 Velie automobiles that were made here in the Quad Cities. Restaurants will also be open in downtown Moline and Bent River Brewery will be on-site selling cold micro-brews. Come on down and cheer on the Great Race participants as they cross the finish line.”
Details for June 26 Moline Arrival
The cars leave Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the morning, and the Great Race has a planned lunch stop at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum in Walcott between 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The public is invited to view the cars while the racers stop for a special lunch before heading to downtown Moline. More information on the finish line in downtown Moline can be found at www.greatraceqc.com. The Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau is helping with plans locally.
The cars arrive at the finish line in Moline on June 26 starting at 2:00 p.m. at 30 second intervals for over an hour. The cars will be on display until 5 p.m. on River Drive in downtown Moline between 15th and 12th Streets between the John Deere Pavilion and the i wireless Center.
The event is free to the public and spectators will be able to visit with the participants and to look at the cars for several hours. It is common for kids to climb in the cars for a first-hand look.
In addition to the Great Race finish line activities, local and regional antique car collectors will have vehicles on display beginning at noon. Four Velie automobiles that were manufactured in Moline from 1908-1928 will be on display along with over 30 cars from the Antique Automobile Club of America and the Antique Ford Club.
Bent River Brewery will be serving up cold micro-brews and downtown restaurants will be open to feed hungry spectators.
Local Quad Cities’ Drivers in the Great Race
This year, two teams from the Quad Cities will be participating in the Great Race. Team Hass & Schramm includes Duane Haas of Davenport (Driver) and Dave Schramm of Moline (Navigator) and Team Meier & Seehuss includes Dave Meier of Bettendorf (Driver) and Richard Seehuss of Chattanooga, Tenn. (Navigator).
Team Hass & Schramm have competed in the Great Race for the last several years and will drive their 1971 VW Beetle.
Dave Meier, Iowa-80 Truckstop and the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum will be driving the museum’s (CAT Scale’s) 1938 Kenworth in the Great Race. This vehicle will be the only semi-tractor in the cross-country competition. Meier and Seehuss have participated in numerous Great Races. Iowa 80 Truckstop hosted fuel stops for the Great Race in 2005 and 2013.
Great Race Stops
The overnight stops, in order, are Old Sacramento, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Elko, Nev.; Evanston, Wyo.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Rapid City, S.D.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; before finishing in Moline.
Lunch stops, in order, are Vacaville, Calif.; Gardnerville, Nev.; Austin, Nev.; Wendover, Utah; Rawlins, Wyo.; Lusk, Wyo.; Chamberlain, S.D.; Mason City, Iowa; and Walcott, Iowa.
History
The event was started in 1983 by Tom McRae and it takes its name from the 1965 movie, The Great Race, which starred Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood and Peter Falk. The movie is a comedy based on the real life 1908 automobile race from New York to Paris. In 2004, Tony Curtis was the guest of the Great Race and rode in his car from the movie, the Leslie Special.
The Great Race gained a huge following from late night showings on ESPN when the network was just starting out in the early 1980s. The first entrant, Curtis Graf of Irving, Texas, is still a participant today.
The event’s main sponsors are Hemmings Motor News, Hagerty, Coker Tire, Reliable Carriers and Toyota.
For more information, go to www.greatrace.com or for local Quad Cities information go to www.greatraceqc.com.
