Two student docents from the Maine Classic Car Museum are taking part in the 2024 Great Race as part of the X-Cup Challenge. Click here for part four of their journey.
Max and Cotton here again with our daily blog as we are now competing in the 2024 Great Race long distance rally. We’re two high school students from Maine and we’re reporting on our experience as rookies in this epic 2,300 mile race.
As we Great Racers waves across Ohio today, there were hundreds of families and fans sitting on porches or in driveways along our route to cheer on the parade of classic race cars. Turns out Ohio is hilly too, and our 1961 Caddy was put to the test going up, down, and around so many hills and bends that we lost count.
We started the day with a missed exit on the highway. Fortunately, this was during a “transit” time, when you are off the clock getting from one checkpoint to another. We missed a left-hand exit on a busy interstate and had to backtrack. Another thing we learned: it’s not easy to move a huge old Cadillac across four lanes of traffic in a moment’s notice. So we stayed safe and missed the exit.
For lunch, we stopped in historic Lancaster, Ohio, where the entire community rolled out the red carpet, fed us lunch, and had a big car show on Main Street. A special thanks to Whits Frozen Custard for the tasty lunch.
During our afternoon run, we had a brief transit time to allow for a refueling stop. We needed a pit stop for ourselves but learned that the only gas station in town didn’t have a bathroom, so Cotton got the clerk at a Dollar General to open the employee-only restroom. Everyone we met across Ohio was so helpful and friendly to all Great Racers.
Our final stop was Marietta, a beautiful town on the Ohio River in the southeast corner of the state. There was another festival happening as we rolled into town with five other race cars. Max and Cotton got their first swag bags, as the friendly townsfolk handed us a big red bag full of goodies. Cotton got a big smile when we saw the big binder clip in the swag bag. Our course book kept blowing in the wind and we had talked several times about needing to find a way to secure our course pages. The people of Marietta must have been listening!
Overall, today was a big improvement over yesterday. We finished all five legs with scores under one minute. Our best leg was just nine seconds, which to us is still remarkable given how many miles we traveled and how many times we hit unexpected delays. We came up with a new motto for our team, as we learn how to deal with the stress of the race course: “Keep Calm and Caddy On.” Next stop, West Virginia, then on into Maryland!
Carry on kids, great to see a couple of teeners driving in the Great Race. Go man go………
Thank you! We are having a ton of fun. Have a great day
Thank you!! Appreciate your support!