The Great Race will be stopping in Placerville this year. Check out the website: http://www.greatrace.com/index.php They came through a few years ago and it was a fun to see all the cars.

 

The National Guard Great Race, from Philadelphia Pa to San Rafael started june 24, and will end at San Rafael on July 8.

Try this link: http://www.greatrace.com/newindex.php if you have trouble with Fordtruckin's.

"Laying out the course takes a year of planning and preparation. Prior to the start, our Director of Competition drives over twenty thousand miles creating the race route. Along the way, exact times are allotted for every maneuver including speed-changes, stops, starts and turns. Computer calculations then determine the optimum driving-times for each leg, which are given to the racers in the form of precise driving instructions.

On the Race, Drivers and Navigator teams must then work together to match the computers predetermined "perfect" times. Timing checkpoints secretly located along the course, check each team's accuracy as they race by. Low score wins.


The 2006 Great Race:
The Great Race will start on June 24, 2006, on Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and finish 14 driving days later in San Rafael, California, on July 8. One hundred teams of drivers and navigators will drive their favorite old cars more than 4,100 miles, stopping each night in York and Washington, Pennsylvania; Dublin, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri; Wichita, Kansas; Pueblo and Durango, Colorado; Page, Arizona; Tonopah, Nevada; Placerville and Vallejo, California; before finishing in San Rafael.

The Entrants:
Great Race participants come from all over the socio-economic spectrum. From a plumber to NASCAR team owner Jack Roush, from an elementary school student to a Corporate Executive, the Race offers the teams of drivers and navigators the chance to discover America–and the American people–from a unique perspective, behind the wheel of their favorite classic car. When the Great Race rolls into town, Great Racers bask in celebrity welcomes. Each day, crowds line up eager to assist in repairing the historic cars and energize the competitors, with spare parts and hospitality, crankshafts and cookies, helping them to achieve the dream–to finish.

The Rules:
It’s the ultimate adventure in motor sports. The competition echoes the times/speed/endurance events made popular in the 1930s and 40s. Driving in cars that are at least 45 years old, each driver/navigator team attempts to follow hundreds of specific driving instructions each day. There are checkpoints secretly located along the race route where the cars are timed. As in golf, low score wins.

With scores that can be separated by a hundredth of a second, the Great Race requires unparalleled precision driving skills. The rally-race is held on the back roads of America each summer and is a coast-to-coast event. "

Sounds like fun - - anyone else interested?

 

That sounds really cool! Be a fun one to be involved in!

 

It would be fun to have a FTE entry in the 2007 race - it would need to be a stock truck older than 1962 --- did they have air conditioned trucks back then?

 

A buddy and I were going to enter a Model T he had, but the cost was getting out of control. Between the entry fee, costs and a chase truck. It just got too expensive. It was going to cost us between $6000 and $8000 each.

 

Yea, it is not cheap. The entry fee is likely $10K. I emailed for the rules which will be out on the 24 July. I did find out you can go as new as 1969 in the 2007 race. A stock 68 or 69 F100 can make a comfortable ride.

As to cost, it would be up to the sponsors

 

Not in trucks I don't believe, but what would be cool for the nostalgia (and fairly effective) would be one of those window-mount evaporative coolers that you fill with ice.

Or just be a stud and tough it out...(naw, lets get the evap. cooler!)


On Edit: I have A/C in my '68...!

 

I have one of those evap coolers I have used on my 56 Ranchwagon. Works well in the desert, but when the humidity climbs, the performace drops significantly.

Maybe I could enter my new 68. Do you think they could tell it has a 429, C6 and disc brakes. It will air soon, but the gas mileage would kill me.

 

I'm getting about 10 with my '68 with a 360, and it's my daily driver. But you know those FEs...it would probably get better mileage with the 429!

 

I hope I get better than my other truck with the 500 Caddy, it only gets 8 mpg, but with 4 wheel drive and 37" tires, I think it will suck.

 

I knew a guy up in Redding who put Caddy motors in older trucks like ours. He told me they were darn near a bolt-in.

I'm finishing up a truck for a guy here, it's an '85 F250 4X4. Used to be diesel but I swapped in a built 460, added 6" of lift and 38s. He thinks he's going to get decent mileage out of it...

 

I just hope I can get my fat butt in it. I have 6" of lift too and didn't know how tall it was until I set the cab on the frame and tryed to climb in. I did but in a later Dana 44 & 61 with 3.54 gears so that should help with the mileage.

 

Yeah, this has 3.55 gears so that might be his saving grace...maybe help him get 10 instead of 8! But the way he drives, probably more like 6!

And I'm vertically challenged so it's a real scramble for me to get in the thing. I grab the wheel and sort of hoist myself up in. If it were mine, I'd have to carry a step ladder!

 

TigerDan you sure up late tonight, are you working or just a light night owl?

 

From their email reply:

If you are interested in the Classic Division, you will find information for the Classic Division at: www.greatrace.com. Once there, click on "The National Guard Great Race 2006" where it will take you to this year's race page. Once there, click on "Race Info" and you will see several drop-down boxes. Click on "Event Regulations". There you will find a great deal of information regarding entry requirements for the Classic Division. There will be some modifications to these regulations for 2007 including:

Radial tires will be allowed

Vehicles manufactured or modified up to the year 1969 are included