Springfield traffic court is usually a very crowded place, as the city has a well-known reputation for being tough on speeders. On June 23, a lot of old cars will come speeding into town, but perhaps in their cases, the radar guns will be more forgiving for going 50 in a 35 that day around the state Capitol building.
That’s because, for the first time, Springfield will be an overnight stop for drivers in the Hemmings Motor News Great Race, an event that began in 1983 and this year starts in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 21 and finishes in Irmo, South Carolina, on June 29. The pit stop in Springfield will be on Monday, June 23, when drivers will display their 1974-and-older vintage automobiles to anyone who wants to see them. They’ll also mingle to discuss what it’s like to race more than 2,000 miles in cars that, in some cases, date to when William Howard Taft was president (1909-13).
While Springfield is a stop along the way this year, next year the state capital will serve as the host city for the race. Instead of just one night, being the host city means a week-long series of events that will be paradise for the many gearheads who populate Sangamon County. That will coincide nicely with the city’s many planned activities next year for the 100th anniversary of Route 66.
“We’re not only the state capital, but we’re the car capital of Illinois,” said Scott Dahl, director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We host a lot of cruises, car shows and the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival. So, I think this fits Springfield really well.”
Kankakee’s Teri and Jeff Fredette are just the kind of people attracted to the Great Race. While both are at the retirement ages of 66 and 67, respectively, their idea of great fun is to saddle up in their 1933 Ford pickup, complete with a standard 21-stud flathead V8 engine, and hit the open road. It has no AC, no GPS and no room for more than two people in the truck. All contestants have is a daily set of clues on a multi-page, hand-drawn map for the next destination, not given out until that morning.
“It’s a really cool deal,” said Teri, who works in sales for a media site, Blox Digital. “We’re big believers in ‘there’s always something to do, places to go, people to see.’ That’s what keeps you young – keep moving and keep learning.”
While there is $160,000 in prize money, including $50,000 to the winner, participants are in it more for the adventure than the money. The course changes every year, and entrants such as the Fredettes can’t wait for the next slice of American road they might not have seen before.
“You’re on these roads that nobody’s on. It’s backstreet America. It’s way cool,” said Jeff Fredette, who will drive the ’33 Ford while his wife will be there “for support.” Jeff’s 34-year-old son, Eric, will be the navigator. Jeff and Eric won the 2018 Hemmings Great Race, which spanned from Buffalo, New York, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Said Teri: “It’s a big social thing among the racers, too. There are people I can’t wait to see again, who compete every year.”
It’s not cheap to take part in the Great Race. Entrance fees go up to $7,500, and participants are responsible for all their costs along the way, such as hotels, gas, and food – although many are put up for the night by family, friends or sudden acquaintances met along the way. It’s a race as much of time as of speed, as competitors are tasked with arriving in each city at predetermined times. They get points added or subtracted for how precisely they arrive at the checkpoints.
A 1933 Ford pickup of the kind the Fredettes own usually runs about $25,000, if it can be found in running condition. Jeff said when he bought his, it was not in running condition. His late father, a former participant in the Great Race, bought it in Idaho, transported it back to Illinois and rebuilt the entire engine. Now, it “purrs like a kitten,” Jeff said.
Jeff inherited not only his father’s love for driving vintage cars, but interest in how they work. He can rebuild an engine in a few hours, his wife says, and takes with him a spare engine in a follow car that Teri will probably be in most of the time while Jeff and his son are in the Ford. Jeff is also a champion motorbike racer who holds many records in the Six Days Enduro, considered the Olympics of endurance motorbike racing.
“One of my dad’s final wishes about 10 years ago was for us in the family to keep running the race,” Jeff said. “It wasn’t a hard sell.”
This article appears in The College Crisis.
