Winners of the 2010 Hemmings Challenge overall title.
Friday began early for the Hemmings Challenge racers. Six legs for the day with no throw-outs allowed and an early finish at the Railway Museum in Bowling Green were on tap. The final lunch stop for the five-day event was Glasgow, Kentucky, where the rally teams were again met by an enthusiastic crowd, goodie bags featuring local delights and information and another great meal. The Championship class teams once again rose to the top taking the lowest 13 scores for the day. At the top for Day Five was the 1935 Ford Coupe driven and navigated by Team Jason and Jason, with an ace and five legs only off by one second each. Their total score for the day of five seconds propelled them to the top of the Championship class at just the right time. They were the overall rally winners as well as class winners for the event.
The Garrison/Sheldon team took to rookie honors
Team Caldwell, the Sportsman's Class winners
The Titusville Terriers took the X-Team class honors
Tops in the Rookie class for this year’s event went to the 1965 Thunderbird team of Garrison and Sheldon with a score of 6 minutes 8.48 seconds off perfect time. The Sportsman’s class winners were Team Caldwell in their 1931 Auburn Speedster with a total score of 1 minute 8.04 seconds. The 137 car, a 1930 Ford Speedster built and maintained by high school students from Titusville, Florida, won the X-Class with a score of 3 minutes 5.96 seconds while rotating four different navigators over the five days. Final standings and full race results are listed on the VCRA website www.vintagecarrally.com
Team Hemmings, leading the way at the ceremonial start.
Team Hemmings performed very well this year before bowing out of competition halfway through Thursday. Publisher/Driver Jim Menneto and Navigator/Business Manager Mari Parizo accumulated four aces during the rally with only four legs all week worse than 10 seconds off perfect time. The Hemmings Speedster performed very well and car reliability is another important factor in rally racing. Only 35 of the 54 entries were able to complete all legs and all stages. Not all the non-finishers were breakdowns, but there were quite a few broken racers on the back of Tommy’s trailer, considered by racers to be the ride of shame.
Stay tuned for future updates with the results of the charity auction conducted by Pat and Pat Brothers and the final figures on the money raised for the Autism Society of America because of the Hemmings Challenge.