Great Bend will host the lunch stop on the 2023 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Coker Tire on Friday, June 30, 12:30 p.m. at Brit Spaugh Park & Zoo. Each stop is opened to the public and a chance to meet over 125 race teams and see automotive history up close.
The Great Race is a time, speed, endurance rally for 1974 and older collector vehicles. The event has taken place each summer since 1983, and this year’s edition covers new territory from St. Augustine, Florida, starting on Saturday, June 24, and finishing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sunday, July 2.
Teams from Japan, England, Australia, Canada, and every corner of the United States will converge in Florida with vintage automobiles dating back as far as 1916. “There are more than 500 people just in our entourage from all around the world,” Stumb said.
The 2023 winners will receive $50,000 of the $160,000 total purse. A 1916 Hudson Pikes Peak Hillclimber, a 1916 Chevrolet and a 1917 American LaFrance are the oldest cars scheduled to be in the event.
Over the decades, the Great Race has stopped in hundreds of cities big and small, from tiny Austin, Nevada to New York City. “When the Great Race pulls into a city it becomes an instant festival,” Stumb said. “Last year we had several overnight stops with more than 10,000 spectators on our way to having 250,000 people see the Great Race during the event.”
Each stop on the Great Race is free to the public and spectators. All cars are scheduled to be on display at each lunch stop and evening stop every day of the event. You can find the full schedule of events at www.greatrace.com.
