Cars built before 1972 can run in the Great Race.
A vintage automobile rally will be rolling through Iowa today.
The 2016 Hemmings Motor News Great Race features 120 collector cars that started in San Rafael, California last Saturday with the finish line being the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois this Sunday afternoon.
Race director Jeff Stumb says it’s not a speed race. “It’s a time/speed/distance rally, so it’s not a speed race. It’s a race of accuracy and endurance,” Stumb says.
Cars built in 1972 and earlier are eligible for the race. “We have cars from 1916 through 1972. There are some 50s and 60s cars…but most of the cars are pre-World War II, cars from the 1910s, 20s, and 30s,” Stumb says.
The most important rule of the race is that drivers can’t use electronic devices like cell phones, GPS units, or computers. “The real trick is being able to navigate stop signs and turns where you can’t obviously hold speed or you have to stop, or you engage a train or any traffic, and knowing how far behind you are and how to make up that time,” Stumb says.
The vintage car rally will make a stop in Mason City shortly after 1 p.m. in East Park as part of the Cannonball Day celebration. The rally continues to Cedar Rapids for an overnight stop before the final leg of the race to the Quad Cities on Sunday.
(Reporting by Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City)