Cape Girardeau takes award for Great Race hospitality

The spirit and hospitality of people and businesses in Cape Girardeau during the 2013 Hemmings Motor News Great Race's June 25 stop here resulted in the city winning the Best Overnight Stop City award.

"All of the overnight stops were fantastic," said race director Jeff Stumb in a news release issued Monday. "But Cape Girardeau was one of those stops that will be talked about for years to come by the participants."

According to the release, more than 5,000 people were spectators of Cape Girardeau's portion of the race, which came in on Broadway and ended with a street party on Main Street. Local businesses hosted Pit Stop Parties along North Kingshighway and Broadway and Welcome Parties in the downtown district on Main Street. It was the first time in the 30-year history of the Great Race the event had been to Cape Girardeau.

The Great Race started in St. Paul, Minn., on June 22, with 99 vintage automobiles, and ended 2,100 miles and nine days later in Mobile, Ala. The route followed the Mississippi River for most of the way, and contestants crossed the river 12 times in all. Barry and Irene Jason, of Keller, Texas, won $50,000 of the $150,000 total purse for winning the race in their 1935 Ford Coupe, the release said.

The 2014 Great Race will start June 21 in Maine and end June 29 in Florida.

Pertinent address:

Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO

Main Street, Cape Girardeau, MO