Delayed Great Race to arrive in August

On Aug. 25, this year's Hemmings Motor News Great Race will make an overnight stop in Cape Girardeau.

About 150 vintage cars are scheduled to arrive at the 'finish-line' on Main Street starting around 5:15 p.m.

They will remain there until noon the following day, when they start toward their next destination in Paducah, Kentucky.

Downtown Cape will be the eighth of 16 stops on drivers' journey from San Antonio to Greenville, South Carolina. The race, which begins Aug. 22, will cover 2,300 miles before arriving in Greenville on Aug. 30.

The event was originally scheduled for June 20 to 28, with a stop in Cape on June 23, but was rescheduled due to COVID-19 concerns. To show support for all the men and women on the frontlines of the pandemic, each vehicle in the race will sport decals honoring their heroism.

Started in 1983, this annual race pits vintage cars in a cross-country endurance competition of time, speed and distance and regularly sees vehicles as old as 1909. The winning team will receive $50,000 of the event's $158,750 purse.