Downtown Cape to host Great Race once again in June

Downtown Cape Girardeau will welcome more than 500 visitors this summer when the 2020 Hemmings Motor News Great Race rolls into town in mid-June.

The Great Race is set to begin in San Antonio and will make 16 stops covering 2,300 miles in nine days before reaching its final destination in Greenville, South Carolina, according to a Monday news release by Visit Cape. Drivers of the 120 antique automobiles will stop June 23 for an overnight stay in Cape Girardeau.

The big logistics of hosting that many travelers for one night revolve mainly around lodging and parking, according to Alyssa Phares-Fee, Visit Cape senior director of sales and strategy.

“We needed to find over about 200 rooms, probably more than that when its all said and done,” Phares-Fee said, noting the race caravan includes support teams for each participant, trailers full of equipment and merchandise, and perhaps even some spouses and children. “You have to find places for everybody to stay, and then you also have to find places for everybody to park.”

The drivers pay to participate in the race, and the grand champion will receive $50,000 of the more than $158,000 purse. The winning driver of the 2019 Great Race drove a 1916 Hudson, according to the race website, www.greatrace.com.

Cars built in 1974 and earlier are eligible to participate in the Great Race, but the release noted most entry vehicles were manufactured before World War II. The oldest cars lined up for this year’s race include a 1917 Peerless Racer and a chain-driven 1918 American LaFrance Speedster, the release stated.

Drivers do not compete for speed, but rather a combination of traveling posted speed limits over long distances with timed arrivals, the release stated. Cars start and make it to the finish one minute apart, assuming all goes according to each team’s plan. Teams are then scored at secret checkpoints and penalized one second for each second they are early or late, according to the release. And, like golf, the team with the lowest score wins.

Similar to the Corvette Caravan that came through the city in August and the Cannonball racers’ Race of the Century in September 2016, the Great Race’s stop in Cape Girardeau will be a family-friendly event.

The “finish-line” will be on Main Street, and Phares-Fee said the event will include food trucks for an outdoor dining option, music, vendors, a kids’ zone and more.

In addition to the Great Race cars, Phares-Fee said the event will host a cruise-in so local owners of antique cars can “participate in the fun and excitement” downtown.

The Great Race stopped in Cape Girardeau once before, in 2013. Back then, Phares-Fee said Cape Girardeau was chosen by chance.

“They pick a route and then they kind of have to go through and find locations where they are able to do overnight stops,” Phares-Fee said, noting she worked with Visit Cape in 2013 when the Great Race last came through. “So, if I remember correctly, it was just kind of happenstance that it occurred [here].”

Each stop on the Great Race tour is open to the public, and spectators will be able to visit with race participants. Children may even be able to climb into cars for a first-hand look at the antique automobiles, the release stated.

“When the Great Race pulls into a city, it becomes an instant festival,” race director Jeff Stumb stated.

Drivers will begin arriving in Cape Girardeau around 5:15 p.m., a time Phares-Fee said is pretty solidified at this point. In order to ensure prompt timing for each city, some will drive the race route in advance, she said.

“Because this is a different type of race ... they are very specific on being there at that time,” Phares-Fee said of the scheduled arrival time. “Between the time that they select Cape Girardeau and the time that they’re here, several members of the Great Race will have come back ... and they are actually driving the route.”

Several local community organizations will join Visit Cape to host the event, including River City Rodders, Capaha Antique Car Club and BOLD — formerly BOLD Marketing.

“We’re only an office staff of three people,” Phares-Fee said. “So to put on an event this size, we definitely need more eyes and hands on deck to get things done.”

More information about the event will be made available in the coming months, Phares-Fee said, including maps showing where streets will be closed.

For more information, contact Visit Cape at (573) 335-1631 or visit its website at www.visitcape.com.