Team Eliminator in The Great Race 2024

[9F91H581221]

Greetings to everyone,
I’d like to set-up this thread to add content and pictures of our journey to, during and return from The Great Race 2024.
The driver is myself, Mark Piechowski of North Adams, Massachusetts
The navigator is Dave Wyrwas of Merrimack, New Hampshire
Together, we are competing in the rookie class using my 69 Cougar Eliminator. The Eliminator will be driven under it’s own power to the start in Owensboro, Kentucky and home from the finish in Gardiner, Maine. No trailering the car and hopefully no tows during the event.
We leave from New England on Tuesday June 18th. The race or more appropriately called a “Road Rally” begins in Owensboro, KY on Saturday June 22nd. Ending at the overnight at Walnut Street in Lawrenceburg, IN.
–Sunday June 23rd we run the morning leg from Lawrenceburg to Lunch at South Broad Street in Lancaster, OH. The afternoon leg will bring us to the overnight in Marietta, OH.
–Monday June 24th we leave Marietta to find lunch at High Street in Morgantown, WV. The afternoon leg brings us to the overnight in Gunter Hotel in Frostburg, MD.
–Tuesday June 25th we leave Frostburg to find lunch at Ken Walsh Farm in Purcellville, VA. The afternoon leg will bring us to the overnight at Gateway Gettysburg in Gettysburg, PA.
–Wednesday June 26th we leave Gettysburg to find lunch in Hufnagle Park in Lewisburg, PA. The afternoon leg takes to our overnight in Washington Street in Binghamton, NY.
–Thursday June 27th we depart Binghamton to arrive at lunch at Clinton Street in Montgomery, NY. Our afternoon leg will bring us to the overnight at Marriott Hotel in Providence, RI.
–Friday June 28th we depart Providence to find lunch at New England Racing Museum in Loudon, NH. Our afternoon leg will bring us to the overnight on Main Street in Freeport, ME.
–Saturday June 29th we depart Freeport to find lunch at the Seal Cove Auto Museum in Seal Cove, ME. Our afternoon leg will bring us to the overnight in Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, ME.
–Sunday June 30th we depart Owls Head to arrive at the finish line at Water Street in Gardiner, ME.

Friends and family are encouraged to visit during the lunch and overnight stops. It’s even better they can visit driving a classic car. This is my first adventure in The Great Race and it appears these stops, especially the overnight stops are quite the car show celebration. If you search Hemmings Great Race on youtube to watch some of the previous events, you’ll find it is quite a festivity of a car show.
The lunch times vary, starting around 11:30 to 12:30 depending on the location. If you plan to visit, best to arrive around 11.
The overnights start as early as 4 and as late as 5:30. If you can visit, probably best to get there by 4.
Again, this is my first Great Race and I might have to adjust my recommendations on the times to visit.
—Stay tuned…more content will be added to this thread. Right now I have to get back to car preparations…

[badcatt]

That sounds like so much fun. Good luck Mark. You and Dave are going to have a great adventure. I can’t wait to read about it.

[fordnutz]

That sounds like a blast.
I’m researching a trip in a Cougar along parts of Route 66 in California, Arizona, and possibly, New Mexico this October.
Have a great trip, enjoy yourselves, and safe travels.

[LSR_Mike]

I can bet money you’ll be staying at the doubletree on walnut in lawrenceburg. Right on the river.

[leonbray]

Good luck guys

Hopefully there will be some way we can follow on. Used to really enjoy following the road trips by the Florida Old Guys.

[PolarBear]

I’m gonna try to get up to frostburg to see them.

[9F91H581221]

Today the trip has begun. Dave drove down to me from New Hampshire. We had lunch with my wife and two daughters and headed out. The car is running good. Last weekend we did some timed acceleration and deceleration tests. The tests were done in 5 mph increments from 15 up to 50 mph. Timing a strait run through, then acceleration from a standing stop, then a test of coming to a stop and back up to speed. Knowing these times will help us more accurately follow the speed changes and maneuvers on the route sheet. Last week we made it up to 45 mph tests. It got a little late to do the 50 mph tests. On our way out today, we did the 50 mph tests to complete our chart.
We drove from North Adams, Mass into New York on the scenic Taconic Parkway. I-84 to I-81 then I-80 west to Danville, Pennsylvania. I write this while we are sitting at a Friendly’s restaurant. Whether at 60 or 85, the Cougar drove smooth.
Another thing we decided to keep track of us how many times someone asks us “what year is it?” The current count is 4.
More driving tomorrow…

[9F91H581221]

[DieselD]

These drive events are really cool, from the hot rod tours to drag and drive events it’s like a rolling car show the whole way! Much more exciting then sitting still in a car show

[badcatt]

Let us know if anybody asks what year the Challenger is. I use to get asked that often when I had Badcatt.

I miss Badcatt, She was a lot of fun.

I’m looking forward to your posts. Have fun.

[CraigL]

Safe journey. Looks like fun. Saw pictures of this beautiful at Carlyle. Best to you!

[9F91H581221]

Wednesday June 19th travel. Departed from Danville, PA to arrive in Dale, Indiana. Now we are 39 miles from Owensboro, KY, which we will finish up in the morning. It was mostly driving, other than a few stops for gas, lunch, auto parts store and dinner. The car continues to drive great. With the addition of the 4R70w trans, highway travel is great. Trying to…well, kinda trying to maintain the 65-70 posted speeds it’s easy to end up at 80-85. Everything is running good.
Dave found a nice diner just off I-80 in Hubbard, Ohio called the Emerald Diner. The food was very good.

We continued on our way from I-80, to I-76, to I-71 into Kentucky. We took the Gene Snyder Parkway to I-64. We are now at a hotel in Indiana which is on the exit for Owensboro.

Tomorrow morning, we will arrive at Owensboro where the event is set up and begins. There are some pre-event activities to engage in. The 1st thing to do is the measured mile test to make sure our speedometer is as accurate as it can be. There is a BBQ lunch nearby at a place called Fat Monkey Garage. The 3rd thing will be our registration appointment at 2:48pm and then onto vehicle tech inspection. If we can fit it in, there is a Q&A session for rookies put on by a couple of the mentors with long term experience.
I will post more pics and an update tomorrow.
Thanks for following along!

[9F91H581221]

Today was pretty full of things to do. We left our hotel in Dale, Indiana and stopped at an auto parts store to pick up a few items needed to pass inspection. We needed a fire extinguisher, tow rope and a set of reflective triangles. Not too far down the road, we arrived in Owensboro, KY about 8am. Each participant has an appointment for registration. Team Eliminator was at 2:48pm. However, when we went up to the registration area around 8:30am to look around and one of the ladies said she could get us registered now. Oh good, as it is one less thing to do later. I bought a couple t-shirts for the kids and we went down to the car to then head through tech inspection. One aspect of the car that didn’t work is the horn due to a failed rim blow switch. Luckily, they allowed the use of an air horn which was one other thing we picked up this morning. The next thing to do was perform “the measured mile test”. In this test, we would drive down a section of road exactly at 50mph to see what time we would pass by certain road signs. It turned out our speedometer was off by a few seconds a mile. Surprisingly, tire air pressure can make a difference. We topped off the tires and found while we improved, we were still off a bit. The special Timewise Rally speedometer needed some adjustment. After making the adjustments, we are quite close to perfect.
There was a hosted lunch at a shop in Owensboro called Fat Monkey Garage. These guys did a great job with the BBQ.
While on the measured mile test I heard a little pinging at certain as it was a really hot day. I decided to stop at the auto parts store to pick up a set of spark plugs one step colder. We’ll find out tomorrow if that makes a difference or perhaps I may need to back off the ignition timing a couple degrees.
This portion of the Great Race event is next door to a Blue Grass Hall of Fame Museum and they had live Bluegrass bands playing during dinner time where many people gathered.
Lastly, I did some cleaning on the Eliminator. While I got some Go-pro footage today, I didn’t get many regular pics.
This one is from our hotel room on the 7th floor. See if you can find the yellow Eliminator.

[bigtone239]

Good Luck and have fun !

[hertzcat]

Looks like fun. The daily updates are great.
See you both on Tuesday in Purceville, Va.

[9F91H581221]

Friday June 21st. The day started out with a pretty good breakfast in the hotel lobby…as far as hotel breakfasts go, it was a very good breakfast. From there, we went to a mandatory general meeting followed by a seminar type meeting talking about tips and methods of driving and time keeping in a Great Race Road Rally.
Here are some of the cars parked out front of the hotel and convention center next door.

There were a lot more cars in the area too. It’s tough getting pics as we are new to this and are constantly on the move to the next step.
After the seminar it was time to head to the Eliminator and head out. Unfortunately, my camera is built into my phone and by Great Race rules the phones must be kept in the trunk…so, no pics. I did get some Go-pro footage. However, I won’t have a chance to edit it into video until I get home. The first portion of the route today was another measured mile test. No changes were necessary with the speedometer calibration. There was what is called a “transit time” which was long enough to include finding something for lunch. We stopped at a Subway with some other Great Racers. The starting point was at a sign post about a block up the road. We lined up safely on the side of the road a few minutes ahead of our starting minute. As the seconds hand approached the zero of our minute, we got up to the specified speed as we passed by the starting point. This speed was 40 mph. Most of the speeds are about 5 mph under the posted speed limit, sometimes further under. But, never more. We followed the route through turns and stops. Sometimes the route would specify a 15 second pause at a stop. Adding to the difficulty of the event was dealing with civilian traffic while making these turns and stops. Ya always gotta be careful. One thing that isn’t specified on the route sheet is where a check point was going to be. We passed 3 of them and felt like we were doing pretty good. On longer stretches of road you can see the car ahead of you and also the one behind you. All Great Race vehicles should be traveling one minute apart. When it appears we are an equal distance between the two, it is an indication we are where we should be on the course. Things were going well…but this isn’t as easy as it seems. We missed one speed change at a sign we didn’t see…others said it was easy to miss. One small mistake wasn’t a big deal. Missing a turn and getting off the route was a little bit bigger deal. In correcting our wrong turn, we fell back 4 places, or 4 minutes. Sometimes, these mistakes can be made up before passing one of the hidden check points. Unfortunately, a check point was just around the corner. Once you pass the check point, it locks in your time to be on a new minute from that check point onward. That was the last check point for the today’s Trophy Run. From there we were on another transit time back to the host hotel where we went through a Red check point where we stopped for the check point crew to verify our completed route.
The Cougar ran pretty cool through most of the route today. Towards the end, the gauge was creeping up a little. As we waited in a line of cars going through the red check point the engine was getting a bit hot. After shutting off the engine it did heat soak up to 248. It was a good thing I could leave it parked. Hopefuly, in the coming days we don’t have to have a stop and wait for too long.
This evening’s plan was a social hour at 6 followed by some news of the day, introductions and appreciation to those involved in supporting, helping and running the Great Race. There was a buffet style dinner with a couple selections. Both were traditional southern staples and I had pulled pork sandwich. There was then talk about the X-Cup teams. The X-cup is a class of automotive students who can run a car in the Great Race for their school. For further info, look at www.greatrace.com
After dinner there was an auction of various Great Race items that managed to raise over 40,000 dollars to help support the future of X-cup entries. There are a LOT of good people involved in this event!

Soon I was back down in the parking lot to check the fluid levels in the Eliminator. Whether it is other Great Racers or locals admiring the old cars, there is always someone to chat with about the love of cars and this event.
The Trophy run today was not a requirement. It is good practice and it could also act as a tie breaker for scores later in the race.
Tomorrow it gets real. Saturday is when the race begins. Hopefully the today’s Trophy Run has helped Dave and I hone our skills to have a better performance tomorrow.

Oh, there are two other Cougars running in the Great Race. A blue 73 XR-7 from California.

There is also a white 72 XR-7 run by an X-cup team from St. Louis. I will make sure to snap a pic tomorrow.
Thanks for following along and will post another update tomorrow night.

[9F91H581221]

Here is the white 72 XR-7

[9F91H581221]

Saturday was the grand departure from the start at Owensboro, KY. On a brick road between the hotel and the Ohio River is where all the cars lined up to be sent off one by one as the announcer mentioned the team names, driver and navigator names and where we are from. Sadly, I had my Go-Pro turned on and recoding on the dash and the battery died right before I rolled through the start…oh well. Here are some pics of the start line-up:

The route today took us from Owensboro, KY to Lawrenceburg, IN.
Everyday, once we head towards the official starting point, we first go through a measure mile for speedometer calibration. We further adjusted the speedometer and learned from others that the speedometer will almost always need adjustment for each day. Today’s route went pretty well. We did not make a wrong turn and our overall score for the day is 40 seconds which put us in 63rd out of 137 entries. There is improvement as Dave and I become acclimated to the Rally processes. Tomorrow we can hopefully fine tune things a little further for more improvement.
The morning stage will have us leave Lawrenceburg, IN to head for lunch in Lancaster, OH. Destination for the afternoon stage will be Marietta, OH.
The destination today was a nice downtown setting in Lawrenceburg, IN…and my pictures aren’t very good of it. All the event cars were lined up along the street in front of the historic buildings. Lots of people walking around admiring the cars and taking pics. It’s a really awesome event.

Here is a couple cools pics. Also participating in the Great Race is a 69 Boss 302 Mustang in the same color as my Bright Yellow Eliminator.

Cool stuff. With all going on in the day, it gets pretty late by the time I can update this thread with today’s info. I will be back here tomorrow with more!
thanks for following…and stay tuned.

[9F91H581221]

Day 2 on the Great Race. Yesterday we were 63rd. Today we are 115th. This morning, on one of the first turns we were unsure if it was the correct sign or not. We turned around which cost time. While going back we saw two more cars coming the opposite way. Then realized the mistake was turning around. We went back the original way and managed to pass the two cars in attempt to get back in our correct position. We were now following the MG that is supposed to be ahead of us. The Impala behind us, was now behind us. Even though we got into the correct position, there was no way to tell if were actually running correct time. That leg we were off by 57 seconds. The next leg wasn’t terrible as 21 seconds. We pulled into Lancaster, Ohio today for a quick lunch. Met a few Cougar people and wished I had more time to chat. Lunch was quick and we were back on the road.
The following leg we made a timing mistake which we lost a little over 2 minutes. Instead of lunch being a “transit” where you keep count of where you left off of the last leg, today was a “restart”. So, we started late and didn’t realize the mistake until we chatted with another team. Oh well, live and learn. The 4th and 5th legs weren’t too bad at 2 seconds and 17 seconds.
Today’s finish was in Marietta, Ohio with a nice display of the Great Race vehicles downtown.

We are now settled in our hotel tonight. Planning which adjustments we can make for a better score tomorrow. Now it’s after 11pm, I had better get ready for bed. For more info on Great Race and to see the posted scores, please visit www.greatrace.com Scores are in the heading of Rally Details.
Wish us luck!!!

[DieselD]

I wouldnt be able to sticker my car like that, hoping all those decals are magnetic!