he Villages Classic Automobile had the pleasure of having some of its members participate in this Great Event for 2024.
It took many hours to prepare and days to complete this event - this is the story of their participation told by those who experienced it.
Driver: Kirk Thams
Navigator & Car Owner: Scott Thams
Crew Chiefs & Support: Brad Krause & John Dukles
I have attached a picture of the car and the four participants and a picture of the car ending the race
Written by Brad Krause
Needless to say, The Great Race 2024 was another wonderful experience for two reasons, one the car culture of the event and two, the adventure.
As it relates to car culture, drivers, navigators and crew members gathered each evening throughout the nine days and worked preparing their vehicles for the next day's race. As this occurred everyone helped each other fix vehicle issues, loaned out tools, encouraged each other to do well and helped with navigation techniques. There is always a lot of discussion around the subject of navigation.
The adventure and scenery were captivating because the race started in Owensboro, KY on the Ohio river. This region of the country is still home to southern hospitality and many locals thanked us for being there. Owensboro, is also home to the Blue Grass Music Hall of Fame located on the Ohio river and a short walk from the starting line of the GR. On Day two and three we proceeded to two more small cities, Lawarenceburg, IN and Marietta, OH, also on the Ohio River and also very picturesque. These small cities were not only well kept, but the locals were curious and friendly and really enjoyed having the GR event in their town. They truly threw out the red carpet for Great Racers. Each city we rolled into during the 9 days of the race, offered local car shows associated with the event, with Marietta even having farm and tractor-pull type tractors in the event. I highly recommend a visit to these cities. Also, of the other cities we visited, these 3 were standouts for me.
As for the race, our navigator Scott, and driver Kirk did a fine job throughout the first 8 days posting scores in the top 15-20% of the field of 141 car entries. On day eight, they had the best score in their Sportsman class and received a plaque award and a $250 coupon from Coker Tire. We were very optimistic they would do well on day 9. Then, on the last day, the team had nearly perfect scores in the 1st 4 stages of the race until the 5th and final stage. Another GR vehicle was passing a car on a corner and veered into the pathway of our 1929 Ford Model A Racer. Our driver, Kirk, had to take evasive action to miss the oncoming car. This issue made the balance of that stage of the race nearly impossible to continue timing to finish well. We did cross the finish line and as they say, "to finish is to win"!. This was heartbreaking for the entire team. They received an incomplete score or DNF (Did not finish).
This was the 2nd Great Race for Scott and Kirk in the 1929 Model A Racer. It had been in the GR at least 6-8 times previously. Scott and I had also raced the car in at least 4 regional 3 day events throughout the country. Needless to say we've all had our fun and have experienced great memories with this great car, so it seemed fitting that someone else should enjoy the car in the coming years, and the right home was found.
One of the Great Race Sponsored categories is called the X Cup. This category offers college age students attending technical and engineering schools to enter a vehicle in the GR. Oftentimes museum organizations around the country sponsor X Cup teams. It just so happened that we became acquainted with a museum owner in ME who was an X Cup Sponsor and GR mentor. Scott sold the car to the museum owner on the return home to Michigan. The museum owner has a young man working for him who will likely become the next navigator in this car in 2025.
Congratulations to the team and their fantastic accomplishments.
Will Vermilya