Friday morning started with more rain. Hopping in The Hippo for the first drive, there was already a puddle on the driver’s side floor. And every time we started driving from a stop, a trickle of water would land upon my foot. If this is the worst thing that happens throughout this trip, then we will call it a win! And as one friend remarked in the comments section, a Hippo is a mammal that thrives in the water, so no big deal.

The parking lot was full of racers in the morning. Lots of GREAT cars.

Center of the image is a 1953 Sunbeam Alpine. This is the same model of car Grace Kelly drove in the movie To Catch A Thief.

Two different Auburns, one under repair hoping to get in the race.

Images of a 1918 American LaFrance Speedster. American LaFrance made the best firetrucks of the day. This car is accompanied by a traveling tricked out old school bus full of about 12 support team members who are having too much fun together. This car has been a Great Race participant for many years. The Team wished to be called WTF, and the race officials denied their name selection, deeming it to be wildly inappropriate for a family fun venue. Not to be deterred, they entered themselves as the Wandering Troubadours of Finland (abbreviated as WTF), and their new name choice was accepted.

A 1957 Porsche Speedster

A 1930 Ford A Boat-Tail Speeder. The back half is all beautifully polished wood.

A 1971 AMC Javelin

A 1974 Plymouth Blues Mobile – Yes, that is a working speaker on the top! And a 1973 MGB.

A 1940 Series 62 Convertible Cadillac

After an all hands general meeting for all racing teams, followed by a Rally School class, we got to run a sample race, but it did not count towards our official score. It was good practice, going through the motions, and prizes were still offered for the best in each racing class.

The skies had cleared when we started, and it was hot and humid. While we do not have air conditioning, we do have operable triangular windows that pivot in to offer a robust flow of air while in motion.

We lunched at the Classic Car Museum of St. Augustine, and we were greeted by two former co-workers of mine who had both retired to St. Augustine. Their times did not overlap with one-another during work, so they met each other there for the first time. I shared the below photo with someone from the office, who remarked that the retirees tanned Florida legs looked much better than my moon burned working Baltimore legs.

L-R – Jim Millett, Willy Moore (driver/author), and George Van Osterum

We also met friends of my next-door neighbor who also live in St. Augustine. It is a very small world!

After lunch we were back on the road in the hot humid Florida sun. Our driving instructions took us through lots of back roads, mostly paved, but some gravel roads, and a stretch of dirt road that must have been 1 1/2 miles long and had an overwhelming abundance of potholes. All the cars’ suspensions got a serious workout. We had to stay sharp, or we would miss a turn – which we did, missing our very first turn. Fortunately, we realized it quickly, made a swift U-turn, and got back on track. Our speeds ranged from 15-50 mph, and 5 times throughout the race, we passed Great Race staff who would clock in our times at their specific locations. Once we passed them, our clocks would re-set. At the close we were returned back to the hotel/conference center, and we were provided with our scores for the day.

This ticket was provided after crossing the finish line. In the first leg, where we missed the turn, we were 34 seconds late, the second leg we finished 10 seconds off, the 3rd leg at 6 seconds early, the 4th down to 2 seconds, and the fifth and final leg we nailed it, dead on with zero seconds lost!

For every Ace, a zero score on a leg, the team receives an Ace sticker for their car. By the end of the race, the best racers cars will be loaded with Ace stickers, much like the WWII pilots would mark their planes with stars for enemy kills. Scroll back up to note some of the cars in the included pictures have multiple ACE stickers; these are from prior year’s races. We were VERY happy to earn our first perfect score, and also happy that our day’s score is not part of the formal race tabulations. For all of our glee, we later learned that the best Rookie score for the day was 9 points(!), or a total of 9 seconds across all 5 legs of the day’s race – compared to our score of 47.06. Overall, we came in 71st place out of 125 participating racers (See the Trophy Run Results tab at: https://www.greatrace.com/results). Maybe we should not have been so excited.

We have our work cut out for us over the coming 8 days!

TEAM DETAILS:

Driver – Willy Moore – I am a lifelong Baltimorean/Marylander, who is President of Southway Builders, a General Contracting firm who does multi-family and commercial construction projects. I love old cars, old houses, old furniture, and yes, old people. 🙂

Navigator – Hal Burnett – Eye Surgeon who lives and works in Winston-Salem, NC. Hal is also a pilot who loves navigation and travel.

IT/Blog Support – Marcus Ranum – IT guru who is slumming it to help us out. Marcus is a founding creator of the firewall, was programmer of the Hubble Space Telescope, and he wrote the security protocols for the White House when Clinton became President. Like I said, Marcus is slumming it, BIG time with us! Marcus also makes beautiful knives, turns bowls from exotic materials, and collects everything from Samurai swords to antique military uniforms. Marcus has a great blog and lots of wild and interesting experiences to share. Consider reading about his visit in 2011 to Chernobyl – YES the same place that had the nuclear disaster in 1986. See: http://www.ranum.com/fun/index.html – select Projects and then Chernobyl Journal.

Thanks to all for your great comments. We all really appreciate them. Sorry for not responding to them individually, but time is scant, and starting tomorrow we must lock up our cell phones during all race activities. All to say, keep them coming, and please do not take offense at our lack of response.

Best to All!