FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elizabeth
Evans
Cahoon
& Cross
Phone:
(757) 705-7153
Elizabeth City, N.C. Selected as
Stop for Great Race Antique Car Rally, June 25 at Waterfront Park
(Elizabeth City, N.C., April 2, 2014)
-- Gentlemen, and women, start your engines! More than 100 antique automobiles
will cruise into Elizabeth City, N.C., June 25, as a featured lunch stop during
Hemmings Motor News Great Race, the world’s premier
antique car rally.
Now in its 31st year,
the race begins June 21 in Ogunquit,
Maine. Driving vintage cars, such
as Hudsons, Model-Ts and classic coupes, the
competitors will travel 2,100 miles down the Atlantic
Coast, passing through 13 states,
before finishing in The Villages, Fla.,
on June 29.
“We are accustomed to having
visitors arrive by car or boat here in the ‘Harbor of Hospitality,’ but this is
the first time we will have such a fantastic showing of antique automobiles at
one time,” said Charlotte Underwood, director of the Elizabeth City Area Convention
& Visitors Bureau. “We plan to roll out the welcome mat and show these
drivers a good time!”
The race is presented by Hagerty, a company
that specializes in insurance for antique and vintage automobiles. The Elizabeth City
lunch stop at Waterfront
Park is sponsored by Perry Auto Group DBA
Performance Chevrolet & Carolina Chrysler Dodge Jeep, with support from the Elizabeth City Area Convention &
Visitors Bureau.
Cars built prior to 1972 are
eligible to participate, with most entries having been manufactured during
World War II. According to event organizers, the Great Race is not a speed
race, but a time/speed/distance rally. The vehicles, each with a driver and
navigator, are given precise instructions each day that detail their moves down
to the second. They are scored at secret check points along the way and are
penalized for arriving too late or too early. As in golf, the lowest score
wins. The 2014 winners will receive $50,000 of the $150,000 total purse.
For the Elizabeth City stop, the
motorists will begin arriving at Waterfront Park after 11:30 a.m., at
one-minute intervals, and stay until 1 p.m. Spectators may visit with the
participants and view the vintage automobiles. All Great Race stops are free to
the public.
“When the Great Race pulls into a
city it becomes an instant festival,” Race Director Jeff Stumb said. “Last year
we had 30,000 spectators at the start in St. Paul
and another 10,000 people at the overnight stop in Cape Girardeau, Mo.”
The event was started in 1983 by Tom
McRae and it takes its name from the 1965 movie, The Great Race, which
starred Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood and Peter Falk. The movie is a
comedy based on the real-life 1908 automobile race from New
York to Paris.
In 2004, Tony Curtis was the guest of the Great Race and rode in his car from
the movie, the Leslie Special.
For
information on the Great Race, visit www.greatrace.com.
Elizabeth City is the “Harbor of Hospitality®”
Elizabeth City is located in
Northeastern North Carolina on the Intracoastal Waterway, halfway between Virginia Beach and the
Outer Banks. Known as the “Harbor of Hospitality,” the city has six National
Register Historic Districts and is home to the Museum of the Albemarle, The Center at Arts of the Albemarle,
Elizabeth City State University
Planetarium, Port Discover
Hands-on Science Center and one of the largest U.S. Coast Guard
air stations in the Continental United States. Nature-based travelers are drawn
to the area’s proximity to Dismal Swamp
and the abundance of outdoor recreational offerings. For additional
information, call Elizabeth City Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at
1-866-ECity-4U (1-866-324-8948) or visit DiscoverElizabethCity.com. For
up-to-the-minute info on happenings and events visit ElizabethCityHASIt.com.
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