With hours to go, the 2021 Great Race ends Sunday (6/27/2021), and again Central Magnet School students are in the race and again driving the 1953 Pontiac Chieftain named "Bonnie". 

Central Magnet's SRO Sgt. Scott Culp stressed, "The 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 every move down to the second. They are scored at secret check points along the way and are penalized one second for each second either early or late."

Navigator Aaron Guthrie said the directions are “specific but somewhat vague” in the nine-day race finishing June 27 in Greeneville, S.C. Navigators must remain calm and give exact speeds.

“You worry about getting directions right,” Guthrie said. “It is stressful. It’s down to the second.”

Guthrie along with driver Jacob Hendrixson and navigators Matt Norman and Chris Johnson are in the race. Their support team includes Sheriff’s School Resource Officer Sgt. Scott Culp at Central Magnet School and his wife, Jenny, a Central Magnet School history teacher, and mechanic Dean Holland and his wife, April, a Lascassas Elementary School teacher.

 

The Central Magnet School team are again sponsored by the Stones River Antique Auto Club.

Culp said the team stopped in Murfreesboro during their first race in 2017 and finished in second place. They captured first place in their class in 2019. Obviously, the pandemic killed the 2020 race, and Bonnie, the 1953 Pontiac Chieftain, rested. 

2021 Race Nears End

They will eat lunch Saturday (6/26/2021) in Galax, Virginia with the overnight in Mooresville, North Caroline and the finish point at 1:00PM Sunday (6/27/2021) at the Hyatt Regency in Greenville, SC. 

How Did It Get Started

Tom McRae and Norman Miller started the Great Race in 1983. The two individuals bought out an ailing race promoter who planned to race pre-World War II automobiles across the United States for a massive purse. There were plenty of folks who doubted the feasibility of an event of this magnitude, but with help from a crew of like-minded car nuts, McRae and Miller made it work. From the inaugural event in ’83, there have been lots of memorable moments.