Mary Lou Wins!

After 14 days and 4200 miles, all cars from Team Coker crossed the finish line in Daytona Beach. Who would have ever guessed that a car such as Mary Lou, who came off the production line in 1909, would have won a race for Class Brass almost 100 years later. "She's a tough old gal and we thank her," said driver, Corky Coker. There were plenty of spectators to see the 95+ cars from the race roll right onto Daytona Beach. Cars were greeted with squirt guns instead of the usual confetti.

The winning car of the grand champion division was Rally Partner, Dick Burdick and navigator, Wayne Bell driving the 1934 Bohnalite Indy racer with a total cumulative score of 1:14.

They now tie Wayne Stanfield as the only five-time winners in the 21 year history of the race. Howard and Douglas Sharp won second place in the 1911 Vehli with only :04 seconds separating them.

Curtis Graf and Bruce Gezon in the 1934 Ford Roadster, #2, ended in 19th place with a cumulative score of 2:26. Bob Coker and Lenny Johnson, #89, in the 1955 Buick Century ended the race in 40th place with 3:49. Corky Coker and Cameron Coker's cumulative score was 5:21 for 62nd place.

Ace Wrench Award

Also receiving an award was our own Andrew Givens. Andrew received the "Ace Wrench Award" at the banquet on Friday night. Not only did Andrew keep cars #2, #88 and #89 going, but helped countless others cross the finish line. Many times Andrew worked into the late night getting only a couple hours of sleep. Brian Graham deserves an award for being the best support driver in the race. He drove the Coker Tire Truck from town to town. Many times he navigated the trailer through gates so narrow it would take your breath away. Brian worked on vehicles at night as well as talking to customers and selling tires.

The route this year included four NASCAR tracks; Michigan, Indianapolis, Darlington and Daytona. All cars got to take a lap or two around these historic tracks, but none so spectacular as in Florida as thousands of NASCAR fans watched the Great Race cars take a victory lap preceding the Pepsi 400. All this with Jack Roush, owner of 5 NASCAR teams, lead the way in the Great Leslie from the Tony Curtis movie, The Great Race. Following the victory lap, Great Race participants got to watch the Pepsi 400 from their own section in the grandstands. Imagine our delight as our team member, Jack Roush won the number one and two spot by Rookie Greg Biffle (who drove one day on the Great Race) and Jeff Burton. It was a great day for us and the Roush Team.

NASCAR is an exciting sport and requires much skill to "go fast and turn left." Great Racing is all together different with our track being the back roads of America. We visited towns and people that otherwise never would of had a chance to see millions of dollars of restored antique vehicles roll onto their city streets. We were a rolling history museum to thousands.

Corky and Cameron received a beautiful trophy with ceramic eagle on top. It was fitting considering that Cameron received his Eagle Scout award just one week before leaving on the race. The race is called a timed endurance rally. I put the emphasis on "endurance." It seems appropriate to end these Great Race updates with something I put in Cameron's Eagle Scout Program. Many of you wonder why we put ourselves through this every year. Yes, it is hard, but you'll never know how much it means to develop friendships and work together to achieve a common goal, to finish the race. For those of us who love old cars, it preserves the past and encourages those like our son to continue it into the future. Yes, the Great Race challenges us and gives us character building opportunities. It stretches us and yes, we are all winners when we cross that finish line for "To finish is to win."

On Wings Like Eagles

Did you ever realize that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? The Eagle will fly to a high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.

The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When the storms of life come upon us, and all of us will experience them, we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God's power to lift us above them. God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure, and disappointment in our lives. We can soar above the storm. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.
(Author unknown)

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run, and not be weary. They will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Hope you enjoyed traveling with us across America.

Best regards,

Theresa Coker
For Team Coker