By Saturday afternoon, Billy Cothern and John Williamson had maneuvered ahead of 39 other racers into the lead. They defended that lead through Sunday and finished first overall in the first annual Coker Tire Challenge.

The Coker Tire Challenge is a 575-mile regional version of the Great Race, a two-week summer race across the country. Mr. Cothern and Mr. Williamson have been racing in Great Race events together in a 1932 Ford highboy for seven years. Mr. Cothern met Mr. Williamson through his daughter, and, as Mr. Cothern recalls, Mr. Williamson replied enthusiastically, “When are we leaving?” when he suggested they enter a Great Race event together,

Mr. Cothern has built himself a collection of antique cars, literally. He has put together each car he owns. His family loves cars, too, he says, so keeping up his hobby has been relatively easy. When asked if he believes enough interest exists to keep the hobby going another 50 years, Mr. Cothern replied, “Absolutely.” Mr. Cothern sees evidence in the younger generation of strong interest in classic cars, although he has observed that they prefer cars made in the 1930s and 1940s. Mr. Cothern is part of the older generation that “likes them all,” he says, referring particularly to cars manufactured long before 1930.

Coker Tire Challenge racers pulled into Corky Coker’s farm late Sunday morning with freezing faces and hands from antique open-air cabs. Mr. Coker had 1926 and 1936 White Yellowstone National Park tour buses, painted school bus yellow, to shuttle guests from parking spaces to lunch and awards.

The Challenge attracted buffs and rookies at all levels. Howard and Douglas Sharp of Fairport, N/Y/, and famous for their 1911 Velie H1 Racytype finished 6th overall. Jeff and Susan Lane drive a 1947 Tatra, made in the Czech Republic. The Lanes own Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, where they showcase 150 cars. The Lanes were Friday’s winner, off perfect time only by 5 seconds, and ended placing 4th overall. A 5-second finish is difficult to achieve. This weekend’s overall winners were off by only 21-28 seconds, a difference of seven seconds between the top three.

Checkpoints are set up just before each day’s race begins at unknown intervals throughout the race course. The cars fly by and are clocked at each checkpoint.

“Most teams were dead-on accurate,” said checkpoint staff member Stuart Wood. Teams will modify their speed when approaching a checkpoint in order to tweak time as close as possible.

Bill Coker was one of more than a few racers to pass the black 1957 Ford hardtop driven by his brother, Harold Coker, a first-time racer, on the side of the road. “What happened there, Dad?” asked Corky Coker, grinning, during the awards lunch.

“I ran out of gas!” shot back Harold Coker.

“We love rookies. They’re fun to watch,” said Corky Coker.

“There’s a place for this kind of stuff. There’s a place for the automobile in everybody’s life,” said Mike Goodman, part owner of Honest Charley Speed Shop and driver for his team, Double Exposure, that finished 3rd in the Rookie category. “Older cars give us a simple link to the past and lead us back to a simpler time,” he said. “It’s good to get around something mechanical and be with family and friends”

“When I was growing up, we named our cars,” said a companion at the same table.

To be eligible for the Great Race, cars must be manufactured in or before 1969, but regional Great Race events, many times considered to be practice races, allow cars manufactured in any year.

Second place overall winners Brian Gomez and Uli Kammholz have competed in three Great Races and four regional races together. They are fall race partners every year, whatever the location. Both compete with other teammates in other races throughout the year. They competed this weekend driving a 2005 Mini Cooper S and are pleased with the turnout, especially, said Mr. Gomez, considering that older cars are given a time factor advantage. Mr. Gomez and Mr. Kammholz finished seventh on Friday and fifth on Saturday, so the pair knew it needed “close to perfect” time to have a chance to place overall.

“This race was tops for a weekend race,” said Mr. Gomez. The highlights, he said, were the stunning views and the impressive hosting.

Sister and brother team and the youngest Cokers, Casey and Cameron, finished first of the Coker clan and 29th overall. Harold and Lil Coker, perhaps due to the gasoline oversight, finished last of the Cokers and second-to-last overall.

Overall winners this year were:

First Place: Billy Cothern and John Williamson, prize $2,590.00
Second Place: Brian Gomez and Uli Kammholz, prize $1,150.00
Third Place: Rex Gardner and Vic Thompson, prize $865.00

First Place Rookie Winner: Charles and Jane Darrow

A very young racer, Ashley, and Uli Kammholz received three Aces each for completing three legs of the race in perfect time. These awards are stickers that racers proudly display on their cars.

Corky Coker rewarded participants by offering wholesale price on any equipment bought in the next 60 days. He talked of hosting a second annual Coker Tire Challenge 2008, though two weeks earlier to take advantage of slightly warmer weather.