Team Coker will drive a 1937 Buick vintage Indy racecar 4,000 miles, traversing 13 states in 15 days through The Great Race.
For the first time in the 23-year history of The Great Race, Coker Tire Company president Joseph “Corky” Coker and his wife Theresa will team as driver/navigator for the annual timed endurance rally across the U.S.
Driving a 1937 Buick vintage Indy racecar, nicknamed “Coker Special” the husband and wife duo will cover 4,000 miles, traversing 13 states in 15 days through whatever weather awaits them along the route.
“This will mark the first time in many years that my son Cameron will not be serving as navigator,” says Corky Coker. “However, Theresa has promised to continue our winning tradition and make sure that we are near the top of the rally charts in our ‘Coker Special.’ We’re both looking forward to what promises to be one of the most scenic routes the rally has ever hosted.”
Once again, Coker Tire will also serve as the Official Tire Sponsor of The Great Race, offering competitors and their support crews assistance along the route with replacement tires and/or on-the-road repairs in the event of mishaps during the two-week long event.
Open only to pre-1959 antique and classic cars, The Great Race begins this year in Washington D.C. on the west side of the Capitol Building, with the halls of Congress as a backdrop. More than 100 vintage and antique cars will begin the rally up Pennsylvania Avenue, past many of the country’s spectacular monuments before heading west into the picturesque Virginia countryside.
During the 15-day rally, participants and support crews will visit dozens of cities, including Louisville, Kentucky, Denver, Colorado and Twin Falls, Idaho, where they will halt for morning and evening pit stops, lunches, or overnight bivouacs. On July 9, The Great Race will conclude in Tacoma, Washington and the 2005 prize fund of $250,000 will be distributed to the winning participants.
The rally’s challenging east-to-west, cross-country route is composed primarily of secondary roads on which the two-person driver/navigator teams must meet specific speed and distance requirements between the daily scheduled stops. By avoiding the crowded Interstates, except to enter and leave major cities, it is possible for the rally to be viewed by local car clubs and enthusiasts as it motors through their region.
Sponsored by the Army National Guard, Ford Motor Company, Geico Insurance, Interstate Batteries, as well as Coker Tire Company, which once again is the Official Tire Sponsor of the event, The Great Race plays host to an array of drivers and cars from countries around the world including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan, and England.
To date, The Great Race has logged more than six million vintage miles in its first 22 years, and has been the center of free family celebrations in more than 500 cities in North America. During its first two decades, it has visited some of the most celebrated venues in North America, including the Statue of Liberty Centennial Celebration, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, the Reforma in Mexico, the Grand Canyon, the Indianapolis and Daytona Motor Speedways and in a parade along Broadway in New York City.
Coker Tire Company, Inc. of Chattanooga, Tennessee is the world's largest supplier of collector vehicle tires, with distributors in more than 30 countries. The company offers vintage bias-ply and nostalgia-style radial tires for collector vehicles from the late 1890s through the mid 1970s, including products for hot rods, sprint and dirt-track race cars and motorcycles. Coker Tire was the first company to introduce a wide whitewall radial tire - the Coker Classic - for collector vehicles. Coker Tire also markets vintage-style wheels and rims, novelty bicycles and unicycles, as well as a variety of tire dressings and collectibles.