Precious Moments will be the scene of yet another local and hopefully vocal crowd when The Hemmings Challenge Vintage Car Rally rolls into town for an extended pit stop Wednesday afternoon.
But Wednesday’s event, which begins at 11:30 a.m. and wraps up around 1:30 p.m., is so much more than just a bunch of beautiful cars looking pretty in the sunlight.
Think of it as a race within a race.
The cars themselves — mostly early 1900s roadsters, travel and sports cars — are racing each other. Based out of Springfield, roughly 50 cars will spend the day motoring to a specific town. On Wednesday, that town is Carthage. Other competing cities include Nevada, Lebanon, Warsaw and Mountain Home, Ark.
The automobiles will enter the Maple Leap City via an unknown route and reach the Precious Moments Park at one minute intervals, the drivers grabbing a quick lunch, shaking a few hands, drinking in the sights at the Precious Moments Park before pushing pedal against metal and zipping back to Springfield.
The “race” within the race is that Carthage will be competing against the other four cities for a $5,000 first-place prize. To win, the drivers themselves will rate each community based, among other criteria, their enthusiasm, hospitality and how pleasant the pit stop was.
It’s a totally free event.
“I’m very competitive,” said Wendi Douglas, Carthage Visitors Bureau director. “We’re competing against the other communities… and we just want to score the top prize.”
If Carthage wins, the prize money will be divided equally between Precious Moments and the CVB.
Each city is to create a theme — Carthage’s is “On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!”
Joplin nabbed second place last year.
Nevada, Carthage’s closest competitor’s theme, is “Take Me Out To The Ball Park” and will showcase two local baseball teams, the Nevada Griffons and Red Sox.
Douglas hopes 1,000 people shows up for the rally. While she admitted that may be tough, considering it’s a workday, she hopes Carthage and Jasper County residents will turn out in force to see the vintage cars and knowing the racers are competing for a $70,000 prize, adding some urgency to the event.
“I think it will really be a great venue for the whole family,” Douglas said.
The Hemmings Challenge Vintage Car Rally & National Points Finals Championship is a timed/speed/endurance rally for qualified classic, vintage and antique automobiles. This world-class, five-day, cloverleaf-style event is designed to test the driving and navigational skills of rally teams from across the nation.
Wednesday, June 24:
• 8 a.m. — Official start, beginning stage 3, in Springfield
• 10 a.m. — Pit stop in Monett
• 11:30 a.m. — Lunch stop at Carthage
• 1:30 p.m. — Leave Carthage, one of five competing cities this week
• 3 p.m. — Pit stop in Mount Vernon
• 5 p.m. — First car in, ending stage 3, in Springfield
Competing cars that will motor into Carthage Wednesday:
• 1916 Buick Speedster
• 1917 Peerless “Green Dragon” Race car
• 1919 Essex Roadster
• 1928 Auburn Speedster
• 1929 Ford AV8 Hot Rod
• 1932 Chevy Sedan
• 1934 Ford Pick-up
• 1937 Ford Coupe
• 1940 Chevy Master Coupe
• 1947 Mercury Coupe
• 1953 MG-TF
• 1957 T-Bird
• 1960 Rambler 2-door
• 1966 Chevy El Camino
