GARDINER, Maine — The Great Race, a nine-day classic car rally, concluded in downtown Gardiner on Sunday as antique cars finished the 2,300-mile trek.
More than 130 classic cars, including 10 from Maine, started the race on June 22 in Owensboro, Kentucky. Drivers and their navigators traveled the route by following a booklet of precise daily instructions regulating their speed and direction.
The earliest car in the competition dates back to 1912, while the "newest" cars allowed are from 1974.
"The car did better than we did," Charles Harris of Damariscotta said after he crossed the finish line Sunday.
Harris competed in the race driving his family's 1931 REO Royale. He said it is the exact replica of the automobile built for the Indy 500 in 1931.
Harris has competed in The Great Race five times, three of which have been with the REO Royale.
About 3,000 people were in Gardiner to catch a glimpse of the classic cars. One support crew member said the race is a testament to the manufacturers in the 1900s.
"Would they ever have thought their vehicles would still be on the roads doing things like this today?” New Jersey native Michael Sceurman said. “Some of these cars were family cars in the 30s, 40s, and 50s that people took to the local market or into town or on a Sunday drive."
Sceurman is a support crew member for the Bloomfield Cruisers team, driving a 1931 Ford Model A Victoria.
"Really having the car set up, not so much for speed, but for endurance and reliability is really the key," he said.
Harris said he used to race stock cars before racing with the classics.
"There's so much to keeping this on the computer time. To me, this is far more challenging and stressful than when someone's pounding into your bumper at 100 miles an hour," Harris said.
The winner's of this year's race was a pair from Fairport, New York. Howard and Doug Sharp won the race driving a 1916 Hudson. This is the pair's fifth win and their second straight.