Covington, La., will host an overnight stop on the 2013 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty Saturday, June 29. The Great Race, the world’s premiere old car rally, is expected to bring up to 100 antique automobiles downtown to North New Hampshire Street for the $150,000 event. The race will start June 22 in St. Paul, Minn., at the State Fairgrounds as part of the “Back to the 50’s” car show and weave its way down the Mississippi River toward the Gulf of Mexico through 10 states and crossing the river a dozen times before the finish in Mobile, Ala., on June 30. See the full map below. The Great Race, which began 30 years ago, is not a speed race, but a time/speed/distance rally. The vehicles, each with a driver and navigator, are given precise instructions each day that detail every move down to the second. They are scored at secret check points along the way and are penalized one second for each second either early or late. As in golf, the lowest score wins. The cars will arrive after 5 p.m. at one-minute intervals for more than an hour and a half and stay parked for several hours to allow spectators to visit with the participants and to look at the cars. It is common for kids to climb in the cars for a first-hand look.
