STLCC Students Seek Support to Participate in 2024 Great Race

Students with the Mercury Cougar

St. Louis Community College Automotive students are again participating in the Great Race.

The Great Race is an antique, vintage, and collector car competitive controlled-speed endurance road rally on public highways. It is not a test of top speed. It is a test of a driver/navigator team’s ability to follow precise course instructions and the car’s (and team’s) ability to endure on a cross-country trip.

The course instructions require the teams to drive at or below the posted speed limits at all times.

The nine-day, 2,300-mile adventure will travel to 19 cities in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. The event, which begins in Owensboro, Ky., and finishes in Gardiner, Maine, takes place June 22-30.

Eleven students will be traveling across the country in two race cars, a 1941 Ford Super Deluxe and 1972 Mercury Cougar. In the 2023 race, STLCC finished fourth out of eight teams in the X-Cup Division, and 46th out of 124 overall.

Students with the 1941 Ford Super Delux “This is a test of human mental agility and endurance as well as classic car endurance, rather than programming capability,” said Josh Walker, associate professor in automotive/diesel technology at STLCC-Forest Park. “The course avoids timed segments on interstate highways, opting instead for scenic local, county and state highways whenever possible through some of the prettiest country in the United States.”

STLCC’s students need potential sponsors and donations for the 2024 race. Would you be willing to help these students have the trip of a lifetime? Click on this link if you would like to donate.

Or you can mail a check, payable to the St. Louis Community College Foundation, to the following address: St. Louis Community Foundation, 3321 McKelvey Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044.

If you would like to become a sponsor in exchange for advertising space, that space is available. For more information, contact Walker at jwalker@stlcc.edu, or call 314-644-9614.