STLCC Cars Finish Great Race, Students Win Scholarships

After spending several months getting their cars in shape for a 2,000 mile race, 11 automotive technology students maneuvered their vehicles across 13 states and enjoyed top 10 finishes in their respective divisions in the Great Race. 

Both the 1941 Ford Super Deluxe and a 1972 Mercury Cougar they drove, arrived on the STLCC-Forest Park campus earlier this year practically in pieces. The students put the cars together for the competition that is more about finishing on schedule rather than going fast. The Cougar team finished fifth in its division and the Deluxe took seventh, or 71st and 99th overall respectively, during the race that stretched from June 22-29. 

“The Great Race was an amazing experience for these 11 students,” Josh Walker, associate professor who advised the group. “This team was a mixture of many different backgrounds – night and day school, first and second year – and it has been incredible to watch them bond together to keep these cars running across America.  

“These students got to visit many states they had never seen, developed new friendships and created memories they will never forget. STLCC is currently the only school in the St. Louis area competing in the race, and seeing our students represent their school and city so well was the highlight of the trip.”

If their finishes were not enough to get the team excited, several members received scholarships to continue their STLCC education. Three students earned $2,000 awards and five got $1,000 scholarships from the RPM Foundation.

The two teams started in Owensboro, Ky., and ended in Gardiner, Maine. Finishing the race is considered an achievement in and of itself, but the students added to their experiences with stops to Gettysburg Battlefield, New York City, Niagara Falls and several other places. 

“It definitely brought us all together,” said Micah Holst, who completed his first year in the auto tech program this past spring. “We all had a good time. It wasn’t like we were complete strangers, we knew of each other, but it definitely brought us all together because we had a common interest and common goal.

“It was a lot of fun, a lot of great times, a lot of great memories.” 

Holst was joined by fellow students Evan Welch, Kyle Kannawurf, Christian MacZura, Nathan Depelheuer, Taron Greenlee, Matt Kalb, Matthaeus Riegerix, Will Vankirk, Alexis Martinez and Finn Zimmerman.

Seeking a Time of 0:00

Each day, the driver and navigator team receive a set of course instructions that indicate every turn, speed change, stop and start that the team must make throughout the day. There are usually 220-250 instructions per day. Along the course route, there are four to seven checkpoints recording the exact time that the team passes that point. The objective is to arrive at each checkpoint at the correct time. The score for each team is the result of the team’s ability to follow the designated course instructions precisely. Every second off the perfect time of “0,” be it early or late, at each checkpoint is a penalty point.

Keeping the rebuilt cars operable often becomes the biggest challenge of all. In fact, 30 cars failed to finish the course. The Deluxe came close to being the 31st. 

“After crossing the finish line, I mean literally just after the finish line, our car stalled out right in front of everyone,” Holst said. “So, the Cougar team had to push us all the way down the street to park.”

The course is calculated for the speeds listed, so any time lost during turns or stops needs to be made up. The student navigators are allowed a stopwatch, and the directions, which are largely landmark based. To increase the difficulty, GPS, phones, maps or computers are not permitted, and odometers are covered.