Frank Speziale photo

NORWICH – The City of Norwich and Northeast Classic Car Museum will be abuzz with classic automobiles dating back to 1913 and thousands of spectators this Sunday as the 2018 Hemmings Motor News Great Race makes a lunch stop at the museum.

2018 Great Race

120 Great Race teams consisting of a driver and a navigator in vintage automobiles will begin turning off of North Broad Street and onto Rexford Street before pulling into the Northeast Classic Car Museum at about 12:15 p.m. on Sunday.

Racers will eat lunch and tour the museum for a little over an hour before hitting the road again and making their way to their next stop in Troy, NY as part of the world renowned old car rally, which awards precision of time, speed, and distance.

Northeast Classic Car Museum Executive Director Robert Jeffrey said, “The Northeast Classic Car Museum is honored and excited to be hosting a lunch stop for the 2018 Hemmings Motor News Great Race.”

Spectators are invited to view the Great Racers' vintage automobiles, which will be parked outside in the museum's parking lot located off of N State Street, free-of-charge while the racers eat lunch and tour the museum.

Museum treasurer Phil Giltner said, "The cars will be here for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and everybody can come out and look at the cars. The drivers are usually – in fact all of them I've met are friendly, and they love to talk."

The museum and its exhibits will remain open during this time with its regular admission prices of $10 for adults, $5 for students aged six to 18, and free for children 6 and under. Museum-goers can enter either from the Rexford Street entrance or on N State Street. Lunch at the museum will only be served to Great Race participants.

Event parking

There will be no parking available at the museum as Rexford Street will be closed off on Sunday to make way for the riders. Instead, free parking will be provided at the Chenango County Fairgrounds with a shuttle transporting spectators to the corner of Rexford and Silver Street in walking distance of the museum.

The shuttle will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Spectators are encouraged to take advantage of the free parking and shuttle, though other public parking can be found elsewhere in the city.

2000 pit stop in Norwich

The last time the Great Race made its way through Norwich was for a pit stop that was held on Norwich's West Park Plaza in June 2000 as riders made their way to Binghamton, NY.

"[The stop will be] very different this time," said Giltner. "As a lunch stop, this is a major stop. But one thing I remember about the 2000 pit stop is the park was packed with people. The whole thing probably lasted not much more than an hour."

During the 2000 pit stop, Sun Staff Writer Sean Brigham spoke with a Great Race driver from California named Kevin O'Malley, who had never visited Norwich before.

O'Malley said, "This is really unbelievable ... It's fantastic. I think what's really neat is the small town stuff. Everybody comes up and says, 'Thanks for coming to our town.' ... Heck, that's neat."

Former City of Norwich Mayor Robert Raphael said at the 2000 event, "We feel honored and privileged as a city that we were chosen as a pit stop for this race. If it's possible I would like it to continue in years to follow. I think we have an enthusiastic crowd out here for an event like this; it's wall to wall people."

Giltner said each car was in Norwich for about 15 minutes apiece in 2000 before heading for their next stop in Binghamton. This Sunday, the riders will be parked at the car museum for about an hour and fifteen minutes apiece as they eat lunch and tour the museum before hitting the road for Troy.

Despite being relatively short-lived, the 2000 Great Race pit stop in Norwich drew quite the crowd. This year's lunch stop is expected to draw even more spectators.

Past Great Racers describe experience

At a press conference at the Northeast Classic Car Museum in April, past Great Race participant Elliott Reitz said of the event, “Being in the Great Race is like nothing else you could ever do ... It’s like belonging to a traveling circus. That’s about what it’s like. You never quite get your feet on the ground, or quite remember everywhere you’ve been, but the sights and the scenes and the things that happen to you are lifetime memories.”

The 2018 Great Race will start in Buffalo and span 2,300 miles across four states and two Canadian provinces to Nova Scotia. Drivers are tasked with maintaining a specific speed for a specific amount of time and distance, while navigators are tasked with instructing the driver how fast to go and for how long in an effort to most accurately meet their goal.

In addition to striving to maintain a precise speed and time, racers have to deal with other variables in the race, like everyday traffic and vehicle malfunctions. At the April press conference, former Great Race participant Frank Whitney said, “The Great Race – to me and most people – is the hardest you’ll ever have to work at having fun in a car."

Nevertheless, the Great Race attracts drivers, navigators, and thousands of spectators from all over the world to compete against and appreciate cars that were almost all built before World War II.

Hemmings Motor News Great Race Director Jeff Stumb said, “When the Great Race pulls into a city it becomes an instant festival. Last year we had four overnight stops with more than 10,000 spectators on our way to having 250,000 people see the Great Race during the event."

Pictured: The scene on Norwich's West Park Plaza in June 2000 as the Great Race made a 15-minute pit stop.