Great Race Monday at noon at Cannonsburgh in Murfreesboro

Five Central Magnet School students and graduates will be among 150 contestants in the Great Race stopping in Murfreesboro Monday as part of the nine-day trip from Jacksonville, Fla., to Traverse City, Mich.

The race of vintage cars will stop, Monday, June 26 beginning about noon at Cannonsburgh in Murfreesboro so car enthusiasts can view the cars and support the hometown team. The opening ceremony is scheduled at 11:55 a.m.

Central Magnet School Resource Officer Sgt. Scott Culp will drive the 1953 Pontiac Chieftan with navigation from students and graduates Matthew Norman, Jacob Hendrixson, Joey Hughes, Hunter Jones and Chris Johnson.

Central Magnet teacher Jenny Culp, Sgt. Culp’s wife, and mechanic Dean Holland of Holloway High School, will accompany them in a car hauler with tools and parts.

Stones River Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America in Murfreesboro purchased the car and supported the students in raise funds for the race.

Students have spent the past 18 months repairing and restoring the Chieftan, nicknamed “Bonnie.”

They represent the first Tennessee school to compete in the X-Class category.

The Great Race tests the driver and navigators’ ability to follow precise course instructions and to endure a cross-country trip at or below the posted speed limit, stated the Great Race Web site (http://www.greatrace.com/).  They cannot use the odometer but must figure out the speeds mathematically on the Dixie Highway route.

Each day, the team receives about 220 course instructions to indicate every turn, speed change, stop and start for the day with four to seven checkpoints recording the exact time. The objective is to arrive at each checkpoint at the correct time.