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Five ��Ӱֱ�� State students this month will compete in a cross-country rally that pits teams against the clock and one another for the chance to win a $50,000 grand prize.

Held June 20-28 this year, The Great Race will stretch nearly 2,000 miles of the legendary Route 66 from Kirkwood, MO, to Santa Monica, CA. The race is an annual vintage car event designed to commemorate the original around-the-world “Great Race” that took place in 1908, which was won by a driver and car from Buffalo.

According to , the race’s route changes each year and has covered all but one of the lower 48 states. Entrants participate in a timed, controlled speed and endurance competition over scenic public highways and roads.

Each team’s score is the result of its ability to follow all designated course instructions precisely. The 2015 “Grand Champion” will win $50,000, with the total purse being $150,000.

��Ӱֱ�� State is one of about 120 competitors in this year’s race, and one of four student teams in the X-Cup division. In this division, drivers must be at least 21 years old and younger than 25 at the start of the race. Navigators must be younger than 22 at the start.

Representing ��Ӱֱ�� State in the race will be Andrew Carpino, automotive service technician, Caledonia; Nick Reale, autobody repair, Jamestown; Tom Rifenburgh, automotive service technician, Worcester; Ryan Valle, motorsports technology, New Windsor; and Ryan Madison, automotive service technician, Rochester. The Pioneers will drive a 1953 Dodge Power Wagon that approximately 10 students in several majors worked on regularly throughout the spring semester. Work included rebuilding the engine and all drivetrain components, and installing new brakes, wiring, lights and gauges.

The team was recently awarded a $1,000 grant from the Antique Auto Club of America (AACA) and has been raising funds for the trip through its GoFundMe page, . Accompanying the members on their journey will be Automotive Trades Professor Mike Ronan, who helped form a new AACA student chapter on campus. He said the students learned to work as a team, “as we refurbished the Power Wagon many nights” after classes.

“The event will provide an once-in-a-lifetime experience for those participants who go on the trip to California and back,” Ronan said.

Pictured are ��Ӱֱ�� State students along with the 1953 Dodge Power Wagon they will use to compete in this year’s Great Race. From left to right are Ryan Madison, Tom Rifenburgh, Nick Reale, Andrew Carpino (crouching in the back of the truck) and Ryan Valle.