Teams from Saline County are ready for the Great American Run

Seven friends from Saline County, three special cars, and one shared vision — The Great American Run.
“We are all friends from way back and we all wanted to do this,� Pat Hampel of Benton said, explaining how seven friends found their way into a driving competition from July 29 to Aug. 4 that will take them from coast to coast.
The reward?A new $100,000 Saleen Ford Mustang, a trophy and free entry in to next year’s Great American Run to defend the crown and win $1 million.
To enter this year’s event, each participant has to pay a $10,000 entry fee per vehicle. Hampel said he and his friends have entered three cars from Saline County, and so far they are the only known teams from Arkansas in the race.
They will compete against 400 cars and drivers from all over the world.
The Great American Run has two starting points — New York City or Miami — and drivers will trek across the country to the final destination in Los Angeles.
Hampel and his friends decided to start in New York. They will transport the cars in a 53-foot carrier owned by Hampel’s brother, Tim.
Pat Hampel said the team would rather begin the race in a cooler climate, and he said sand and salt in the Miami area might be harder on the vehicles.
He said that teams will be handed a packet of information and directions at 6 p.m. When they reach their first destination, the team will receive another packet. The process will be repeated until the team reaches the first gathering party in Las Vegas and its final destination in Los Angeles.

“They are extremely secretive,� Hampel said of the race organizers. “But that is kind of the point. We’ll go from point A to point B and receive another packet one minute before we leave — so nobody knows the routes.�
Team members laughingly call themselves “Bro’s From Another Mo,� and they have T-shirts. But the three competitive teams are Biscuit team 51, TME Racing 169 and Supreme Racing 315.
“Originally, we were going to race one car,� Hampel said. “We all got together, saved our money and decided to race against each other. Even though we are all friends, and a team, we are and will be competitive against each other as well as other teams.�
The Biscuit team includes Hampel, Cody Yancey, Ken Oginski and Hampel’s daughter’s doll named “Baby Early,� who is the mascot of the car. They are driving a Subaru WRX STI Limited. Hampel said there are only 800 of the cars in the world and he has number 236.
TME Racing includes Terry Minton and Tray Moody in a 2007 Shelby GT Mustang.
The third team, Supreme Racing, includes Tim Hampel and Mike Schultz, who are driving a 2007 Rouse Stage 3 Mustang.
Although the race name might suggest speeding, and although the race is produced by Cannonball Run World Events Ltd., the event does not resemble the 1981 movie “Cannonball Run,� which starred a slew of known actors, including Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jackie Chan, who raced across the country for a large cash prize.
In the 1970s, four illegal “Cannonball Run� type races were held in the U.S. that inspired the movies, but this year’s event will be the first legal, sanctioned run, Pat Hampel said.
According to the Web site www.thegreatamericanrun.com, the object of the competition is to obtain an average speed over the entire coast to coast route, stopping en route in various cities to join the evening celebrations.
“This race is based on time, speed, distance and endurance,� Hampel explained. “If you get a ticket, you can be kicked out [of the race].�
Although the race can allow anyone to enter any kind of vehicle in the race, the teams from Arkansas plan to take an angle and have an edge over the competition.
“We put in a lot of hours, research, and money into preparing for this competition,� Hampel said. “We are prepared and taking this serious. We’re not out to get caught up in all the partying.�
Hampel also said one of the tactics of the Great American Run is to stop a team from winning. “Road blocks� such as parties and various events can help keep a team from making time.
“We spent way too much and invested too much to take things for granted,� Hampel said. “We all saved our money and made sacrifices to enter into this thing. We are all carrying water, Gatorade, protein bars and whatever else we need, because we’ll be basically living in these cars.�
Besides from having engines that are modified to handle the elements and strain, all three teams have even added gadgets and safety features that one might not find on a normal car.
“These cars are all running computers,� Hampel said. “We have night-vision goggles, cameras on the cars, and we have all the safety features like fire extinguishers, air compressors and four stop watches.
“The stop watches will monitor the overall race time, the time of the day, the time from the check points, and there’s one for lost time [between the checkpoints].�
Hampel and friends said that they do not know when the race will air on television, but that they plan to make an impact.
“This is the real thing,� Hampel said. “I always wanted to do this, even though it use to be outlawed, but I didn’t have the money then and now that it is legal, we got the cars and the money together and we plan to win.�

[via Benton Courier]