Great Race brings classic cars and Route 66 spotlight to Albuquerque

Motel rooms, diner counters, museum desks and Old Town storefronts all had a stake in the Great Race as classic cars rolled through Albuquerque on June 18, tying Route 66 nostalgia to the kind of foot traffic city leaders want to turn into real spending. The stop was one piece of a broader centennial push that also stretched through Tucumcari and Gallup, with Albuquerque positioned as the showcase in the middle of the Mother Road.

The Hemmings Great Race is not a speed contest. Organizers describe it as the largest time-speed endurance rally in the United States, a nine-day, roughly 2,300-mile run from Springfield, Illinois, to Pasadena, California, with 17 hosted city stops and historic vehicles from 1913 through 1974. Brad Phillips said the field included more than 130 teams, and the event also drew younger drivers through an X Cup division, a reminder that the rally mixes vintage machinery with a new generation of competitors. The oldest car in this year’s lineup was a 1916 Hudson.

In Albuquerque, the race landed inside a much larger Route 66 strategy. The city says it has the longest continuous urban stretch of Route 66 in the country, 18 miles, and its Department of Arts & Culture has been rolling out centennial programming across 2025 and 2026 with pop-ups, tours, public art, exhibitions and other events. Visit Albuquerque’s 2026 guide includes a special Route 66 centennial section, and the Great Race was promoted as a community celebration tied to the highway’s 100th anniversary.

The timing matters for Bernalillo County businesses that depend on visitors moving along Central Avenue and beyond. New Mexico’s Route 66 centennial grant program, created by the New Mexico Tourism Department in fiscal year 2025 and refreshed for fiscal year 2026, is aimed at marketing, infrastructure and special events along the corridor. NM MainStreet says 10 Route 66 districts from Tucumcari to Gallup are part of the push to bring travelers to small businesses and family-friendly events statewide.

Albuquerque’s centennial calendar still has more ahead, including the Route 66 Visitor Center opening April 4 and Route 66 Summerfest in Nob Hill on July 18, billed by the city as the premier centennial festivity for Albuquerque. With the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Numbered Highway System arriving Nov. 11, the Great Race served as an early test of whether Route 66 nostalgia can keep filling local businesses long after the cars pass through.