At a glance
“Having to trust the other guys on the team when we worked on the truck in a parking lot every night or trusting our navigator was crucial for our success in the race.”
Carter Polhamus
Motorsport majors Garrett Maul (East Concord, NY) and Carter Polhamus (Cazenovia, NY) were two of five students that competed at the 2024 Great Race. Led by Motorsports instructor Caryl Koch the team competed in a classic car competition that took them from Owensboro, KY to Gardiner, ME.
Photos and Videos from The Great Race
The team, which also included Spencer Caccamise (Lima, NY), Tanyon Dunning (Penn Yan, NY), and Connor Merkle (Corning, NY), drove the extremely popular 1953 Dodge Power Wagon in the race. Every day one student would drive, and another would navigate the course. The team was one of 140 that entered the race and finished 101st overall.
The RPM Foundation helps fund the XCup division and helps grow student teams in the competition. Alfred State was one of ten collegiate teams to compete in the XCup division this year. At the end of the race, the Pioneers were awarded the XCup Team Choice Award for their efforts. The quartet of first year students from ASC, Maul, Polhamus, Dunning and Caccamise, were also awarded Scott Henderson X-Cup Scholarships.
“My favorite parts of the great race were seeing all of the old cars, getting to travel the country with some of my friends and learning how to drive a manual,” commented Maul. “It was like a rolling car show every night and I got to see some of my favorite cars in the world.”
Learning about the importance of teamwork was the biggest lesson for Polhamus. “Having to trust the other guys on the team when we worked on the truck in a parking lot every night or trusting our navigator was crucial for our success in the race.”
Maul’s favorite moment of the trip was driving to the New England Racing Museum and getting to explore all the old race cars during a lunch stop while Polhamus enjoyed driving through the mountains of West Virginia and enjoying the views.
Koch added two more memories of the 3,300-mile roundtrip adventure. “We met ASC automotive alum Joe Asbeck, ’75, at one of our stops and were able to earn an ACE award for a perfect stage.”
Maul liked the sense of community the race gave him. “We got experiences that were close to how racing teams operate, and we did repairs on the truck on the fly. The people you meet along the race help you network for future racing jobs.”
New doors were opened for Polhamus. “Getting the experience of driving a bigger truck with a manual transmission opened up opportunities for me at job like driving our companies dump truck.”
“The goal was to finish the race,” commented Koch. “This is the largest time speed distance rally in the world. It does not get any bigger than this race. This year we worked hard to get the truck ready. Next year we hope to get more practice time and be more competitive in the race.”
