The Green Girl weekly web column by Brenda Kruse

July 1, 2002

Formerly on FieldReporter.com

A blast from the past
 Surprise visit from the 1911 Velie on the Great Race route

The Green Girl enjoyed a real treat on Wednesday, June 19th .
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The Sharp, father and son, at the wheel of a 1911 Velie roadster in the Great Race.

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At noon that day, the 20th Anniversary Great Race rolled into her hometown of Gallup, NM for a second straight year.

While the GG was not expecting to see the famed 1911 Velie Racytype Roadster in action, she was thrilled to find it parked along the race route.

Soon the father-son driver-navigator team of Howard and Douglas Sharp of Fairport, New York, returned to the wcar for take-off. After a brief visit, the pair raced off toward the next town in hopes of placing well when the race arrived in Anaheim on Saturday.

Within one week, the cars made stops in 21 other towns across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California while en route from San Antonio to Anaheim.

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The Sharp Velie:

  • Great Race car number: 11

  • Model: 1911 Velie H1 Racytype Roadster

  • Color: Creme/Orange

  • Team Name: The Velie Rides Again

  • Driver: Howard Sharp

  • Navigator: Douglas Sharp

  • Hometown: Fairport, NY

For more information about the race, go here. You can also go see a previous Green Girl story on Velies.

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From the official Great Race press release:

"The father-son team of Howard and Douglas Sharp of Fairport, NY, nursed their 1911 Velie H1 Speedster from San Antonio, TX to not only become the oldest car to finish the Great Race, but also win the Expert division. The 92-year-old car does a top speed of 65 mph and originally cost just $600.

"After 11 years, to nurse this hunk of junk across the country and win is an unbelievable feeling," sobbed Howard. Their margin of victory was just 4 seconds over the second-place car.

The Sharps’ win means that next year they will advance to the Pro Division, dominated by Wayne Stanfield, a veteran of every running of the Great Race. He became the Race’s first five-time winner when he drove car #1, a 1934 Ford Indy Racer, across the finish line in downtown Anaheim, CA.

Sponsors of this year’s running of the Velie included the Sharp’s bike business (RV&E Bike & Skate) out of New York and the car’s original owner, the Pioneer Auto Museum of Murdo, South Dakota.

Text © 2002 Brenda Kruse. Photos by Brenda Kruse unless otherwise noted.