The Legacies
The X-Cup Legacy is about more than crossing the finish line. It is about the skills, friendships, confidence, and opportunities participants carry with them long after the race is over.
These stories show how an experience in the Great Race can become the starting line for careers, mentorship, and a lifelong connection to the automotive community.
Connor Miller
From building a Great Race car in high school to working as an engineer in the automotive aftermarket.
My involvement with the Great Race started my senior year of high school building a 1948 Ford Coupe for the 2023 Great Race. My involvement deepened through the X-Cup Program, with an X-Cup division win in 2023 and a full rebuild before the 2024 race. After competing in the 2024 Great Race in the X-Cup division, I graduated to the Sportsman division in 2025.
During my involvement with the Great Race, I have done the majority of the preparations and repairs—both roadside and in a shop—which has taught me and given me confidence with my own cars.
While I was brought up in car culture, my unique experiences in X-Cup introduced me to new mentors and taught me skills that I use every day in my career as an engineer in the aftermarket automotive field.
Matt Norman
From an 18-year-old X-Cup participant to engineer, mentor, and repeat X-Cup Division winner.
My journey with the Great Race and the X-Cup program began at 18, the summer after I graduated high school. From the very start, veteran racers welcomed us with open arms, and the X-Cup program’s commitment to engaging young participants in the hobby was both evident and inspiring.
At the conclusion of the 2017 race, I was honored to receive the X-Cup Scholarship as I was preparing to start college.
Seven years later, I had competed in four Great Races—twice as a student and twice as a driver and mentor—earning the X-Cup Division victory twice along the way. In 2021, I received a second X-Cup Scholarship, which helped me complete my final year of college and earn my engineering degree.
The Great Race and X-Cup have given me more than racing experience. They have provided lifelong memories, friendships, and connections that have shaped both my personal and professional life. Today, I work as an engineer at an automotive OEM focused on new model development while continuing to mentor and race alongside the next generation of Great Racers.
Caryl Koch IV
A Great Race experience that grew into a career teaching the next generation of automotive students.
I competed in the 2019 Great Race from Riverside to Tacoma. We were driving a 1956 Mercury Medalist after the Power Wagon had blown its engine in 2018.
The team managed to finish the race and overcome the many problems the Mercury gave us. The entire trip was 18 days and roughly 8,000 miles for us, which was by far the longest road trip I had ever taken.
After graduating from Alfred University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and Alfred State with a degree in motorsports technology, I began working with a variety of race teams. Shortly after graduating, Alfred State asked me to begin teaching in the automotive department.
Today, I am the freshman motorsports teacher and have been teaching for five years. I have led two Great Race teams with the Power Wagon, in 2024 and 2025, and both teams finished the race.
“The Great Race now means giving students the chance to take a crazy trip, meet amazing racers, join a caring car community, and hopefully have just as much fun as I did on my first Great Race.”
The Power Wagon is such an iconic Great Race vehicle, and I am honored to help keep its legacy alive while teaching students along the way.
Jack Pontius
From museum volunteer to X-Cup winner, Sportsman competitor, and lifelong automotive enthusiast.
My involvement with X-Cup began through the National Automotive and Truck Museum, where I had been a volunteer for about nine years. Through the hours I had accumulated, I was chosen to be part of the race team.
We built two cars: a 1941 Ford and a 1948 Ford. Those cars would take us on four Great Race adventures, including an X-Cup Division win in 2023.
My navigator and I then moved into the Sportsman division.
Outside of X-Cup, I earned a bachelor’s degree in management, run a NAPA store with my dad, and restore cars.
Every racer has a story that starts somewhere.
For many young participants, X-Cup is where that story begins.