Gentlemen (and Ladies), Start Your Engines

Touring Joara takes place October 1, and raises funds for the Exploring Joara Foundation. Illustration courtesy of the Exploring Joara Foundation

Gentlemen (and Ladies), Start Your Engines

If you’re an automotive aficionado who will use just about any reason to take your prized steed for a brisk outing, dust off your driving gloves and join the pack that will be rolling up and down the mountains Saturday, October 1 in the second annual Touring Joara event, a fund-raising poker run that offers a bit of history along the way. As many as 100 cars, ranging from such European mainstays as Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, and Austin-Healey to American muscle cars and classics, are expected to participated in the daylong outing, where poker cards are picked up at various points of historic interest and the best hands wins.

“This is a fun event for individuals who are passionate about their cars and driving them, and enjoy the special camaraderie of being with other car people,” says tour coordinator Scott Coley. “And there definitely will be an interesting mix of both European and American cars.”

While rumbling exhausts and hairpin turns certainly are a primary attraction, the worthy cause and history lesson are reason for excitement. The 93-mile trek roughly follows the trail of the American Revolution’s Overmountain Men, a force of backwoods patriots who, in 1780, played a key role in the defeat of a loyalist force in the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain. But the primary purpose of the event is to underwrite the ongoing efforts of the Exploring Joara Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to the archeological study of Native American and Spanish settlements established in the Catawba and Yadkin River Valleys between 1450 and 1700. One of the five stops on the poker run is the site of Joara, a Catawba Indian town dating back to the 15th century and where, in 1567, Spanish explorers built Fort San Juan, the earliest European settlement on what became the United States mainland.

The outing begins in Marion and ends at Catawba Meadows Park in Morganton, another highly regarded archeological site being studied by the foundation. For drivers, one of the highlights is the ascension of “The Diamondback,” a fearsome 12-mile stretch of N.C. 226A that boasts more than 190 snaking curves and switchbacks that demand full attention. “This ascent is somewhat difficult and challenging, which enthusiasts really appreciate,” Coley says. “There’s also a substantial elevation change, so there is a great deal of impact and reward when you get to the top and take in the panoramic views.”

Registration ($75 per car) is open through September 23 for Touring Joara 2011, which begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 4:30 p.m. on October 1. Visit www.touringjoara.org for details, or e-mail Scott Coley at scottmci@directus.net.

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