Updated 8/20/14

Tennessee & Eastern Kentucky

We are now 1 week away from the 20th Anniversary of the opening of the National Corvette Museum! It's almost here!

Welcome to the 2014 Tennessee/Eastern Kentucky Corvette Caravan. My name is Roy L. Carman and I will be the Tennessee/Eastern Kentucky Caravan Captain for the 20th Anniversary opening of the National Corvette Museum. I have some information to pass along regarding the caravan to the NCM.

2014 NCM/Caravan Registration:

Registration for the NCM 20th Anniversary Celebration Caravan is now closed for online registration..

• You can still register for the caravan but it will be after the fact after you check in at themuseum.
• Road tours are different this time around as the NCM will not be scheduling the tours but having the area tourism professionals handle the tour themselves. You can schedule in person at the NCM to take part in a particular tour.
• Advanced credential pickup will start at 1:00pm on Monday, August 25th at the NCM.

Caravan Information

Due to the relatively close distance to the NCM, we will leave from the Eastern, Central, and Western parts of Tennessee on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 and meet up at our rejoin point which will be at the Kentucky Downs Racetrack off exit 2 on I-65. As there have been very few registrations in Eastern Kentucky as of this update, I request that you join up with the New England caravan if you have registered with the Tennessee/Eastern Kentucky caravan. They will spend the night in Lexington, KY on August 26th and leave for Bowling Green the next day.

Jim Willis will be leading the Western Tennessee group to our rendezvous point at Kentucky Downs. Jim will depart the Shell gas station/ convenience store, located at 12347 U.S. 64 at Collierville-Arlington Road in Eads, TN at 9:30 am. Please plan to be there at 9:00am for staging and any last minute items. Jim will proceed East for about 130 miles on U.S. 64 with a lunch stop possibly at Waynesboro, TN before the caravan gets on Natchez Trace. The caravan will turn right onto the ramp for the Northbound Natchez Trace Parkway and drive about 72 miles. The caravan will then exit Natchez Trace via the TN 100E and TN 251 for about 7.6 miles. Then I-40 for about 8.4 miles and then I-65 for 37.5 miles to arrive at Kentucky Downs.

John Killebrew will lead the Eastern Tennessee group from the Knoxville area. He plans to depart the Flying J Travel Plaza, located at Watt Road in Knoxville at the I-75/I-40 exit #369 at 9:00am. After departure, he plans to take the caravan West on I-40 to the Lebanon exit# 232. From there, he will travel on State Route #109 through Gallatin, TN to U.S. 31W Northbound to Kentucky Downs. There has been a slight chante in the route due to construction at the Kentucky Downs Racetrack. John will have more information on that.

In the Central Tennessee area, I plan to head down to Murfreesboro, TN to meet up with caravan participants at the Pilot Point station located at 2441 South Church St., Murfreesboro off of exit 81 around 12:30pm. Please plan to be there around 1:00pm and be ready to depart at 1:45pm. We will leave there and head up I-24 to Nashville and then up I-65 to the exit 92 to meet up with the Nashville locals at Cornerstone Church parking lot located on 726 W. Old Hickory Blvd off exit 92 on I-65. I plan to arrive around 3:00pm and leave around 3:45pm for Kentucky Downs Racetrack. Other registrants, that are local to Bowling Green, can plan to meet us at Kentucky Downs for the parade lap at the NCM. Please be there by 4:30 to 5:00 pm.

At this time, we will leave the rejoin point at 5:30 pm and arrive at the National Corvette Museum with the Arkansas Caravan and South Texas Caravan at the 6:00 pm time slot. That means all cars will have to be in position at Kentucky Downs by 5:00 pm at the very latest. Please note that all times are Central except for the Knoxville caravan.

Please note that ONLY registered participants will allowed to participate in the parade lap around the NCM. However, anyone that hasn't preregistered, can still go. What I will do is take your name and turn it in the NCM. It will then be up to you to settle up with the museum. After the parade lap is done, continue on to your hotel and whatever you have planned as it will be impossible to return back to the NCM due to the amount of road traffic. The museum will close at 7:00pm but registration will continue until 8:00pm.

One other thing to pass along to everyone. Corvette America has sent me some window static clings to attach to your windshield during the caravan. What they ask is that you take a picture of your Corvette with the window cling in place along the route or at the NCM event. Post the picture on the Corvette America's Facebook page or email it to . Deadline for submission is Tuesday, September 2, 2014. Winner will be drawn Friday, September 5, 2014and will receive a $2500 gift certificate from Corvette America. I will send the window clings along with the participant decals to the local leaders for distribution.

Flag and Static Clings

At this time, I do not have any plans to mail any flags or clings to participants. You pick them up at the rejoin point at Kentucky Downs.

2014 E. Kentucky/Tennessee Volunteers

Assisting me in this endeavor will be Jim Willis and John Killebrew. Jim will be the local leader for Western Tennessee and will be the leader for the caravan into the rejoin point. John will be the local leader for the Knoxville area and will lead the Corvette Caravan into Kentucky and meet up with the Western Tennessee group at the rejoin point at Kentucky Downs. If you have any questions regarding registration or want to assist Jim, John or myself, please contact one of us and we will do our best to answer your questions. Jim can be contacted at . John can be reached at . I can be reached at . I can also be reached at . We will do all that we can to make this best Corvette Caravan for you in 2014.

Roy L. Carman
E. Kentucky/Tennessee
Caravan Captain

Please make sure you are signed up to keep current on National Corvette Caravan news:
    

Roy Carman