Adventurous Mini owners finally know the route they will take when they enter the biennial Mini Takes The States coast-to-coast rally. Along they way they will visit famous race tracks and great cities, and see spectacular sights—not counting the hundreds of Mini Coopers that will be swarming together again.
Mini Takes the States will begin July 9, 2016 at Road Atlanta, the world-renowned road-racing course east of Atlanta, Georgia and site of the Petite Le Mans endurance race every fall. The finishing point will be another, somewhat newer, motorsports venue, the Thermal Club at Palm Springs, California, where the dauntless Mini drivers will celebrate the end of the event on July 23, 2016.
This being a Mini event, there is no way the group will follow a straight line from east to west. Instead, Mini Takes the States will proceed more than 4,000 miles, going from track to track up the east coast, across the Great Plains, and over the Rocky Mountains to Southern California. The planned stops at racetracks along the way acknowledges Mini’s motorsports heritage that started with the original Mini and continues to this day with the current family of Minis.
“Mini Takes the States is one of the most anticipated experiences that the Mini community takes part in every other year,” said David Duncan, Vice President Mini of the Americas. “Owning a Mini is about being a part of a community and never is that more evident than during Mini Takes the States. We can’t wait to hit the road this summer!”
After the start at Road Atlanta, Mini Takes the States 2016 will stop in Charlotte, North Carolina, Richmond, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland. Then the road turns west to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Detroit, Michigan.
Mini drivers and a group of Mini employees will head north after Detroit to St. Ignace, Michigan via the awe-inspiring Mackinac Bridge. Crossing “the Mack” has great significance for the Mini community as thousands have participated in the biennial Mini on the Mack event.
After entering and crossing Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the route follows Lake Michigan’s shoreline to Green Bay, Wisconsin before again turning west to Minneapolis, Minnesota and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The next stop in the great crossing of the Great Plains is Sturgis, South Dakota, close to Mount Rushmore and home of the annual motorcycle rally that will convene a month later with as many as a half-million riders.
From South Dakota, Mini Takes the States goes south to Cheyenne, Wyoming, Park City, Utah, and Las Vegas, Nevada before ending up in Palm Springs.
Mini drivers are welcome to undertake the entire route, or just those parts for which they have the time available.
Still to be announced are the particulars on cost and lodging. Visit MiniTakestheStates.com to sign up for e-mail updates, or follow the event as it draws closer on Twitter at @MiniUSANews.
Mini Takes the States has to be a great drive and loads of fun. If only we had a Mini.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of Mini.]
