SUNI VIII Introduction

[at the beach]

SUNI VIII - September 14-18, 2026 NOTE: THIS WAS POSTED IN 2024 and MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE - SEE LATER POSTS BELOW!

2026 is the 100th anniversary of the famous Route 66. The best preserved original sections of “The Mother Road” are between Springfield, MO and Oklahoma City. We are exploring the idea that this SUNI will be a relaxed driving tour of this part of Route 66. This SUNI will span 5 days, overnighting in 4 different cities along the route. There will no autocrossing, no concours, and no traditional parts room. (more on parts later)
While Springfield and Oklahoma City are only 4 hours apart on the Interstate, we will spend 5 days cruising the route. We will hear about Route 66’s history from experts and visit Route 66 museums while exploring additional sites along the way. The daily drives will be leisurely, covering between 75 and 125 miles per day allowing plenty of time for visiting the various sites. Trailer parking is available in Joplin, in the middle of the tour. (We are trying to find more trailer parking options.)

We will be staying at four highly rated Atrium Hotels (with two nights at Atrium’s Renaissance Hotel in Tulsa to allow more time to explore the many Route 66 sites in that area). Our room rates will average a very reasonable $139 plus tax.

Participation in this event will be limited. We can block up to 100 rooms in each city with the exception of Joplin where only 80 rooms are currently available to be blocked. (So some procrastinators may end up seeking other accommodations there.) Hotel contracts will cause us to incur very significant financial penalties if we fail to fill our room block. Before we get too far along we need to get a sense of the level of interest.

Please email me at Secretary@CATmbr.org if you are interested in participating. It's just under two years away, but we need to understand now the numbers of those who would definitely attend as well as the number who probably attend.

We will the responses from those who are interested to establish an email list to help keep them informed.

Claudia Trippel

 

[slypops]

SUNI VIII - September 14-19, 2026

2026 is the 100th anniversary of the famous Route 66. The best preserved original sections of “The Mother Road” are between Springfield, MO and Oklahoma City. We are exploring the idea that this SUNI will be a relaxed driving tour of this part of Route 66. This SUNI will span 5 days, overnighting in 4 different cities along the route. There will no autocrossing, no concours, and no traditional parts room.
While Springfield and Oklahoma City are only 4 hours apart on the Interstate, we will spend 5 days cruising the route. We will hear about Route 66’s history from experts and visit Route 66 museums while exploring additional sites along the way. The daily drives will be leisurely, covering between 75 and 125 miles per day allowing plenty of time for visiting the various sites. Trailer parking is available in Joplin, in the middle of the tour. (We are trying to find more trailer parking options.)

We will be staying at four highly rated Atrium Hotels (with two nights at Atrium’s Renaissance Hotel in Tulsa to allow more time to explore the many Route 66 sites in that area). Our room rates will average a very reasonable $139 plus tax.

Participation in this event will be limited. We can block up to 100 rooms in each city with the exception of Joplin where only 80 rooms are available to be blocked. (So some procrastinators may end up seeking other accommodations there.) Hotel contracts will cause us to incur very significant financial penalties if we fail to fill our room block. Before we get too far along we need to get a sense of the level of interest.

Please reply to me at Secretary@CATmbr.org if you are interested in participating. It's just under two years away, but we need to understand the number of those who would definitely attend as well as the number who probably attend.

We will establish an email list to keep those who are interested informed.

Claudia Trippel

A definite yes. Sounds like a dream Suni event to me!! slypopsracing@netzero.net

 

[at the beach]

SUNI VIII Event Chair Claudia Trippel has been working on staging what may be the last of the SUNIs a year from this coming September. 2026 is the 100th anniversary of Route 66. Towns all along the historic route are preparing for a year-long birthday party.

This SUNI will be a driving tour over the best-preserved section of the original road. It will start in Springfield, MO, then drive to Joplin MO. The next leg will pass through a piece of Kansas and on to Tulsa OK. The final leg will end in Oklahoma City. Daily driving mileages will average about 100 miles per day. No concours, no autocross, no parts room and no competition. It will begin September 14th with our arrival in Springfield. It will depart Springfield on the morning of the 15th. It will end with two nights in Oklahoma City due to the number of attractions located nearby. There will be group dinners on the first and last nights with a group lunch along the way.

In addition to the Route 66 highlights encountered during the days driving, the night before departure we will receive a presentation by an expert on the history of Route 66. Claudia is planning to provide all participants with a Route 66 guidebook. (Its author will make himself available for autographs at one of the stops along the way.)

As the recent Tiger movie pointed out, this tour could not be done comfortably in a Cobra nor in a GT 350. But Tigers are true GTs and were designed for comfortable touring. And this will be a very Grand Tour over a very grand road.

Arrangements are being investigated for transporting cars (at the owner’s expense) from the west coast and then return as was done for the last SUNI. (We don’t yet know if TEAE will also investigate transport from the east coast and back.)

Claudia has booked 50 rooms per location. These rooms will only be available to those who have registered for the event. There will be a modest ($100) non-refundable deposit to hold a reservation. Claudia has already been approached by well over a dozen who say they will absolutely attend.

The actual registration cost has not yet been determined (but Claudia really hopes to make registration less expensive than this week’s Tigers United). The 5 nights in hotel rooms will average about $150 per night.

Trailer parking will be available at either end of the route – either in Springfield or in Oklahoma City.

Claudia has started a list of those who are interested in participating. Contact her to get on the list. (twenty are on it already)

Feel free to spread the word.