A Guinness World Record was set in Tulsa on Saturday for the largest classic car parade.
In the end, 3,596 classics cruised the Mother Road for the Route 66 Capital Cruise.
“Two years of hard planning for this have all paid off in this moment.” Executive Director & CEO of the Route 66 Alliance Ken Busby told KRMG just before the parade began.
He said cars came from 48 states and two foreign countries to participate in the cruise to celebrate 100 years of Route 66.
The event was hosted by Visit Tulsa, an arm of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols served as Grand Marshal.
“This achievement belongs to every driver, volunteer, organizer, business owner, and spectator who helped make today possible. It also belongs to the Tulsans who have invested in the Mother Road for more than 20 years and to the community partners – from private businesses to philanthropic organizations – who have worked tirelessly to make Route 66 and Tulsa among the very best in the country.” Mayor Nichols wrote on Facebook after the record-breaking event.
Visit Tulsa said 5,000 drivers had registered for the event, but KRMG has learned many were turned away and unable to participate.
Dallas Miller from Pryor told KRMG he waited several hours in standstill traffic trying to reach the staging area, only to lose out on driving in the parade.
He said he was in that line of cars by 7:30 a.m. and did not reach Expo Square until 11:00 a.m.
“About the time we got down there they started pulling the gate closed.” Miller said. “Really frustrating to all of us that we didn’t really get to participate after we’d already paid our money.”
According to the Visit Tulsa website, drivers were encouraged to arrive between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. with a cutoff at 10:00 a.m.
KRMG received the following statement from Visit Tulsa in response to our questions about those who were turned away from the parade.
“The window for drivers to arrive at Expo Square and stage for the parade was between 6-10:00 a.m. At approximately 11:00 a.m., the flow of cars arriving at Expo had slowed to the point that continuing to let them on the route would have created large gaps and jeopardized the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS attempt. At that point, the decision was made to cap the Cruise entrants and place the final car at the end. Everyone who registered is still a full participant and world record holder, and we are incredibly appreciative of each and every driver who took part in this unprecedented event.” -Visit Tulsa
