A Great Win

 I’ve never claimed to be an expert on country music, but I do believe there’s a country song that’s appropriate for about any occasion.

 Sometimes, when I’m pondering the future of the old-iron hobby and of short-track racing, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” the George Jones tune, written by Troy Seals and Max Barnes, comes to mind.

 I’ve watched a couple of generations come and go in both old-iron and racing, and there’s concern in both arenas over whether the youth of today will carry on the sport and the hobby, especially given all the entertainment options available today.

 But just when I think the end is around the corner, I see signs of a bright future.

 Both the old-iron crowd and the racing world are celebrating a stunning victory in the Great Race by two young women who are regulars at Senoia Raceway.

 Sisters Olivia and Genna Gentry, ages 20 and 18 respectively, became the youngest drivers and first pair of females to win the famous cross-the-country rally event.

 The two, who grew up selling race programs at each stop of the Great Race, earned a check for $50,000, and finished just ahead of their mom Beth Knowles Gentry and their uncle Jody Knowles, who also are former Great Race winners. It was just the fourth start in the race for the third-generation Great Racers.

 The Knowles and Gentry families also are fixtures on the dirt-track scene. Olivia races Crate Late Models, and Jenna owns the Sweet Victory apparel company that sells racing-themed wear.

 Their dad, Oliver Gentry, races Limited Late Models at Senoia as does Jody Knowles. And as anyone who follows Georgia dirt racing knows, for decades it’s been rare to go to a dirt track in Georgia and not see a Knowles or two in the starting field.

  But winning a dirt race and winning the Great Race is an entirely different matter.

 The Great Race involves following a designated route and hitting check points at the precise moment.

 For the entire nine-day, 2,300-mile trek from San Antonio, Texas, to Greenville, S.C., the Gentry girls ended with a score of 41.31 seconds, which is for all practical purposes as close to a perfect score as one can get. Beth and Jody were just nine seconds back and won their class as well.

 The girls did it driving a 1932 Ford with a 21-stud flathead V-8 engine and three-speed manual transmission. Olivia, who drives while Genna navigates, said the choice of vehicles was easy.

 “That’s what Paw Paw had,” she said. Paw Paw is the late Joe Knowles, who was the family driver on the Great Race back when I first started writing about the Knowles and their participation in the event.

 I’ve always thought the navigators, Beth and Genna, have the toughest job. OIivia agrees.

 “Although I drive the car often even when we aren’t on the race, Genna’s sharp navigation skills are truly what helped us to win,” Olivia said. “Genna is very good at navigating, and thankfully we’re able to communicate well and understand each other on the fly when we’re rallying.”

 You have to admit that’s even more amazing considering those two are part of a generation that grew up using their smart phones and apps like Google Maps to navigate. Those technical marvels are handy but take all the math and thought process out of navigation on the roadways.

 Now that they’re back home in Newnan and recuperating, Oliver, Olivia and Jody are back preparing their race cars for Saturday nights at Senoia. Olivia is again working as a Realtor, and Genna is cranking back up her apparel business.

 I feel certain that, out there across America, there are some young women and men who will read about Olivia and Genna and be motivated to follow in their tire tracks.

 And old folks like me can breathe a sigh of relief that the futures of my favorite sport and my hobby are looking pretty promising.

 The shoes of those who carried us in the past are being filled.