The Clarion Hotel is located off Interstate 94, halfway between the cities of Detroit
and Chicago in Kalamazoo. The hotel is close to the Gilmore Car Museum, AirZoo, Western Michigan University, downtown Kalamazoo, and Peterson & Sons Winery.

Team distance driving award to the Club with the most MG miles driven to the event.

Competition Rules

The object of the award is to encourage the preparation and driving of all MG’s in the long distance driving tradition of Paul Johnson.  Paul was an ardent supporter of GOF Central and the award  is also intended to promote the attendance of GOF Central by members of all GOF Central Clubs even though it may require them to make a long journey and to encourage owners of older MG’s to drive them to GOF’s.

The award will be made on the basis of miles driven to GOF Central in an MG by members of a MG Club that is a member of GOF Central.  A traveling trophy will be awarded each year to the winning club, with the club being responsible for engraving its name and the year on the trophy.  Members of the winning team will also receive individual awards recognizing their participation in the team winning that year’s Johnson Trophy competition.

The following rules will govern the Johnson Trophy competition:

• Competitors must be a member of the member Club prior to their departure for GOF Central.
• All miles driven during the trip to GOF Central will be counted.
• Points for mileage driven in an MG will be awarded as follows:
• 1 point per mile driven in a 1956 or newer MG
• 2 points per mile driven in a 1945 through 1955 MG
• 3 points per mile driven in an MG older than 1945.
• A Club can not win the trophy 2 years in a row.

Each Club will designate a leader for their team who will be responsible for gathering name, mileage and car type driven for each of their participants and submitting it to the person responsible for the award at GOF Central (Suggested form for this is attached).  Information may be supplemented by that person up to the cut-off time designated by the Host Club (suggested time not earlier than noon of the day of the Awards Banquet).  The Host Club will total the points for each Club on the basis of the information submitted by the designated person of each Club. Presentation of the trophy to the winning team will be made at the Awards Banquet at each GOF Central.  Club winning the trophy will be responsible for engraving the trophy and delivering it to the Club sponsoring the next GOF Central in time for presentation at their event.

Paul Johnson Memorial Trophy
Team Scoring Information

Download your team scoresheet below.

Team does not need to calculate scores.  It will be done by GOF person coordinating competition using the following factors:  1 for 1956-1980 MG,  2 for 1945-55 MG; and 3 for MG earlier than 1945.

Download rules and team scoresheet as a Word file or PDF file.

Valve/Rocker Cover Racing is a regular event at GOF Central meets.
Get your MG cover ready to rocker and roll!

The Course

• The course shall consist of a launch incline eight (8) feet long, followed by a level run out of twenty (20) feet.
• The launch incline shall be divided into two (2) lanes, each two (2) feet wide. The incline shall be two (2) feet high at the rearmost part and level with the course at the front edge. The front edge shall be mitered so as to provide a smooth transition from the incline to the run out area.
• The official “starting line” shall be two (2) feet from the rear edge of the incline. A mechanized starting gate may be provided.
• The run out section of the course shall consist of two (2) lanes, each three (3) feet wide. The lanes shall be clearly marked.
• The finish line shall be marked twenty (20) feet from the front edge of the launch incline.

The Cars

• The cars shall have no power source. All motive force is provided by gravity.
• Cars shall be based on an actual rocker cover or cam cover from a British automobile engine.
• Wheelbase shall be no more than twenty-four (24) inches.
• Wheel track shall be no more than fourteen(14) inches.
• Cars must have four functioning wheels, each no more than six (6) inches in diameter.

The Races

• Cars will be run in heats of two (2) cars each.
• Race will be single elimination random draw pairings.
• The cars are to be launched with their front wheels on the starting line. The first car to have its front wheels cross the finish line is the winner. If neither car makes it to the finish line, the car going the furthest wins.
• If the wheels of a car should touch the lane markers, or cross over the lane markers, the car shall be disqualified. The competing car immediately becomes the winner.
• Winning cars will advance to the next round until all are eliminated except one car.