Texas Route 66 Motor Tour brings caravan, band and international riders to Panhandle towns

AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — The activities and events are continuing to honor the Mother Road, Route 66.

“The actual 100th anniversary isn’t until November 11th, so in reality we’re going to keep on partying till November of next year because you turn 100, you stay a hundred for a whole year, right,” said Gary Daggett, president of Old Route 66 Association of Texas.

The fifth annual Texas Route 66 Motor Tour is taking place Oct. 1 – Oct. 3 from Texola to Glenrio to honor the Mother Road.

“It’s a caravan of cars; our first preparty night is Oct. 1 in Shamrock, Texas,” said Daggett. “We have the Road Crew Band from Nashville, the official band that’s been the official band of Route 66 for a couple of decades now. It’s just going to be a fun three-day event across all of Route 66 in Texas.”

“It’s from the Texas line to the New Mexico line, and they go all out with the big parties so there’s a lot of things still going on throughout the rest of the year,” said Brittney Janssen, chamber of commerce director for Oldham County.

“The motor tour coming through it just goes to show that Route 66 not just happened last May or June, it happens all year long; in fact, in the Texas Panhandle we get it for every year that goes through,” said Bobby Lee, co-owner of the Big Texan Steak Ranch.

What makes so many of these motor caravan tours so unique is the international appeal.

“You don’t even have to have an old car; that’s something that people make a mistake about- that you have to have a classic car,” said Daggett. “We do have a lot of classic cars, but we’ve got a group of 35 motorcyclists from Australia joining us. We’ve got people in minivans, campers, RVs; you don’t have to have a classic car to be a part of the motor tour.”

More activities and events are planned to honor the mother road for the Route 66 Centennial, which means cities like Amarillo and rural communities along the highway will hopefully continue to benefit financially.

Texas Route 66 Motor Tour brings caravan, band and international riders to Panhandle towns (KVII)