While not located on Route 66, America’s Transportation Experience in Hershey, PA is celebrating the Mother Road in an iconic way. The East Coast Centennial Celebration runs from May through November and features vintage cars, Route 66 signage, artifacts from the Southwest, interactive installations, and more. There is even an audio interactive featuring excerpts from Professor Gretchen Sorin’s renowned book, “Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights.”

Notably, America’s Transportation Experience is home to the world’s largest collection of Tucker cars and artifacts, making it a must-see for car and Route 66 enthusiasts alike.

For more information about the East Coast Centennial Celebration and AACA, click here.

Inland Empire 66ers Celebrate Route 66 Heritage by Championing the Extraordinary Women Grant Program

Along the original alignment of Route 66 in San Bernardino—located in California’s Inland Empire, about an hour east of the Santa Monica Pier—you’ll find a number of iconic Mother Road landmarks. Among them is the beloved Inland Empire 66ers baseball stadium.

For Joe McIntyre, account executive for the 66ers, the team’s connection to Route 66 is more than just a name—it’s part of the region’s identity. “In 2003, we were looking to rebrand from our motto of horses,” Joe says. “We used to have the largest car show west of the Mississippi in San Bernardino, and car culture is still really big.”

The 66ers' name and branding pay tribute to San Bernardino’s deep ties to Route 66. The team is one of five Minor League Baseball clubs located along the historic highway. “When the Cars movie came out in 2006, there was an immediate spike in our popularity,” Joe says. “We remodeled a big section of the stadium, including the bar, to look like a garage along Route 66.”

Today, the 66ers’ connection to the Mother Road goes far beyond marketing. The organization sees itself as part of a broader effort to preserve the legacy of Route 66 and invest in the people who keep it alive. Through a growing collaboration with the Road Ahead Partnership, the team is actively supporting the Route 66 Extraordinary Women Grant program—an initiative that recognizes and assists women-owned/operated businesses and attractions along the road. Fans and community members are invited to stand alongside the 66ers by supporting this grant program and helping uplift the women whose work keeps the spirit of Route 66 thriving today—click here to show your support for the Extraordinary Women Grant program.

By working with the Road Ahead Partnership to spotlight this grant program, the 66ers are helping extend the impact of Route 66 well beyond the ballpark, connecting fans to current-day stories of resilience, creativity, and community along the Mother Road. “I see how the railroad history is lost in San Bernardino, and I don’t want the same to happen to Route 66,” Joe says. Supporting programs like the Extraordinary Women Grant is one way the team is helping ensure that doesn’t happen.

According to Joe, many locals don’t realize just how significant Route 66 once was. For years, San Bernardino was an important stop on the Mother Road, with travelers often spending the night before continuing on to Los Angeles. In the 1950s especially, Route 66 played a major role in supporting the local economy. “Route 66 isn’t passed down by generations through oral tradition. If it wasn’t for our baseball team, my kids wouldn’t know what Route 66 was,” Joe says jokingly.

To Joe, the spirit of Route 66 is really about the journey itself. “Slow travel is lost on us these days,” he says. In many ways, he believes baseball and Route 66 share something fundamental. Both are deeply rooted in Americana and nostalgia, part of the country’s cultural identity. For Joe, the Inland Empire 66ers are more than a baseball team; through their partnership with the Road Ahead and their support of the Extraordinary Women Grant program, they are part of an ongoing journey—honoring the past, empowering people in the present, and helping ensure Route 66’s story continues into the future.

The 2026 season for the Inland Empire 66ers began in April. Buy your tickets to the next game here.

Daniel Nemec is a software developer and head of PR and marketing at SCS Software, where he oversees a multinational team of 430 people. Bartosz Moskala is a software developer who joined the SCS team last year. Together, they’ve been working on American Truck Simulator’s latest road trip edition featuring Route 66.

This marks the first time Route 66 has been recreated in the video game industry—just in time for the Centennial. The route was modeled state by state using real-world references, including Google Street View, satellite imaging, and truck footage. The goal is to make the environment feel as authentic as possible: more desert terrain in the Southwest, greener landscapes in the Midwest, and accurate details like traffic signs and road surfaces.

American Truck Simulator was originally released in 2016, following the massive success of Euro Truck Simulator. “People want to see what it looks like to drive in America,” Daniel says. “Our audience is mostly from countries where the profession of truck driving is popular.” Daniel and Bartosz also emphasize the game’s generational appeal: a son might pick up the game if his father is a truck driver, wanting to experience what it’s like and follow in his footsteps.

Because truck driving remains a highly in-demand profession, American Truck Simulator also encourages players to consider it as a career. The game’s audience now reaches nearly 28 million users, primarily between the ages of 15 and 35.

As Daniel and Bartosz point out, Route 66 is to Europeans what the Eiffel Tower is to Americans—an iconic symbol of U.S. history and culture. Daniel, who is based in Prague, notes that the Czech Republic is heavily influenced by biker culture, with many people importing Harley-Davidsons. As a car enthusiast, his dream is to one day drive the full length of Route 66. In that sense, American Truck Simulator offers a way for anyone who dreams of traveling the route—or taking a classic American road trip—to experience it as authentically as possible.

Learn more about American Truck Simulator here.

Centennial Speaker Series: Foodways on Route 66
May 12

Join author and historian T. Lindsay Baker as he dives into the diners, restaurants, and sweet treats that bring flavor to Route 66. From its start in 1926 to the interstate era, he’ll share the stories of the eateries that fed generations of travelers along the Mother Road.

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 3: Route 66 Traveling Exhibit

May 4: Missouri’s Main Street: 100 Years On Route 66

May 5: First Day Of Issue Stamp Dedication

May 8: Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

May 14: Telling The Missouri Route 66 Story - Alberta’s Motel

May 16: A Celebratory Evening At Ccma

May 29: Route 66 Festival Triathlon

May 30: World Record Classic Car Centennial Parade

And Remember to Join the Route 66

Centennial Birthday Party Club!