Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Interstate Antique Car Race to Steer Into Area : Lancaster: Business leaders, officials lobbied for overnight stop, hoping to drive up national attention for their city.

Hoping to give the local economy a $120,000 boost, Lancaster will roll out the welcome mat Sunday as the first overnight stop on a popular cross-country antique car race.

More than a year ago, Lancaster business leaders and city officials began lobbying for a place on the route of the 12th Annual Interstate Batteries Great American Race, which runs for 14 days from Huntington Beach to Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

The payoff is Sunday, when up to 20,000 people are expected to gather on Lancaster Boulevard to watch about 80 antique cars taking part in the race. Cars must be pre-1942 models, although a few more recent classic cars may join the procession but not compete.

Race participants have reserved 300 local hotel rooms, and city leaders have organized a large festival linked to their arrival. The unusual competition is expected to bring national attention to Lancaster, which pleases city leaders.

“We have a lot of cities that bid on us coming to town,” said Butch Wilson, chief spokesman for the race. “We bring a lot of economic impact.”

Race officials say about 700 drivers, navigators, family members, contest directors and reporters usually travel with the procession.

On overnight stops, they spend more than $120,000 at local hotels, restaurants, service station and other businesses, according to race organizers. That windfall appealed to Lancaster’s hospitality industry, which has been hurt by Southern California’s economic slowdown, particularly in aerospace.

“We were trying to find a way to put heads on beds, as they say,” said Sandra Dack, executive director of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, which along with the city and the Antelope Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau helped prepare for the race.

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This year, the race reception has been combined with an annual event in downtown Lancaster. The combined festival, called “Vintage Dreams: Cars, Games and Aeroplanes,” will take place from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday along Lancaster Boulevard, which will be closed to regular traffic between 10th Street West and Beech Avenue.

Activities will include gold-panning and watermelon-eating contests, musical entertainment, and craft, game and refreshment booths and video presentations about the area’s history as a flight test center. Admission is free.

The race will wind into town at 4 p.m. The antique cars, estimated to be worth more than $5 million altogether, will be parked for public viewing along the boulevard. The drivers, who must finish each day’s route within specific time limits, are competing for $250,000 in cash and prizes.

“As much as this is a parade of old-time cars, it’s also a competition,” said race spokesman Wilson. “There’s serious money involved.”

A small antique car show for local vehicle owners is also scheduled. Jeff Heller, a 38-year-old grocery store manager from Pearblossom, will enter his restored bright red 1937 Ford Club Coupe in the local judging.

But Heller confessed, “I’m more interested in seeing the old cars that come through on the Great American Race. I think they’re the pioneers of the automobile industry, and I’ve never had a chance to check them out before or to talk to the drivers.”