LEWISTON — Marvin Bennett wasn’t in it for the race, until he pulled up to the line at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Half of Team Power Couple, Marvin handled the driving duties in the Rally North America trip through New England.

Wife Sally Bennett acted as navigator and chief puzzle-solver for the pair. Teams got clues at each stop about where to go next and had to figure out the next stage’s destination and the fastest way to get there on their own.

She said the rally was a nice vacation. It’s a fun road trip away from their South Carolina home and a chance to scout out some nice places to visit.

Marvin, 66, agreed.

“They say if you stop for lunch, you’re out of it,” he said. “Well, we usually stop for lunch, but some don’t. Some people are really serious.”

It seems that most of the 77 other cars and teams participating in the rally Thursday shared the Bennetts’ attitude. There were plenty of brightly painted muscle cars that looked plenty fast, but there were just as many stock family vehicles.

Most racers treated it like a nice, three-day driving trip, a spot of adventure and a chance to connect with friends — both passengers in their own cars and competitors in other cars.

It’s the fourth year for Rally North America, but the first time it’s come through New England. Each team pays a $225 registration fee, plus all of the costs for their cars, fuel and nightly hotel rooms. Their place in line is determined by how much money they raise for charity from sponsors, friends and family. This year, the rally collected donations for Camp Sunshine, a Casco camp devoted to kids with serious medical conditions.

The rally started Tuesday in New York, winding its way to Rutland, Vt. That’s where they started Wednesday, crossing the finish line at Casco’s Camp Sunshine on Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday, they reset and started from Lewiston’s Simard/Payne Memorial Park — 78 shiny and decal-covered cars rumbling along the park’s walking path, waiting for the green flag to go.

At the front of the line, they learned their next stop: Oxford Plains Speedway. They had to complete at least one run on the speedway’s drag strip before they’d get clues to their next destination.

They didn’t have to win at drag racing, Marvin Bennett noted; they only had to finish one run.

“But some people really take the racing part seriously,” he said. “They’d spend the entire day at the speedway if people let them. They’ll go again and again, until someone tells them to go home.”

The Bennetts’ car, an enhanced 2012 Volkswagen Golf, isn’t built for speed. It has a lot of power, but the magic is in the handling.

“I can stop on a dime and tell you the date printed on it,” he said. “You feel every bump.”

Bennett watched as muscle car after muscle car raced down the drag strip, engines roaring and wheels smoking, until it was his turn. He pulled alongside a white muscle car and waited for the flag.

“This ought to be an interesting race,” he said, as he pulled up to the line. “I guess I better turn off the air-conditioning.”

Then, things changed, and so did Bennett’s demeanor. The flag dropped and the Bennetts’ vehicle pulled out, slightly ahead of its competitor. First gear, second gear and almost into third, things looked good.

And then they didn’t. The white car pulled ahead easily and Bennett fell far behind.

“For some reason, the clutch got stuck when I stepped on it,” Bennett said. “I couldn’t shift. Still, I did pretty good for having a stuck clutch.”

A later inspection showed that an interfering floor mat was the culprit. Bennett adjusted it, and the pair plotted out their next destinations — the Owls Head Lighthouse south of Rockland, then Stockton Springs, Bangor’s Paul Bunyan statue and on to Canada. The final destination was Market Square Boardwalk in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

Sally Bennett seemed as pleased to be on her way. There were plenty more sights to see and clues to figure out. Plus, they had a lot of miles to make before they could call it a day and she had research to do.

“We have a long way to go, but we’re not in a hurry,” she said. “This isn’t ‘Survivor.’ Nobody is going to get kicked off the island.”

The rally is structured to be mostly noncompetitive. First-, second- and third-place winners are noted each day. But winning honors excludes you from winning on other days.

Teams also can win awards for having the best costumes and themes. Philadelphia-based Team Cream — Troy Krichman, Frank Figarole and Phill Marchini, all 27 — built their entire experience around 1993’s “Jurassic Park.” It included a Jeep CJ painted to match the movie’s vehicles, accurate costumes and many props.

“I spent at least an hour a day on the Internet looking for this stuff,” Krichman said. “I made these outfits. I got the vest; I found the patches and the ID badges and a lot of other stuff and was like, ‘Yep. I gotta have it.'”

staylor@sunjournal.com