Dave & larry take a trip on the Power Tour
HOT ROD POWER TOUR (east coast) REPORT
· OCT. 17……………………….FITCHBURG,MA. This was day one on our run to St.Pete ,Fla. Let me start by saying the original plans were for my wife..linda..& I to do the whole trip to Fla…. plans change on the run in our house…so Dave our 15yr.old son opted to at least the first weekend segment of the tour. The weather was great for Oct. Dave & I headed over the Mohawk trail enjoying the twisting mountain roads with great fall colors. The little cobra wanted more open road than the other leaf peepers but keeping the speed down kept us warmer. The closer we got; we started seeing a few rods and custom trucks. This picked up our excitement as we helped each other ,find our way to the show. There were 500+ as far as local attendance. They handed out coupons for promotional items from all of the sponsors, the most important being the lunch ticket. It seemed a little crazy at first. We found the advantage of saving certain tickets for the upcoming stops where the headlining sponsor was. The headliner gave the best prizes. For example in Ocala,Fla. "Holly" headlined the event. They gave away a beautiful mug. At this stop we were treated to an oldies rock and roll show. · Oct. 18th ………………………. Suffern, NY. Drivers meetings got the show rolling each AM.(weather reports,rout changes,etc.) This is where the fun begins because there are wild and outrageous cars driving into the morning horizon. Everywhere you see people filming. We noticed a crew from Speedvision; Wild About Wheel and local television stations. Everyone there had a camera filming this incredible sea of cars. They must have called ahead because there were people stopped and watching at almost every overpass, amazingly all the way to St. Petersburg. The variety of cars would have made any enthusiast drool. There was everything from pro-stocks to exotics to rods to muscle cars to antiques to stocks and cars that you just couldn't believe made it out of their driveway. Some of the popular attractions were the Hod Rod magazine feature cars. Edlebrock's '67 Camaro , the first ever Camaro sold in California, drove the whole trip. Vintage Air brought a '59 El Camino along for the ride. Chevy and GMC performance parts R&D team had a '99 Vette , Brickyard Pace car Monte Carlo, '70 Chevelle with a 502 crate motor, '67 Camaro 'Z', and some other hot items(including there "Motor Medic "team). The Suffern show itself exploded to over 2500 cars by the time the sun fell over Bear Mountain. Dave and I were having so much fun; we made the decision to make the "Long Hall" as they call it. Motels were on the fly and surprisingly easy to find.
· Oct. 19th ……………………….Gaithersburg, MD. We were getting into the swing of things and starting to get into the groove of traveling with this huge group. We flying down 55 mph zone with 500 hot cars some looking to see triple digits. Watching the modified Avante blow his rear window 200 feet up into the air was a sight. The power tour found a replaced by the end of the trip. The camaraderie among the group was fabulous. Everyone seemed to be friendly and helpful to one another throughout the journey. Gas stops were…. a gas. Everyone had to show off. Linelock-burnouts,& doughnuts commonplace. A good portion of these guys were getting less than 10 miles to the gallon (running big blocks with blowers etc), while our little cobra got 30mpg. Within a few minutes a local gas station was a car show of its own, the locals everywhere were impressed. · Oct.20 ……Mooresville,Nc.…"Race City USA… This spot was great.Edelbrock fed us well.We were in a industrael park made for the motor heads.It's the home of at least 6 Nasscar teams and support buissness.Rouch Racing was our first stop and "Jack" himself was doing a tour in the shop..and he does take his hat off. Across the street Rusty Wallace …down a bit ..Sabco Racing…around a corner. Simpson safety….and also we were treated to the Nasscar Museum. Oct.21 ………………………………..Conyers,Ga. We were seasoned tour members by now ,we made several new friends. Sometimes traveling in small groups, a few were watching the weather channel at night and made a run back north.But Dave & I were happy as all our friends joked with us about driving top-less.We used the gas stops to drink hot chocolate to warm up.The show was nice in Ga….many great local rides…but we wished to visit some tracks …like Charlotte…so made this known to the editors. Oct.22 ………"Don Garlit's"museum….Ocals,Fla. This stop was my favorite Octoberfest in Ocalla by Holley. We got to meet Big Daddy , take photos, tour his museum,& have Octoberfest.Bratwurst & sauerkrat , beer , and a German band were free and not to mention acres of hot cars. Oct.23 …….…………………..Port Canaverl,Fla. Dave and I skipped this for a convenient stop to visit Grand-parents on the West Coast. But the show was as usual great. We caught up the next day , for the rap-up show. Oct.24 & 25…………………..….St.Petersburg.Fla. This was a rap-up for the "long haulers" we had a great time and recommend it as a trip of a life time .All the people we car guys …from the pro's to the old couple (in their late 60's-70's) in a new prowler. Traveling in-groups seeing people waiting to take photos, and waving to everyone was a blast. Seeing all the cars from the major sponsors and "feature show cars " on the road made the trip. So if you ever have the chance take the trip. By larry
