Hot Rod Power Tour 2018

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06-07-2018, 09:14 AM

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senor honda

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Hot Rod Power Tour 2018

You are looking at Hot Rod Power Tour 2018:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...ml#post9405850
https://steveandtarapowertour.blogspot.com/

Follow us while we explore the back roads of the southeastern US from Bowling Green to Chattanooga to Birmingham to Atlanta to Darlington to Raleigh to Charlotte. Over 6000 other cars will be joining us. 7 cities in 7 days.
------------------------------------

Steve and Tara's Power Tour Adventures A day by day blog of the annual Hot Rod Power Tour

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

HRPT 2018- REAL Blog Posts Coming Soon!

We're leaving for Bowling Green bright and early on June 8. The first real post of the 2018 Power Tour Blog will go up on June 8. There should be some great driving routes. Here's the schedule:

June 7-8: Travel to Bowling Green, KY and registration

June 9: Bowling Green, KY
June 10: Chattanooga, TN
June 11: Birmingham (Hoover), AL
June 12: Atlanta (Hampton), GA
June 13: Darlington, SC
June 14: Raleigh, NC
June 15: Charlotte (Concord), NC
June 16: The long ride home

Posted by Steve Klein at 3:03:00 PMFriday, June 8, 2018

HRPT 2018- Getting There: June 7-8- Orlando, FL to Bowling Green, KY (761 miles)

Regardless of the starting point, it seems every Power Tour trip begins with us going up I-75 through Georgia into Tennessee. It's gotten to the point where I know where each gas/restroom stop is (at least until we get out of GA).

This year a new Long Hauler from Orlando, Scott with his Orange G8 met up with us at my house and our three car caravan: Tara and me in the Acadian, my parents in my Corvette and Scott hit the road bright and early so that we could be through Atlanta before traffic got bad. We made a quick breakfast stop at the Cracker Barrel in Gainesville. This is the only time we stop at a chain restaurant and it's pretty much a carryover from when my sister lived there and we'd meet her. On the plus side, there's a gas station right next to it, so it's a two-fer since the Acadian averages 15 mpg.

There's not a ton of scenery going up I-75, but we passed this Richard Petty Experience car hauler full of NASCAR goodness.

We got to Atlanta around 3 and still spent some time watching brake lights through Downtown. The payoff was a late lunch/early dinner at the Marietta Diner in Marietta, GA. They have everything you can imagine, from breakfast all day, to sandwiches, Greek food, Italian, you name it, they've probably got it. They also have some amazing desserts. The cakes are at least 8 inches tall. They had a brownie cheesecake that looked like it had whole tray of brownies dumped on top and full brownies in the middle of the cake.

-----------------------------------------

Hot Rod Power Tour 2018:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...ml#post9405850
https://steveandtarapowertour.blogspot.com/

Hot Rod Power Tour 2017 starts here:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...ur-2017-a.html

Here's the 2016 event Coverage on Tampa Racing:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/event-coverage/824784-event-coverage-hot-rod-power-tour-day-day.html

from 2014:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...ur-2014-a.html

From 2013
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/e...ml#post9406305

from 2007:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/video-post/399624-07-hot-rod-power-tour-videos.html

from 2006: (by a Ford guy lol )
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/f...tour-pics.html

From 2005
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/f...ee-friday.html

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Last edited by senor honda; 06-17-2018 at 10:22 PM.

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06-07-2018, 09:31 AM

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senor honda

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Plenty of parking- away from regular cars

Dinner was at 440 Main in downtown Bowling Green. The food, not so much the service, last year was so good, we definitely knew we were going back. This year, both the service and food were perfect. Everyone raved over the food.

After stuffing our bellies, we slow crawled along I-75 for a bit longer then began the best part of the drive: the twists and turns up and down the mountains of north Georgia and Tennessee. The scenery is gorgeous with the mountains on one side and the river and lakes on the other. Plus, sweeping along winding highways always puts a smile on my face. It was probably a good thing Tara and I were in the lead with the Acadian. The troopers were out in full force along the mountains and it's so very tempting to really rip along those type of roads with my Corvette. My dad did a good job resisting temptation.

Finally, after 15 hours on the road, passing through 4 states and about 5 gas stops, we pulled in to the Hotel in Bowling Green.

This morning, we had breakfast at the Corner Bakery Café and then off to the car wash. Apparently, we weren't the only ones with that idea. Every bay was filled with Power Tour arrivals getting the road grime off. There were a bunch of Corvettes, one guy has a matching set of maroon convertibles, one a 1967, the other a 6th Generation), a 1970 Chevelle SS, a really nice 1964 or 65 heavily modified Nova to name a few. Car washes full of show cars is a staple sight on the Power Tour.

The A/C in the Acadian started making some odd noises towards the end of the drive to Bowling Green, so we hit Advance Auto Parts for some potential supplies, but it looks like it may just be a loose belt. I tightened it down and hopefully, that's that.

There's never enough room under the hood to work easily Then it was off to the convention center to pick up our registration packets and put the "2018" stickers on the rear windows.

Even with thousands of cars on the Power Tour, it's amazing how small a world it can be. In the hotel parking lot, a guy named Brett comes up to us and introduced himself, but he already knew our names and said his Uncle Moe told him to keep an eye out for us with the Acadian. Turns out, his dad and our friend Moe from Orlando are old military buddies. As a further coincidence, his friend is driving a highly custom and really pretty 1969 Camaro that was built by Ultimate Auto in Orlando.

Brett, his buddy Scott and a really sick Camaro

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The folks from Laid Back Garage had a welcome party/car show at the National Corvette Museum racetrack, so Tara and I headed over to see what was going on. We ran into our friends Tim, Lori and Scott, but it was extremely hot and we decided to head back to the hotel after just a few minutes. When we got back, there was a Callaway Aerowagon parked next to my Corvette. Talk about an odd car, it's basically a beefed up Z06 Corvette with a "station wagon back end." I don't know how many they made, but I know there aren't many (I think the reason why is pretty obvious).

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:43 AM.

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06-07-2018, 09:37 AM

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senor honda

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Daily blog of our adventuresJune 8 thru June 15

With our bellies filled, we drove back to the hotel and then walked between the lots of the surrounding hotels to check out the cars. It was especially nice since the weather cooled off significantly after the sun went down. Based upon the cars in the parking lots, the Power Tour is mostly Chevelles, Camaros and Corvettes. Mopars were few and far between. We saw a 1972 Challenger and one really nice 1969 Road Runner. There was a black Demon in one parking lot. With three dragstrips for tour stops this year, my guess is it won't be the only one.

Beep Beep

"I like to call him, Mini-Me."

840 horses- from the factory

Posted by Steve Klein at 7:57:00 PM

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:24 AM.

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06-14-2018, 06:06 PM

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senor honda

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Forget oceanfront, here's the spectacular view from our room

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:38 AM.

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06-14-2018, 06:07 PM

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Saturday, June 9, 2018

HRPT 2018- Day 1: June 9- Bowling Green, KY (5.5 miles)

The first day of the Power Tour is always the easiest, just a simple cruise down the street to the venue. Today's venue was the Beech Bend Raceway/Amusement park. There's only one way in down a winding 2 lane country road. For a simple, in-town drive, it was actually one of the prettiest. Fortunately, we got to the venue right when it opened. It didn't take long for traffic to back up for miles. According to posts on the Power Tour Facebook page, people were stuck in traffic for over an hour.

This was a pretty place for a little traffic

Dragstrip and a Roller Coaster!!! Once in the park, we made a bee line for the trees along the river and got a nice shady parking space.
We were quickly joined by Ron and Dustin a father and son in their 1969 4 speed Roadrunner. This was their first Power Tour. We spent some time talking and then headed to the vendor midway to get punched in and pick up our Long Hauler freebies. As usual, Mother's gave away bottles of their dry wash spray.

Shade is a wonderful thing on the Power Tour

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These guys put sunshades in their T-Tops to stop the greenhouse effect

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:14 AM.

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06-14-2018, 06:07 PM

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senor honda

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Edelbrock, Continental Tire and GM gave away hats. The GM performance tent had a 2019 Indy Pace Car ZR1 out front, in addition to some other high horsepower display pieces.

I really want one of these!! One of the most unusual items was a vintage looking Prestone Anti-freeze can. They are kind of cool, but take up some serious space in the car. We'll see whether those make it home. Prestone also had their custom, supercharged AMC Javelin on display.

I think the color is called "Anti-Freeze

This supercharged hemi was nice and tidy under the AMC's custom hood

We ran into our Mopar friends Rick and Lisa from Tampa.

Lisa from Tampa with us in front of the Power Tour bus.

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:13 AM.

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06-14-2018, 06:08 PM

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Of Course, we also got our Holley/MSD magnets, which after collecting one each day, make a full image. While we were there, they were swapping out a dual 4 barrel carb setup for their Sniper EFI fuel injection system.

It must be easy if they can swap it under a tent I also bought today's shirt that'll be my t-shirt for tomorrow. Our seasoned Power Tour travel coordinator Lori pointed out that, if I buy each day's shirt and wear them the next day, I can avoid packing a week's worth of T-shirts. This, of course, leaves extra room for all of the stuff we'll collect along the way.

Once we got all of the "trick or treating" done, we went back to our cars. Along the way, we saw three classic muscle cars with serious modern firepower under the hoods. Check out this 1967 Nova with a 660 HP LT4:

It fits and is FAST. This 1969 RoadRunner had a SRT 6.1 lurking under the hood:

Yeah, it's got a Hemi!

Once we regrouped and offloaded our swag, my dad and I decided to take the Corvette out on the dragstrip. I need to work on my starts, but with luggage and a passenger, ran 11.8 seconds a 118.6 mph. That was only .2 seconds slower than one of the Demons.

This was the best picture Tara could get--The white blur is us.
The real highlight of the dragstrip was Magnuson's monster supercharged Camaro. When it screamed down the track, everyone stopped what they were doing and took notice. It's easily a 9 second car, but ran 10s today. Another guy ran his Dodge 100 SUV(?) and it was fast.

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:11 AM.

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06-14-2018, 06:09 PM

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Faster than it looks Tara, Scott and I stuck around until late afternoon when the rain came. We had planned to drive around and look at the cars in some of the other areas of the showfield, but at that point, traffic leaving the venue was pretty backed up. When it became clear we weren't going anywhere for a while, we happened to be parked in front of the stage and the autocross course. Clarence and the guys on the stage were entertaining as always, but the real fun was watching the 4 brave souls, including one yellow Lexus IS250 who decided to use the wet autocross course for some impromptu drifting. They were on it to, except for the turn along the wall - they all eased off for that one.

Once we got out of the venue, we had a few minutes to freshen up before heading out to dinner downtown at Gerard's 1907 Tavern. We met up with Ted and Lori who have run with us on the last 3 Power Tours since we met them at one of the hotels years ago. Bowling Green certainly did not let us down when it came to food!

After dinner, we took the Acadian out for a cruise through all of the hotel parking lots. Sadly, the clouds opened back up and chased everyone inside. After a few drinks with friends we called it a night.

This way she can claim she drove on the Tour
We leave tomorrow morning for Chattanooga. Here are some other interesting pictures from the day:

1963 Mercedes (There's an LS powered Rolls Royce around too

Another tricked out Nova SS

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:08 AM.

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06-14-2018, 06:10 PM

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senor honda

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They call the '69 Charger Body a Coke bottle. This one's Root Beer Brown

For the Ford fans- custom 1967 Mustang

For the sick and demented Ford fans- 5 Torinos!!

1970 GTX- I want one.

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:06 AM.

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06-15-2018, 08:42 AM

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Scratch that- 1970 GTX and 1970 Superbird- I want two

Posted by Steve Klein at 7:40:00 PM

Sunday, June 10, 2018

HRPT 2018- Day 2: June 10- Bowling Green, KY to Chattanooga, TN (201.7 miles)

We left the hotel about 8 am this morning, which is a later start than usual. We were joined by a Kendra of the "Cruisin with Kendra" blog and her photographer. They rode with our friends Scott and Janice in Scott's custom 1962 convertible Nova. It didn't take but 5 minutes for us to miss our first turn. We left the hotel without really doing a radio check and many of our group's 2 way radios were on sub-channels which meant some of us could hear, but not communicate with each other. We got that resolved pretty quick and were on the route.
Today's route was a great one. At first we wound through 2 lane farm roads with some wide curves and small hills. The weather was cool and the views were nice. Some of the trees formed a canopy tunnel covering both sides of the road.

As always, people were along the route on the side of the road just watching the cars and waving. A Hot Rod magazine guy walked across our path with his camera. Maybe we made the magazine or at least the website.

Last edited by senor honda; 06-15-2018 at 10:03 AM.

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