2008 Power Tour Follow the exploits of the Club President and his wife on their adventure with the LongHaulers gang on the 2008 Power Tour.
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Today started bright and early. We picked up Northstar Camaro Club members for today's leg including Mark and Idona Williamson, Greg and Wanda Absey, Steve Moen and his girls, and former member Jarrid Roulet! It was a great drive and, as with other road trips, several stops happen. We stopped at two seperate Chevy dealerships and were interviewed for the local paper in a small Minnesota town. We'll be on the front page next week! Interestingly enough, this particular small Minnesota town Chevy dealership had an Indy Pace Car Corvette on the lot. We saw one the day earlier at another small Minnesota town Chevy dealership...what are the odds? The vendors at the ending locations know us well by now! Tomorrow is the final day which is the Long Hauler ceremony.
Day 3 from Topeka to Lincoln Nebraska featured both one of the shortest driving days but also the best weather. Warm, sunny, the tops were off the car all the way in. We got an early start to the day and were in the front portion of the group heading through Kansas. We stopped in Wamego Kansas and had breakfast, tried on Cowboy hats, and visited the Oz Museum.
We saw less Power Tour participant cars broken down today. My suspicion is that the weaker cars have already broken down during the early days of the event. We did see, for the third time, the “Medic” truck. This truck (or trucks) roam with the tour and provide assistance to drivers performing repairs on the spot. They’re painted olive drab in an army style with a white cross on them. We haven’t been able to get a picture of one yet…we come across them so quickly we’re long past once we’ve figured it out.
Back at the hotel, the parking lot was again like a car show. Most of the cars in the lot were on the tour including a few cars we ran with earlier in the day. There was a group of about ten of us running with a Nebraska State Patrol car. Speed limits were 70 and the group was aching to go faster.
Tomorrow’s trip is from Lincoln Nebraska to Ames Iowa. New routes were published to avoid recent flooding in the area. Look for you next update on Wednesday night!
Want to learn more about the Hot Rod Power Tour? Check it out at hotrod.com. Join us in Ames Iowa, Rochester Minnesota, or Madison Wisconsin. Find out how you can by contacting us at Events@northstarcamaroclub.com.
On the first driving day of the tour we met several new people. In the morning we made sure that the tour participant staying at our hotel had his 1968 GTO convertible buttoned up. He changed the throw out bearing in the parking lot with a lot of help from other Hot Rod Power Tour participants. But that’s what the Hot Rod Power Tour is all about – friendly people from all over the country helping each other so they too can make it to the next day’s hotel. Rain greeted us on the second driving day when we left the Missouri Entertainment and Event Center and we got out to the highway earlier than planned for the day’s drive. Most of our 250 miles were in the rain but it was good to know that everyone was in the same boat as us, even the T buckets with limited coverage from the elements. The terrain was rolling to flat as we made our way from Missouri to Kansas. The roads were rural and it was not uncommon to see people sitting along the road waving to the passing cars on the tour. In the small towns we passed through the streets were lined with residents that came out to see the spectacle. An event like the Hot Rod Power Tour doesn’t come through their town everyday! Our landing stop was Heartland Park near Topeka. This facility hosts drag racing and SCCA track events. As we entered the facility we were invited to have our car professionally photographed for the upcoming GM Performance Parts catalog. Hopefully we’ll make it into the printed version! Remember the early Monte Carlo convertible from previous All Chevy Shows? We bumped into him at the event. He came down on Thursday through a tornado to arrive in Little Rock. He missed our show to make this year’s Power Tour. Thousand of cars and all of the traveling vendors were on hand at today’s stopping point. The weather was sunny (finally) and warm! Back at the hotel, it was like a mini car show with most cars in the lot being from the tour. The cars attract a lot of spectators and it was a great evening. Tomorrow takes us from Topeka Kansas to Lincoln Nebraska. Look for an update on Tuesday night.
Driving Day 2 - Rain was so heavy overnight that many were awoken by the rumble. At 7:00 am, its pouring rain. Off to the morning driver's meeting. More news later!
The HOT ROD Power Tour is easily considered one of the best automotive tours in the world and is a rolling testament to what HOT ROD magazine is all about. The seven-day, seven-city tour kicks off June 7th and while winding its way through the mid-west it will generate a nationwide buzz in the automotive enthusiast market! Several Northstar Camaro Club Members are traveling on parts of or the entire tour. Watch for our week-long coverage of Hot Rod Magazine’s Power Tour from the members of the Northstar Camaro Club! Today, Sunday, was the first driving day of the Hot Rod Power Tour beginning in Little Rock Arkansas ending in Springfield Missouri. Today’s trek covered just over 220 miles through the hilly, picturesque back highways. Over 1,000 cars were staged at the Arkansas State Fair Grounds waiting to leave at 8:30 am aided a police escort to the main highway out of town. On the route, just about any muscle car was on the road. Name the make, model, and year and you can bet it was on the roads between Little Rock Arkansas and Springfield Missouri. Weather was hot and humid and several cars on the tour had heating problems when the action slowed. One accident was reported near the exit to the Missouri Event and Entertainment Center. None of the four cars involved were on the tour but were most likely distracted by the tour cars exiting. At the Missouri Event and Entertainment Center all the tour sponsors were on hand with their traveling show trailers. At the Edelbrock trailer, Vic Edelbrock was autographing posters and hats for the crowd. Activities at the Missouri Event and Entertainment Center were reminiscent of Car Craft Summer Nationals. Several thousand cars and spectators coupled with all the big names in the hot rod hobby. Our hotel, like many others in town, is full of participants on the tour. We counted over thirty cars in the parking lot proudly displaying their “Hot Rod Power Tour 2008” window decal. Tomorrow takes us from Springfield Missouri to Topeka Kansas. Look for an update on Monday night. Want to learn more about the Hot Rod Power Tour? Check it out at hotrod.com. Join us in Ames Iowa, Rochester Minnesota, or Madison Wisconsin. Find out how you can by contacting us at Events@northstarcamaroclub.com.