Well, I will try to keep this as cohesive as possible, but I make no guarantees as I'm blasting tunes and slugging a few beers.

Last week was the 2019 Hot Rod Power Tour and, as the planners claimed it would be, it was the best one ever. Well, at least the best of the three I've attended. Excellent roads, nice vistas, less traffic jams at the venues, everything was properly planned except for the one thing you can't control - weather.

As Dad and I had been to Charlotte a bazillion times in the past few years, we opted to skip it and save $150 on hotel/gas/food. We headed for the HRPT's second stop - Martinsville, VA - in the middle of the night.



And shortly discovered that a '62 C10 with a Caddy big block and no overdrive can be thirsty.



We finally got some daylight as we crossed into West Virginia on I-77.



After a breakfast at Tudor's Biscuit World (best ever!), we diverted down to the town of Thurmond, WV. It is along the banks of the New River near the Gorge. Old coal town, now has a population of SEVEN, but at least they have an Amtrack station!





Rain and "too many fog" (in the words of 2004_p71) greeted us in Virginia, outside of Fancy Gap.



But we made it safely to the venue - and the rain backed off enough to enjoy watching a TON of cars pull in...


I won't post every car, or even (m)any Panthers, in this and my subsequent replies. Here are some of my favorites, or ones that have a story attached to them.




This guy Long Hauled in 2018 and 2019. He didn't have the trailer last year.




I finally met my Instagram pals in person, @amchornetgirl and her husband, @vibrolas. They drive the Vista Bruiser. Here's dad talking with Chris. We would see a lot of this car, and I'm glad for it.









Our Super 8 hotel was rather seedy, and there were a couple 'ladies of the night' around - including one who was definitely pregnant and bumming smokes. But at least our parking lot had some cool cars in it.



I particularly liked this '66 Chevy, which was a legit ex-fire chief's car. The owner was a guy named Jacob and he hailed from Louisiana. He was cool as hell.





Martinsville -> Bristol next.

AWESOME

Most of Martinsville -> Bristol leg was spent on US-58 aka 'The Crooked Road'. It didn't seem so crooked at first, but eventually got so crooked that I couldn't take pictures AND drive at the same time.



When was the last time you saw an '80s Daytona passing an AMC Eagle? This is the type of random awesomeness you'll see on Power Tour!


On 58 in Stuart, VA, we stopped at the Wood Brothers Racing Museum. What a place!






WBR let us pretty much have free reign of the building. We were back in the nooks and crannies looking at some restoration projects they'll be adding to the collection in the coming years.


I really loved these pit boards.


This car won 11 of the 18 races it entered. Winningest race car ever?


Back on the road! We made friends with the Canadians in this car in front of us later that day, as they stayed at the same Red Roof as us.


The waiting is the hardest part. Sometimes, traffic jams happen in the middle of nowhere. At least The Crooked Road was scenic for this jam.


And the traffic jams eventually ease up, anyway.


Every gas station's a burnout box waiting to happen. This little country corner was all too happy to egg us all on.




Rain came in pretty heavy about halfway through this leg.


We ended up diverting off of the road and driving a bit of Rt. 421, aka 'The Snake'. If 58 was scary, 421 in the rain was downright TERRIFYING! No pictures...I was too busy trying to hit the brake pedal on the passenger side while dad zipped around the corners.

It eventually rained so hard that we weren't allowed to make our pace laps at Bristol.


This guy got in though.


That's how it was all day - rain on and off.





More rain came in as we got to our hotel, so we went to a bar and watched Joey Logano win a rain-delayed Michigan race!!!


By the time we got out of the bar, it had dried up and beers were had in the parking lot. This ol' Merc had flame throwers that I tried to get a picture of.


Bristol -> Sparta, KY next

The road to Kentucky greeted us with much nicer weather...and a cruising partner - the Vista Bruiser!





We stopped at what I thought was a scenic overlook with a broken down truck. Turned out, the guy just stopped to take a picture of his truck.


We helped him get that perfect angle.


And I got a pic cheesin' with dad.




It's never a good feeling to come up to a sign that says TUNNEL CLOSED, but here we were...


The tunnel people, whoever they are, apparently decided to extend us a kindness and let us pass.






Never know what you'll see...


We started to get hungry and couldn't decide what we wanted to eat. I jokingly suggested that we just go to a grocery store and throw some food on top of the engine, and see if it actually cooked it. Dad was on board for the idea, so...






Kentucky Speedway was the worst venue, traffic-wise. Still, we got in without puking coolant, so that's good. And we could have cooked our dinner a little more anyway.




They were surprisingly hot all the way through! Wish the onions would have cooked down more, but there wasn't enough moisture in the foil packet. Oh well. Live and learn!


It should be noted that we later reheated pizza on top of the engine on the way to Indy, and it worked surprisingly well.

We stayed in a little town in Indiana called Madison. Charming little place right on the banks of the Ohio River. This was right outside our hotel.


So was this.


Here's the view from our balcony.


Gotta say, the Hillside Inn in Madison was the best bargain of the week. We paid $109 for our room, the view was killer, and the room was spotless. Even the continental breakfast was better than average. If you're ever down that way - skip every other hotel and just stay here.

I have too many IMG tags in this post, but here's
a crappy pano pic of our hotel view. https://i.imgur.com/RteMZJV.jpg

Sparta -> Indy next!

Remember when I said we'd see the Vista Bruiser more?

Well, they were one of our first sights on the trip to Indy.


(By the way, the owners of this car play in a killer rock 'n' roll band called Vibrolas - check them out)

I love bridges like this.


The locals in Indiana were out along the route trying to encourage bad behavior. No takers in our group, but the rubber on the road tells the tale...






Can't say I'd enjoy Long Hauling a school bus, but...this guy did it.


Found this general store on a detour in Cataract, Indiana. Sadly, it was closed for the day. Shocked that HRPT didn't make this road part of the official route.


We made it to Lucas Oil Raceway, one of my favorite drag strips in the country. Tons of grassy area, completely clean...more tracks should be like this.


This little Sprite cracked me up.




Hellcat-powered whacker!



Indy -> Ft. Wayne next!

Wish I could say that the trip to Ft. Wayne was smooth, but it was not. Indiana roads are worse than Ohio's, at least the ones we drove on. And it rained like hell and was the weirdest wind I ever drove in.

Alas, here are the few pics I took from the day. The venue got rained out, btw.





At this gas stop, I seriously wished I'd brought my winter coat. It legitimately felt like it could snow.


Then the rain let off briefly and it got a bit warmer.




We stopped at a local bar for a burger on the way around the time I took that picture. I can't remember the name of it or the town, just that it was between Indy and Ft. Wayne. Probably all for the best. Dudes in there were into the truck, Trump, and hating black people. They asked where we were staying. When I told them where, they blatantly just offered up "well, you won't have any [won't say the word] stealing your truck in town." I was pretty shocked that these guys assumed we'd just be cool with racism, but hey, whatever, go Mike Pence.

Anyway, the racism stayed behind us as we cashed out and hit the road, but the rain did not.

We saw Rutledge Wood in traffic. He was in the blue truck in front of this Petty tribute.




This truck was a favorite.


So was this vanity plate.


It finally let up by the time we got to our hotel in Auburn, Indiana.


I had the biggest pork tenderloin sandwich ever at the Township Tavern. Good food, cold beer.


Also spotted a Vibrolas fan in the parking lot of our hotel!


Ft. Wayne -> Norwalk next.

You know, I've always been a lover of all things Ohio, and every time I return from a car vacation, it seems to be PERFECT WEATHER IN OHIO. This day was no exception, and Ohio did me proud with good traffic flow and smooth roads to boot!



Dad drove and I geeked out on scenery and I didn't take any pictures until we got to Summit Motorsports Park. Can you believe that?










4-speed sleeper Buick? Yes please.




I'm gonna make a second Norwalk post in my next response, because I think I am over on [IMG] tags.

Instagram dudes @dylanmccool and @junkyarddigs rebuilt an engine in their hotel room the night before, and decided to install it at Summit.









This is @dylanmccool's Charger.


I don't think this guy Long Hauled, but it's a cool car anyway!


Racing was good all day, with a nice breeze in the stands...


4V fiesta!


I love these Can Ams.


I didn't expect to spend the entire day at Norwalk, but that's precisely what we did. Didn't go back to see the engine install, didn't watch Roadkill do a burnout, just hung out under the shade of a tree and slugged beers. Marauder Mike (you STAP 2011/Erie 2011/Detroit 2012/Cleveland 2013 folks remember him) showed up with his wife. That was good to catch up with him. Even saw some of the folks I spent much of HRPT 2018 with! Said bye to the Bruiser folks, as well as some of the other friends we made over the week...and headed home.

Cleveland looked beautiful coming home, but the blues set in pretty quickly. You're suddenly not with hot rods, muscle cars, etc. but just a bunch of regular cars. Nobody can drive and nobody cares that you're out there hustling in something cool. Once in a while you'll see someone else heading home, but overall, you're alone.



So you get home, lay low for a bit, and then you start unpacking the memories you made over the course of a week.







I know it's a week commitment to Long Haul, but I can't recommend this event enough. If you can get a week off, and can financially swing it (more on that coming in the next paragraph), you oughta put it on the bucket list. Even if you can't do the whole week, do a few days and get your feet wet. The people you meet on the road - except for the racists in that Indiana bar - are great, and the sights are just plain amazing. As Marty O once said to someone who wondered if their car was cool enough - "Come in anything. You'll be overwhelmed." Panthers are welcome and there were a ton this year. I'm planning on taking the Country Squire next year.

Alright, now the money side of this. These are rough figures, but here's the best I can figure:
$130: HRPT multi-day early registration
$768: weeks' worth of hotel stays*
$380: round-trip gas bill
TOTAL: $1278


*We didn't do the whole week, skipping the first two nights in Charlotte and heading home after Norwalk. We averaged $96/night for lodging including all taxes and fees so that's how I got that figure.

Bear in mind, this was split with my dad, so I would've been just over $600 on the debit card for a week of vacation, not counting food/drink/merch/souvenirs. Staying less than a whole week meant I was definitely under $600. Those expenses are sort of subjective and everyone does it differently - you can go out to eat, cook dinner on your engine, pack cold cuts, whatever. But bear in mind, I left with $500 cash and returned with a little over $100 in my wallet. For that $400ish, I was able to sustain myself the entire week, buy a few parts for the Thunderbird, and spend some money at various venues and roadside stops.

Is that a Pierce I spy?

In Ohio?


You've been drinking too much.

Great pics! Cool cars. I'd love to see more old Wood Brothers stuff.

But I don't see myself ever going on one of these. The idea of driving in convoys for a week makes me buggy.

I agree with this statement. Not a convoy guy. But I was able to check out the Power Tour last year when it came thru Raleigh.

Loved the pictures Adam!

And I recommend installing a kill switch on your car if you do another one. Five cars were stolen in Charlotte this year, all of similar make, model, and vintage.

Al

wow,great pics and narrative. looked like a really fun time. thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was fun to read/view along with your trip.

Trust me, I was shocked.

It really doesn't translate into a convoy. Plenty of passing opportunities, and people dip in and out of the route at will. It's just normal traffic for the most part, except all of the cars are cool.

Yep, we anti-thefted the truck at night. I know how to do it so that nobody else knows what I did. If they want to steal it, they need a flatbed.