Power Tour

We wanted to start the day off with a drag race. However, our own Jim Holloway laughed so hard that he couldn’t bring our ZR1 4 MOM to line up against Shane Christman in our rented Navigator. Day 3 began with our usual posse in tow. Yeah, nothing about this group screams multiple moving violations, does it? In the lot, curious onlookers asked Ted Dzus if his big banana of a Henry J had an engine. He said yes, and popped the hood. Widespread agreement ensued. Today we left Charleston, West Virginia and made our way along 287 beautiful miles to Summit Motorsports Park at Norwalk, Ohio. It seems Shane has a bit of a barn fetish. We’re not sure if he just likes saying, “Hey, look, my barn door is open!” or he’s intrigued at the prospect of something that reads, “Male Pouch.” No, that isn’t a typo and after three days on the road, the passenger cabin of the rented Navigator is feeling a bit cramped for our tastes. We need an adult. One of the many allures of the Power Tour, and any road trip for that matter, is the opportunity to sample some exotic cuisine not offered in one’s locale. On second thought, Cracker Barrel is looking more and more appetizing. Here’s a fun fact. Our own Shane Christman won Gladiators 2000, a kid’s spin off from American Gladiators. Another fun fact was that we had to endure Shane bragging about it for 287 miles. You’d think he scored four touchdowns in a single game or something. Had this exit also featured a birthplace, home or grave of some obscure historical figure, Forrest would have been compelled to take matters into his own hands and commandeer our ZR1 4 MOM. The “Omelet Stoppe” must have picked up this sign from a Waffle House consignment sale. It might sell faster if it was an above ground version. Forrest tells us that coal-fired steam stations pulverize coal and mix it with hot air to boil water. The steam reaches temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and pressures up to 3,500 pounds per square inch in order to turn a series of giant turbine blades. The blades are connected to a generator, which produces electricity. To which Shane replied, “Did you say, ‘Turbo?’ I met him when I won Gladiators 2000.” “Now there’s a strange sight,” said the pink and green giraffe to the CTS-V Wagon. We’re gonna take a wild guess that this guy is not an Auburn fan. Call it a hunch. Not an RS, nor an SS, but a rare Camaro RS/SS. King Richard must have pulled over for a track bar adjustment or something, but that prompted every other Dodge owner on Tour to stop and offer help. This gas stop played host to Corvettes across the eras, from ’61 to ZR1. Paige Udell contemplates whether or not she can trust Forrest to mind her Hoochie Momma. We should have told Paige that Forrest couldn’t be trusted. While in his care, he let GN Gal give Hoochie Momma a Wet Willie. True story. Acclaimed shooter, Wes Allison from Hot Rod sets his sights on another winner. After lunch we encountered some heavy rain showers. Believe it or not, it came down so hard that it managed to turn this impeccably restored Chevy truck into a rust and patina special after only a few hours. True story. Two hundred and eighty-seven miles later and we reached the track. A police presence welcomed us to Summit Motorsports Park. This is one of our wildest dreams come true. While we’re on a roll, can we ask Kate Upton to bring us a sandwich now? This is Runt. It’s a 1962 Chevy II built by RPM Hot Rods for Gerry Kerna of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. The front wheel openings have been stretched, the bumpers have been tucked and smoothed. Jon Harrison from Area 51 Autoworx applied the Sikkens base and clear and the color is a Red Allure Pearl with a Sunset Bronze Mica. The Roadster Shop did the chassis with fully boxed, fabricated frame rails. Jeff Lutz Race Cars did the full chromoly cage and Smith’s Custom Seats did the custom upholstery. This is a high-caliber show car inside and out and Gerry has been beating the snot out of it on the Power Tour. You are our hero, Gerry! Check out Gerry’s Chevy II engine bay complete with a Thomson Racing 427 cubic inch LS7 that puts out 650hp. Yes, Gerry drives this one hard. Those are Billet Specialties Throttle wheels in a custom finish in an 18x12 fitment out back. Don’t worry, Gerry, when you’re ready to make it purty again you can use our Mothers Polish to bring the brilliance back to your Runt. The ’67 Chevy C-10, “The Gigolo” was also built by RPM Hot Rods for Gerry Kerna. The frame’s been filled and smoothed and tucked in with Porterbuilt Extreme Dropmembers. An AccuAir e-Level air system dumps the Gigolo down on modified Centerline Smoothies. It’s powered by a GM 6.0L LQ4 with an LS2 valvetrain. Gerry says the exterior looks like a bad eighties paint job finished in Gigolo Black. It’s purposely rough around the edges much like our approach to hygiene. Can’t remember the last time we saw a Lincoln Mark VIII that looks like this - finished in candy hue with a telling hood bulge and chrome wheels. Let’s rephrase that – we can’t remember EVER seeing a Mark VIII that looks like this. This is absolute vandemonium – a 1967 Dodge SS/V van from Ohio. This looks to be a ’61 Impala wagon towing an Impala drag car. The Tazmanian features a blown 327ci mill that makes 420hp. This father son duo came down from Michigan. Dad drives this Comet complete with bleach-charged nitrous lines aimed at the back tires, which create glorious, smoky burnouts off idle. This is what the son drives. Before he dumped the Malibu with air it ran into the low 12s. Here’s the engine in the son’s Malibu. Sadly, this is not a ZZ430 mill, only the valve covers on a warmed over 302. We were attracted to Loose Cannon, a classic looking rod. But it wasn’t the necessarily the car alone that caught our eye. Look at that trailer set up! Dad built a matching trailer with a table for four, a BBQ and an umbrella. We loved this ’54 Chevy with an LS swap. Ebony and ivory Fords in the form of a ‘34 truck and a 1929 Model A Coupe with a 350 owned by David Abell from Brevard, North Carolina. Mater is alive and well and running around Wisconsin these days. Such a beautiful 1950 Olds. Forrest just told this guy about the birthplace of Mark Twain. Poor bastard never stood a chance. The color, the stance, the Cragars – it’s all so groovy. This is Ken’s ’56 Buick Special. The chrome is all original as is the near-perfect interior. The paint is 19 years old. Impressive, even though Ken is sponsored by another car care company. That didn’t stop us from giving Ken our card as we know a little Mothers Polish can make his Buick look even better. This Nissan R35 GT-R came all the way from Colorado. We wonder how many Tour goers knew what it was. James Biller from Bloomville Seneca, Ohio bought this 1978 Ford F100 Flareside new for $5,200 on March 25, 1978 and he added the 302 Eight Cylinder Option for a mere $177.70. And now it looks like this with flames, blower, Mickey Thompsons and wheelie bars. Makes us wonder how much those options cost. Bob Cook from BL Auto Parts and his wife built this clean 1970 Mustang. The BL Auto Parts Mustang showcased a 4.6L supercharged DOHC engine from an ’03 Cobra. The engine wasn’t enough as this ’70 Mustang was fitted with the complete Cobra drivetrain in order to compete in such events as the Good Guys autocross. Bob even took his Cobra’d ’70 down the drag strip today. Bob managed an 11.8 pass even though the Hankook Ventus RS-3 tires are more suited for cornering. This 1953 Plymouth Suburban station wagon was built by Summit for Top Gear US host Rutledge Wood. Rut’s Blueprint Engines 408 ci engine makes 445hp and 500 ft-lbs of torque. No denying who’s Suburban this is with these custom Sealed 7 headlights from The Retrofit Source. This 427 Stingray Corvette has a blown 636 ci engine. The owner told us it has run as fast as a 7.70 but at Summit Point traction issues saw him pedal it to a 11.00 @ 146.38mph. This one sounded so mean going down the track. Look out. Hoochie Momma’s all jacked up on blue Gatorade and she’ll come at you like a spider monkey. Bird’s eye view of Brian Thompson’s CTS-V Wagon. Except, we would never poop on it, unlike those soulless birds. At the end of long, rainy day it’s always nice to treat our rides to a little Mothers Polish TLC. Even Forrest got into the action, but he wouldn’t honor our request to wear a white t-shirt. I spy with my little stalker camera, Michelle Turczyn from Hot Rod and Heather the bartender. Hello, ladies. We dedicate this picture to Hot Rod’s Matt Boice. We shared some time on the road together on Day One of this Tour but Matt bailed before properly earning his long hauler credentials. Matt, you say the Long Haul is weak? You're weak. We've been in this long haul business 20 years. You know why, mister? You drove a hot rod to get here. We drove an eighty-thousand dollar Lincoln Navigator. You can't play in the man's game, you can't long haul them - go home and tell your wife your troubles. Because only one thing counts in this life: Get them to Tour on the line which is long hauling. Matty Cakes, you’re hereby excommunicated from the Blue Ball Sucker club (we gotta come up with a better name). You’re dead to us… we’re just kidding. We love you. Please come back on Tour with us. And if not, we’ll always have the Cracker Barrel. Tomorrow we’ll go for a long leg (we love long legs) with a 325.4 stint to the Lake County Fair at Crown Point, Indiana. In the meantime click here to check out even more great images from Day 3.