Power Tour

Today on Power Tour was one of those days. One of those perfect days where we basked in the glory of the hot summer sun. We felt the warmth on our backs and raced our shadows to the next stop. Tops down, windows open, shades adorned. It was an absolutely magnificent day and we reveled in each and every glorious sun-soaked moment. Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have written this introduction in advance. It’s all part of a lifestyle change to be more efficient in everything I do. But now, it’s making me rethink my scheme to leave a week’s worth of day-labeled tuna fish sandwiches on the counter for my kids. My inability to stay ahead and keep Child Welfare Services off my back notwithstanding, today was indeed, a dark and stormy one. At the very least, it did give us a chance to show off the relentless water beading of our new CMX Ceramic Spray Coating. For Day 2 the route sent us 178 miles from Martinsville, Virginia to Bristol, Tennessee. Everyone woke up guns blazing and ready to go (well, except me, I usually misfire). This guy is always fired up. Our own Jim Holloway helms our event presence at Mothers, including our Power Tour campaigns. He works closely with the world's leading automakers, builders and aftermarket manufacturers. He never stops working. At this very moment I'm sure he's helping shape the landscape of Mothers experiential event presence. Well, either that or deciding between whether to accent a text with a grinning face with big eyes or the more innocuous grinning face with smiling eyes. The grind, it never ends. Today's route took us over Virginia's Blue Ridge mountains. At least I think that's where we went, because visibility was rather compromised (my visibility even more so, since I slept through most of the drive). At the top we were rewarded with a spectacular setting of Lover's Leap, or as certain incontinent members of our posse reimagined it, Lover's Leak. And we wonder why we can't have nice things. Thanks to our Lover's Leap relief we no longer needed a restroom break, but the thirst of our chariots knows no boundaries. While he held Charley's hose (another one - zing!), I heard Forrest had a joke about how Charley's hose is too short, but I couldn't wait around to hear it. I had to visit the restroom (I'm not an animal). Finally caught Charley in an alluring pose, and by alluring, I mean, appalling. Let's never discuss this matter again, Charley. Take a note, Charley, as Keith demonstrates how to perfect the alluring pose with the Weaver Customs K30 flattie as a muse. That or Randy Weaver may have backed into Keith right before I walked out of the restroom (please don't judge my bladder capacity). Spotted this Silverado at the gas stop. The owners were some of the unfortunate victims of a string of break ins and car thefts at the Charlotte overnight stop. This is not cool at all and I take small comfort in the power of karmic retribution. Or revenge. Brutal exacting revenge will do just fine here too. Looks like Steen was using a flash tuner to help Brian clean up the tune on his Corvette. That or he just got high score on Fortnite. I'm sorry, I almost missed his glasses. That should have read, "Asteroids." Our lunch stop is always a great chance for us to catch up and an opportunity for me to get some snaps. But today, it almost cost me my kids' college funds. I'm exaggerating, they have no college funds, but if they did, I would have lost them. Allow me to explain. This is Brian Thomson. Doesn't he look like a cuddly bear? I should clarify, he's the one not wearing a hat. Last year on one leg of the Tour, construction work forced us to stop on a rather roughly surfaced road. Out of sheer boredom, Brian asked me if I wanted to shoot him doing a burnout in his beautifully beastly red Chevelle SS. And he provided the most glorious burnout. See below. It was so glorious, that it knocked Jim's socks off (and his shoes too!). However, it also managed to knock some of the paint off the front end of Steen's beautifully beastly yellow Chevelle SS. I felt terrible and I vowed that I would never again contribute to any Power Tour carnage ever again, or until today (whichever comes first). Before I explain what happened, I want to offer this image as evidence of my defense. It's a really good picture with the slick looks of our Power Tour rides set against the gritty patina of historic Marion. All I had to do was roll everyone's cars into place. Unfortunately, I rolled Charley's 65 Riviera right into a pothole. You know what they say, if you want to make an omelette, you need to break some Roadster Shop chassis. Fortunately, no damage was done, but it didn't prevent Charley from calling me an idiot for the remainder of the day (truth be told, I've been called far worse, and that's just from my kids). We finally made it to Bristol Motor Speedway, mostly intact, save for my self-esteem (admittedly, over time, "idiot" does cut deeply). Bristol's aggressive 36-degree banking prevented us from bringing our Big Rig into the infield, so we posted up in the lot. At least our Tour cars were parked nicely, no thanks to yours truly (the wound is still fresh). Charley used his pit bike to scoot around the grounds. It also allowed him to follow me around shouting, "idiot." Who has four thumbs and is excited about the mannequin? This guy! Steen thought it'd be cute to do this with Forrest's mannequin. Forrest liked it too, mainly because, now there's another set of prints on it. One of the Week to Wicked builds from Super Chevy magazine. The Super Chevy crew was given only seven days to transform this Hugger Orange 72 Camaro with pro touring suspension and 530hp LS376. That's much more impressive than my week to wicked, which involved seven days worth of poor choices, a tramp stamp, and a lifetime ban from the Luxor in Vegas. One of the best parts about being inside Bristol (aside from ditching my idiot-calling shadow, Charley), was the hot lap action around Bristol's half-mile, big banked all-concrete track. The laps were fast. Almost as fast as Mothers Speed® Line collection of specially formulated car care products designed to provide superior results and to work faster and more efficiently than comparable products. Yes! I think I just got my conditioner back, which is a must to help tame my unruly mane. I'll leave you with another installment of the many faces of Forrest. Look at that smile. I think he's just wondering where Clarence's other two hands are. Here's Forrest explaining why Charley is completely justified to call me an idiot, for reasons beyond me parking him into a hole. And here's Forrest explaining the finer points of his mannequin. He's very passionate about it. You know, for charity. Tomorrow we’re gonna put down 293 miles to Kentucky Speedway. In the meantime, please enjoy our gallery of pics from Day 02 here. John Naderi for Mothers® Polishes•Waxes•Cleaners facebook.com/mothersusa