Power Tour 2009: Day Eight, Long Hauler’s Rule

Power Tour 2009: Day Eight, Long Haulers Meet-up

Last night I didn’t get much sleep, for today the Power Tour came to an end. Or perhaps it was the constant smell of burning tar from the factory next door. I can’t be sure.

Getting up early, I had everything prepared the night before to make a quick exit. I got everything in the car and I was out of the hotel by 7:30 am. The gate opened to get into Bristol Motor Speedway at 8 am. The hotel I stayed at was only a few minutes from the Speedway, so I headed out with a bunch of other guys from my hotel.

Getting to the Speedway, the line was already out the gate. I guess everyone else had the same idea. The line moved quickly, and the group was in and parked in no time.

I waited for my friends from the Gearheads, Wicked Rides and MoPower Tour. And no one showed up that I could see, the Gearheads had issues with their hotel and decided just to leave today instead of hitting up the Long Haulers meeting, the Wicked Rides group did not show up at all, apparently the women in the group decided to sleep in and pushed them back so far that they decided to head back to New Jersey. The MoPower Tour I don’t know what happened. I didn’t see them at all.

Getting into the Speedway, it was incredible. The place was immense, I have never been to a stadium/speedway so large. I’ve been to Joliet Speedway in IL, and it was nothing compared to this place.

Making my way into the photo area, I ran into my friends with the orange 71 Challenger. We sat next to each other and chatted for a while, since the Hot Rod people were still setting up for the Long Haulers picture.

Hot Rod’s members had everything ready around 9 am. They gave the normal speech about the sponsors and how great everything is. They told us that the Tour will start Saturday, June 12th, 2010 next yea.

Finally they got everyone excited and took the picture of the Long Haulers. After that they did the drawings for the engines and the Hot Rod Camaro, one engine went to someone in the crowd and another to someone not there. This year a Long Hauler won the give a way car, the 2010 Camaro. That was something new.

After that, it was all over, everyone began to file out to get their Long Hauler Schwag. It looked like cattle to the slaughter. I decided just to sit in the stands and wait while everyone else made their way out. It was very odd to sit there and watch the Power Tour bus do laps of the track. That just isn’t normal!

A little bit after 10 am, the crowd had diminished enough that I won’t have to wait to get my stuff. So I walked right up, grabbed my four Long Hauler signs and made my way to the Caprice.

It was sad to be putting everything I had for the Power Tour away, no more lanyard, directions, flag, etc… Here I was about to head out to Charlotte, North Carolina all on my own. I did run into a guy from http://www.bangshift.com that I had met a few days earlier while sitting waiting for traffic to lighten up. We talked for a bit about what a great time we had, and wished each other well on the drives ahead.

The parking lot cleared and I headed out, I set the GPS on my Sister’s address and headed East. I thought I would be taking major highways all the way there, the GPS had other ideas… first of many. It took me through the tiny roads of the small towns on the route. I was going up and down mountains, my brakes began to smoke. It was not what I had in mind for a easy ride to see my sister.

On the route, I passed by a car dealer on the side of the road that had a 74 Charger out front. I pulled over and began talking with the gentleman. His friend and him were just sitting there watching the cars drive by. I struck up a conversation with the guys, and he showed me the 57 Chevy hidden inside, along with the 69 Camaro. The owner asked if I had any old cars, I said I did, a 71 Challenger, 69 Charger and a bunch of other cars.

He then mentioned that he had a 69 Charger sitting out back! He said all it was missing was the engine and transmission. I was ecstatic, he took me around back, and there sitting in the back was a 69 Charger, what looked like a mid-60’s GM and a 69 Chevrolet. The Charger was very rough, but was mostly all there. Just the engine and transmission were missing, but everything had to be replaced.

I thanked them for letting me look at the car, I got the owners name and number, then continued on my adventure. Still listening to the GPS, it was taking me through the Blue Mountain parkway I believe. It had some incredible turns. The brakes were getting hot going through there. This put me off doing the Tail of the Dragon on the way home.

Coming out of the mountains, the GPS had me go off on a little road. I listened and followed the little road, it was all twisty and looked old. I was thinking that maybe this was some sort of short cut. Oh boy was I very wrong, it was a dead end! I went almost a half hour out of my way to end up at a dead end! Pissed is not a word I use lightly, turned around and headed back to the main road.

Once there, I headed the same direction I was going before the turn. The GPS then told me another route to go on. So I thought I could trust it again, that would end badly. It was telling me to make left turns, around a single block, and it continued to do so. I only went once around, but I think it was mocking me. I finally pulled out my Atlas and mapped out the route myself.

Back on a main road, I eventually made my way through small towns and cities before coming upon Charlotte. Coming through the trees, it was similar to a movie. There, after cresting the hill, I could see the Charlotte skyline. It was very impressive.

Going through Charlotte, I passed by Bank One Stadium where the Carolina Panthers play, and worked my way to my Sister’s place.

I reached there after 6 hours, where it was supposed to have taken me just 4. My Sister was pleased to see me, but since we never visit her our there, it was odd to be here.

Tomorrow I will leave back for Chicago, a 14 hour drive back which I plan to split up into two days. The past week has been a memorable one, I will never forget the adventure and friends that experienced it with me. I just hope that next Year we can do it all again.

Thank you all for following this Blog, I hope you enjoyed reading of this little adventure. Let me know what you would like in future Blogs, and I will see what I can do to help you all out.\

To view all the pictures from today, go to the link below.
[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/hemipwr70/sets/72157619706538352/[/url]

Thanks

Ryan Brutt
HemiPwr70@aol.com
http://www.ryanbrutt.com