2017 Hot Rod Power Tour ®

In 2017, I was lucky enough to join my dad and brother on the 2017 Hot Rod Power Tour. We did do the entire long haul for the tour, but I’m only posting pictures from a few of the days.

Day 1

The first stop on the tour was my parents home town of Kansas City. We did not get to stay very long that day due to the very hot temps, however it was a great taste of what we would be enjoying at the end of every day from here on out.

Day 2

Day two of the Power Tour was a 260 mile drive from Kansas City, Missouri to Newton, Iowa. This was our first real taste of the Power Tour.The best part of this day was the huge crowd that had formed in Waverly, Missouri. This was our first experience of pulling into a gas station and seeing nothing but hot rods around us. That will always be awesome. When we got to Newton Iowa, however the winds were unbelievably strong. Just like the previous day, we didn’t stay there very long due to the dirt that was blowing around. They had a very good turnout with some very cool cars. Overall, a fantastic day.

Day 3

Day three had us driving from Newton, Iowa to Davenport, Iowa. We had a nice short drive after the long day previously. The best part of the day was when we stopped at a little gas station along the way, and just watching the tour drive by. Our car is the black 1936 Chevy Coupe (Picture #7) This was also when we started to realize that the masses of people showing off their cars along the side of the road, would keep happening along the entire length of the tour. A lack of traffic control later in the day lead to us having a 30 plus minute delay getting to the show.

Day 4

On Day four we left Davenport, Iowa an headed to Champaign, Illinois. Our first unofficial stop of the day had us heading off the tour directions to stop at a friends garage to see their absolutely mint Ford Mustang. Everything down to the paint markings on the drive shaft and spring retainers was factory. Shortly after lunch we ended up stopping at this awesome garage and took a picture in front of it. The turnout at the end of the day was one of the biggest for the entire tour. There were tons of cars of all ranges, and even a mobile dyno setup running cars.

Day 5

I woke up right as the sun was coming up for day 5. There were four hotels around us so every single car when you looked around was a hot rod. I ended up taking 240 pictures today, most of them in the hotel parking lots. This was one of my favorite moments of the entire trip. The grind of the 7 cities in 7 days was really starting to hit on day 5 as we made our way towards the race track near East St. Louis.

Day 6

For day 6 we left Madison Illinois and headed straight east towards Indianapolis, Indiana. The day went by fairly quickly as there was a decent amount of highway driving, and also because we would be ending the day at my brothers house. Just like the day before, day 6 was all about drag racing. After the drag racing they did have a decent burnout contest.

Day 7

The final day had us driving through two lane roads through the hills of Kentucky. It was pretty fascinating to see the varieties of communities and houses that we passed along the way. The worst part about the narrow roads is that we were pulling a trailer behind my brothers truck and the roads were barely big enough to fit the trailer. The reason for the trailer was for a quick return to Indianapolis. After we received our metal signs for getting all 7 time stamps, we could load up our ’36 Chevy and get back to my brothers house. Overall this was an amazing time that I will never forget. Hopefully I’ll get to do this another time in the future.

If you enjoyed this, please check out my other posts, such as Maui, or Split Rock Lighthouse. Hot Rod®, and Hot Rod Power Tour® are registered trademarks of MOTOR TREND GROUP, LLC. All Rights Reserved.