Back in June, I was finally able to check HOT ROD Power Tour off my bucket list — sort of. HOT ROD Power Tour is the world's largest traveling car show. Approximately 6,000 hot rods drive over one thousand miles over the course of one week while making daily stops along the way. Participants have the option of registering for each annual event as a "long hauler" (long haulers drive the entire tour) or registering for a single day to join the tour at any of the stops. Spectators can usually come free of charge apart from parking fees at some of the venues. Each year's HOT ROD Power Tour always begins where the previous year's tour ended.
This year's tour kicked off at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky and concluded at ZMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. In other words, the hot rodders were cruising solely in the very hot and very humid southeastern United States. The tour came through South Carolina (where I live) and made a stop at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR's oldest major track. I arrived around noon. Upon parking my car, I immediately noticed Pilot Transport's trucks and happily remembered that I would get to see Roadkill vehicles and another famous magazine project car in person for the first time. The legendary Muscle Truck, General Mayhem, and Project X were on display for all to see at all of the 2018 Power Tour stops. Long hauler cars were just starting to trickle into the facility as I waited outside the oval to get on a small block Chevy powered shuttle and be taken to the infield of the track.
After I got off the shuttle, I began to realize the beauty of HOT ROD Power Tour. There were hot rods in every direction. Chevys, Fords, Mopars, modern muscle, classic muscle, rat rods - everything. The whole spectacle was like a hot rod-themed city. I then walked around the infield to look at some of the early arrivals, like this Jeep rat rod and other beautiful cars.
Shortly after I finished looking around the infield, I stood along the main pathway that cars were using to enter the venue and began to photograph them. In retrospect, I wish I had spent more time walking around the grounds and getting up close and personal with the cars and their owners as opposed to shooting cars coming in. Without this experience however, I wouldn't have finally realized that I need even more practice with shooting (and panning) moving objects — the cars look like they're standing still even though they're actually moving. I need to work on not entirely freezing motion.
I was able to see a lot of cars that I had previously only known through social media enter the track, like the Hot Rod Magazine Week to Wicked Chevy Apache stepside, the Whatever Hot Rods AMC Hornets, and Max Amick's LS swapped "Gutless Wagon" Chevy II Nova wagon.
I photographed these cars for a good hour or two before I forced myself to go into the garage area of the track where the vendors were. I only had a few hours left and I wanted to see (and photograph) everything there was to offer at the venue. Various automotive companies like Mothers Polishes, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Continental Tire, Pilot Transport, and Edelbrock have booths set up where participants or spectators can view or buy their merchandise. There's also a main stage in this area where awards are given out.
As I was walking through the vendor booths, suddenly, a bellowing voice over the P.A. system asked for people to clear a pathway through the lot. Chevrolet Performance, the presenting sponsor of HOT ROD Power Tour, was (slowly) coming through with a caravan of official Chevrolet owned and built vehicles, both new and old. A few of them were SEMA Show builds, including the mobile detailing kit-containing '53 Chevy Suburban, the LS3 powered '88 Monte Carlo SS (my personal favorite), the '78 K10, and the '67 C10 built for the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet trucks. Chevrolet Performance also brought out the Corvette ZR1 pace car from this year's Indianapolis 500 race and had its own booth amongst the others.
As I left the vendor area, I took a look at Jimi Day's 1969 AMC AMX with LS3 power. This unusual pro-touring build cleans up well.
This 1975 Camaro also caught my eye. The "street machine" trend from the '70s has enjoyed a recent resurgence with the help of social media — panel paint, velour interiors, fat rear tires, and jacked up rear ends are more popular than ever before.
Following my trip into the vendor area, I ventured back into the fields of parked cars to take more photos and talk to some of the owners. Initially, the plumbing in the engine bay of this G-body Grand Prix stood out. I then learned that GM F-body power lives under the hood, in the form of a turbocharged and electronically fuel injected 3800 Buick V6, unlike the carbureted 231 Buick V6s that were factory installed in G-bodies. The known-to-be durable 3800 had been running like a top since its installation, even with the added boost.
Before I knew it, the sun had begun to set. I took the last hour of my visit to walk on the race track, see Rutledge Wood's "Fundra" Toyota Tundra, and ogle the Big Fish Garage GMC Jimmy, another SEMA Show build. I finally got a bite to eat just as participants started to leave the venue and head to their hotels for the night. I took a few more photos as I wrapped up my trip and hitched a ride back to the spectator parking lot on the shuttle — after forgetting where it picked up.
All in all, I had an amazing time at the Darlington stop of the 2018 HOT ROD Power Tour. I got to see hot rods everywhere at a historic venue, talk to people about their beloved cars, and get a look at the latest performance products to come out of the automotive industry. They say that "everyone knows each other" in this industry and apart from the SEMA Show maybe, there's no better place to realize this than Power Tour. Everyone was checking out cars, meeting up with old friends, or making new ones — and that's what it's all about.
Recall that at the top of this post, I mentioned that I only "sort of" checked HRPT off my bucket list. Despite my enjoyment of the Darlington stop, I really didn't get the whole Power Tour experience. A large, if not larger part of the experience is actually driving the routes between stops, filling up at the makeshift car shows that gas station lots turn into during Power Tour, and actually cruising with other old cars. Perhaps I'll get to experience that aspect of the tour someday, but going to a Power Tour stop for my first time ever was an experience that I'll never forget.
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