Steve and Tara's Power Tour Adventures: HRPT 2019- Day 1: June 8- Concord, NC (0 miles)

When this is the first sight of the Morning, you know it's going to be a good day

One of the best things about the first day of the Power Tour is the fact that we are already at the destination. Don't get me wrong, I like the driving from venue to venue, but on the first day, we get to sleep in a little and everyone is already here. We met up with most of our Orlando group for breakfast at the hotel. Tara did what Tara does and scarfed down breakfast and went to clean off the bugs and road spray from the past 2 days of driving. Since we didn't get into Concord until last night, our first stop was the Charlotte Motor Speedway to get our Long Haul credentials. On the way out, Tara ran into a friend who was with her on a drive through the Florida Panhandle. He and his father are doing the Long Haul in a 1971 Dodge Polara.

After getting our credentials and putting the 2019 Power Tour stickers on the cars, we headed towards the ZMax Dragway which is maybe half a mile from the Speedway. Since everyone was already in town, the traffic to get into ZMax was thick with show cars. Fortunately, it was cool and breezy and there were plenty of cars to look at just sitting in traffic.

Approximate wait time from this point- 25 minutes

Plenty to see, even in traffic

We got parked (for the first time) not far from our friends Rick and Lisa from Tampa in their Dart Sport. Once parked, my dad and I went to get clocked in and walk through the vendors to pick up the MSD/Holley magnets, Edelbrock hats, and Mother's dry wash spray. The magnets are a big thing. Holley/MSD give out a magnet a day and at the end of the tour, they fit together for a unique souvenir suitable for framing (I know because I framed all of ours from the last 8 years).

The vendor midway

The vendor area also has some amazing show cars parked around it. There were 2 1969 Dodge Daytonas. These were limited production cars made solely to qualify the aerodynamics for NASCAR and they dominated it. The ones on this tour couldn't be more different, but each one is amazing to see.

Proof that you don't have to be pretty to be a cover model

Original!

Another amazing car in the vendor area was a 1950-something Imperial convertible that had been completely modified into a 2-door custom variant that is truly one of a kind. I'm sure thousands of hours were spent on customizing this thing. The attention to detail on this car was amazing. It even had a hinged back window in the convertible top that opened for more ventilation.

This may be one of the most beautiful cars I've seen

It's Plaid!!!

When my dad and I got back to the cars, Tara let us know we were moving. In true Power Tour fashion, Tara scouted for a better parking spot and found some right in front by the vendor area.

Skipping up front

Once we settled into our new space and were deciding on what to do for lunch, Chuck, Sr. and Manny from Church Boys Racing stopped to check out the Acadian. Church Boys Racing makes suspension parts for Novas. Chuck, Sr. has owned Novas for 49 years and he and he and his son, Chuck, Jr. decided they could do some things better than the factory. They built parts for their cars and then other people started asking them to make some for their cars and, voila- Church Boys Racing. Chuck, Sr. and Manny asked if we had any of their stuff on the Acadian. And, of course we did. After wearing out a set of front tires halfway through our first Power Tour in 2011, Don did some research and found Church Boys' lower control arms. Since putting those on the car, we haven't had any issues with the alignment. Tara even did an interview for them about our experience with their parts while Chuck, Sr. took a look at the front end for "quality assurance."

Chuck, Sr. making sure his parts are still good after 7.14 Long Hauls

The Church Boys' own Nova.

Lunch at the venues can be challenging. Today looked like it would be no exception. There was the track concession stand, a Bojangles chicken trailer (huge line), a hot dog/hamburger truck and a food truck that had nachos, pork sandwiches and fries. Tara and I ended up splitting chicken nachos and were surprised at how good they were.

One of the only acceptable ways to trailer a car on the Power Tour

After lunch we walked around and checked out more cars. No matter what type of car you like, it's probably on the Power Tour. From classic Mercedes SL's (V8 powered now) to OLD Ford panel vans to off-road Challengers:

Ze aristocrat's hot rod

Plenty of ventilation for the driver

For when you can't decide between a Jeep and a Muscle Car- This Challenger is "Trail-Rated"

One of my favorite sights at the drag racing venues are the people who empty their cars to lighten them before racing. Some folks, like this Plum Crazy Challenger went even further and swapped out their front street tires for "skinnies."

We ran into our friends from Texas, Ted and Lori. In addition to their GTO, their son Kyle and friend Bob were along in Ted's just finished 1973 'Cuda. They barely had time to break in the 'Cuda's 440 motor before heading out. Kyle found out that while idling in traffic, the 'Cuda's alternator doesn't turn fast enough to charge the battery and support the electronic fuel injection and A/C. This would normally be easily solved by shifting into neutral and giving it a little gas, but Kyle only found out about the issue with a nearly empty tank and in a massive traffic jam.

The Texas Twosome

The storms that they forecasted for round noon today never materialized. It seems the weather stalled out over Atlanta and, instead of raining on our Power Tour, messed up my sister's flight to Arizona.

We headed back to the hotel around 3:15 to freshen up before the hotel happy hour and then our dinner reservation at the Speedway Club. The Speedway Club is in the Charlotte Motor Speedway and membership is limited to people affiliated with NASCAR. When we stopped in Concord back in 2012, they opened it up for Power Tour Long Haulers and we managed to snag a reservation. Since then, we've been lucky enough to get in each time we come here because our friend and Hot Rod Logistics Coordinator, Lori's cousins Bob and Carol are members. Tonight we had a reservation for 20 (plus Bryson).

The best view in Charlotte

For the first time in the 4 that we've been to the Speedway Club, there were cars racing under the lights. Nothing like dinner and a show. The food was great as always. We all piled into the hotel shuttle and headed back to the hotel.

A restaurant with the best view in Charlotte

The weather held as long as it could and it started raining tonight. Before calling it a night we spent a few minutes under the hotel awning watching a supercharged Chevelle get brand new windshield wipers installed.

A little drizzle

I guess the wipers were an afterthought to the supercharged LS motor. I wonder if they had them shipped to the hotel or brought the wiper set with them

We called it a night. Tomorrow we drive to Martinsville, VA. In the meantime, here are some other pictures from today: