Steve and Tara's Power Tour Adventures: HRPT 2019- Day 2: June 9- Concord, NC to Martinsville, VA (206 miles)

Our group of 10 cars left the hotel at 8:15 this morning. The weather was a little cloudy and it rained for part of the route, but temperatures were cool all day. I think the highest temp we saw was 71 degrees and it was in the high 60's at the venue. I'll gladly continue to trade a little drizzle to not be stuck in sweltering heat.

We managed to stay together as a group for exactly 0 turns. During the left turn out of the hotel, the Acadian sputtered and stalled midway through the intersection (more about that later). I got it restarted and we cleared the intersection and promptly lost the rest of the group who had managed to make the next right turn and a quick left with a very short turn lane arrow. Our friends Paul and Kerri in their red Olds 442 were also trying to meet us at the hotel and swung a U-Turn behind my dad. Unfortunately, my dad missed the left turn and our group was further splintered. My dad managed to catch up, but the 442 thought they were following the wrong white Corvette and turned around again.

Once most of us were on the right path, albeit a bit scattered, we caught about 10 minutes of Power Tour Induced traffic caused by another left turn light a few miles down the road. We got most of the group back at a large gas station 40 minutes or so down the road. The route was mainly 2 lane roads which took us through the Uwharrie National Forest. It was a really nice drive.

Power Tour coming through

Sunday is always one of the best days because since it's a weekend, lots of people are out on the sides of the road waving and taking pictures.

Plenty of spectators. These folks' sign reminded us that "Jesus loves burnouts"

Larry making Jesus happy.

After about 2 hours following the route, Tara and Lori started working on the lunch plan. Jake and Megan in Jake's not-so-sleeper Caprice Wagon are from the area and recommended Pano's Café. But, as we drove by and Tim and Lori and our friends Ken and Kathy (36 Ford convertible) turned to park and waved the resto of us off because the place was too full. We kept on the route and planned to meet everyone back at Beaver Creek BBQ which was just slightly off the route. It was a fine plan, but Tara misjudged where we were relative to where we were going and figured it out 25 miles past where we needed to go. At that point, there was no turning back and we, Russ, and Keith and Julie in their white Cougar just kept on driving.

We're not lost.

Once Tara stopped beating herself up for missing the turn, she found a cool lunch spot in Danville, Virginia- the Schoolfield Restaurant. Basically, it was the only other place open on a Sunday. At first, we were a bit apprehensive because there was no one there. It ended up being a really great stop. Across the street used to be the Danville Mill, a textile factory that employed most of the town. The restaurant used to be a lunch counter that served 2000 meals a day to the millworkers. In 2008, the mill was closed and ultimately torn down. The Restaurant changed hands a few years ago and the owner refurbished it, but kept the history. We had the place to ourselves and the owner and staff told us all about the place. They even gave us souvenir books about the mill (they found thousands of copies in the attic when they took over the place).

The Schoolfield Restaurant

We reserved the whole place for ourselves

2,000 meals a day served here

Part of what's left of the Danville Mill on the Dan River. There was a fence that prevented us from getting what would have been some great pictures with the cars.

Our friend Larry and his father in an orange Pontiac G8 (pictured above), skipped the lunch stop because he was planning to get a hot dog at the venue. It appears that the famous Martinsville Speedway Hot Dog is a thing.

After lunch, it was a pretty easy straight shot to our venue: the Martinsville Speedway. This may have been the easiest venue to get into in the 9 years we've been doing the Power Tour. Straight off the highway exit, they had cones designating the entry lanes to the track and we barely even slowed down before getting to our parking area. We arrived at about 3:15. This was a short route and we didn't have much traffic or many stops and it still ended up taking 7 hours on the road to get there.

Cars everywhere!!

The vendors were set up in the infield of the racetrack and my dad and I went to get clocked in, buy our daily shirts and pick up our Day 2 magnets.

Platinum VIPs got to park on the track, alas we are only Gold

We also got hot dogs because, it's a thing. They are flat priced at $2.00 regardless of whether you get it plain, with chili or STP all the way (mustard, onions, chili, and slaw). The price alone should have told me all I needed to know, but we tried 'em. They were literally red and my dad and I agreed they were possibly the worst hot dog we've ever eaten. I then bought a chili dog for Tara- she didn't seem to mind.

This is famous???

mmmmm

We stuck around the venue and enjoyed the cool weather until around 6. Then it was on to dinner at Rania's Restaurant Bar and Grill. As we left the track and continued to drive, the Acadian's stutter and stumble got worse and we nearly stalled out a few times on acceleration. At dinner, we diagnosed it as likely a bad accelerator pump. Since I've never taken a carburetor apart, we decided this was not the time to try it. Dinner service took so long, I was able to call around to find the carb I needed, take the Corvette to O'Reilly Auto Parts, buy a new Edelbrock Carburetor and get back to the restaurant before our food got cold (It was tasty though).

Outside Rania's-Downtown Martinsville

I wasn't the only one in need of parts at the last minute

Tim and I installed the new carb in his hotel parking lot. Ken, Bryson and Jake insist they "helped."

Soo shiny and new

Once the carb was straightened out, we drove the 30 miles out of town to our hotel- the Uptown Suites in Stuart, Virginia. It's a tiny little inn, but we got a 2 bedroom room that's bigger than my college apartment and is very nice.

While we had to stay outside of Martinsville (all of the hotels were booked) we are just off the Power Tour route and have a head start on the rest of the crowd. It's a fairly short run to Bristol, TN tomorrow, but it's supposed to be one of the more scenic drives.

Below are some more of my pictures. Also Russ is posting his photos to his Facebook page: Russ Muller Photography.