Day Two: On the Road to Topeka

My dad and I woke up to RAIN. Lots and lots of rain. We would not be deterred! The Caprice got loaded up, and with some encouragement from some friends in a Burnt Orange Prowler, we were on our way.

The trip wasn’t as bad as the first day. We didn’t have the mountains to go through this time. So the cars on the tour had a lot easier time. My dad and I decided to leave a bit later to go with more people. And oh boy did we!

Most of the route was just two lane road. You couldn’t pass anyone, so the Tour was miles and miles long, with bumper to bumper traffic. And in the rain, everyone was a little brake happy.

We worked our way through a whole bunch of small towns where the tour was slowed down to next to nothing. But it was so much fun to see the people lining the sides of the street in the rain cheering us on. Continue reading…

The rain continued to come down through most of the little drive up to Topeka. My dad thought that we were heading to Ames already, and when he saw that we were heading to Kansas he was worried that we were heading the wrong direction. I told him that if that’s true, then the fifty cars ahead and behind us were in trouble.

Coming into Topeka the highways speed limit is 70 mph. A lot of the Tour cars were going much slower then that, so I get over in the left lane and start passing the cars. I began to notice that the cars ahead of me were the GM Performance vehicles. I then looked ahead and saw that the Power Tour lead vehicle was just up ahead! You aren’t suppose to pass the lead vehicle. So I slowed down and tucked back into the Tour.

The Tour pulled into the Heartland Raceway with no rain and just overcast skies. It was a bit cooler then the day before as well. It was going to be a great show. I got the Caprice near the vendors booth again, unloaded a few odds and ends and began the walk of the show.

With the sounds of cars drag racing just over the hill we walked up and down the rows. Just down the row from the Caprice was a sweet 68 Coronet with a 426 with a distributorless ignition system that he designed himself! It had a Chevy transmission, Ford ignition system and Dodge Neon coils. It was an incredible machine, and got 18 mpg on the way to the track.

The show was great, and with the weather turning out to be so great, cars showed up in droves. I saw a bit of everything there from Studebaker to Rolls Royce.

I made my way to the Year One trailer where Kenny Wayne Sheppard in his Duster had just pulled up. So I chatted with him for a bit about the Duster. Then we walked over to his new 72 Charger where a seal had popped out in the rear and they were replacing it right there next to the trailer. It was really cool, these two cars where heavily modified. They were both amazing and wish I could afford them.

I found JoAnn from Chicagoland Mopar Connection with her 69 Daytona at the show and it was nice to talk with her–she decided to do the tour on her own! Not only is she driving an incredible machine worth more then my life, she is doing it alone. I was amazed.

Next I found the Mopar Collectors Guide group called "MoPower Tour." They were an amazing group of people. We were chatting Mopar for probably an hour, going over the incredible vehicles they had arrived in.

We were talking and I found out that a Mopar part supplier, MegaParts of Wisconsin, is having a party for anyone on Friday for the Tour group when they come through the area. They are in Coon Valley, WI. So come on out.

I was talking to people so long that I completely lost track of time and by the time I got back to the Caprice it was after 5 pm and the drawings at the main stage were being done with. So my dad and I just found some friends, sat down and waited for the Tour to funnel out. We were there talking until 7:50 pm when they kicked us out!

It was an absolutely amazing day and I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow. You can see all my photos from Day 2 on Flickr.