2001 Hot Rod Virtual Power Tour - Day Three, May 5

Hey kid, maybe you'll win...        read full caption Hey kid, maybe you'll win this Chevy II! Larry Kubes (right), who's been in charge of getting this Power Tour giveaway car to all the stops, also handles Chevy's Showroom Stock Series when he's not on the Power Tour. To see a video of the car on the Tour, click on the filmstrip icon.

Getting out on the wide-open...        read full caption Getting out on the wide-open farmland freeways is a great way to clear out the cobwebs.

The rise in gas prices couldn't...        read full caption The rise in gas prices couldn't have happened at a worse time, but at least the Paxton station owners tried to soften the blow by making us feel welcome. Hey, how 'bout helping us get some sort of fuel discount next time, okay?

The photo opps were so numerous,...        read full caption The photo opps were so numerous, it seemed as if everybody had a camera in hand.

The gas stations in Paxton...        read full caption The gas stations in Paxton have never been so full nor refueled so many great-looking rods.

A huge collection of cars...        read full caption A huge collection of cars showed up at Mid America Designs, which has an ideal layout for shows.

Hypertech's free chassis dyno...        read full caption Hypertech's free chassis dyno pulls attracted a steady stream of rods all day.

Power Tour participants--can...        read full caption Power Tour participants--can you spot your car? If not, try again next year.

Hot Rod TV's Kevin Oeste (the...        read full caption Hot Rod TV's Kevin Oeste (the big guy running the show) set up a number of entertaining and edifying segments for airing in the coming weeks—stay tuned.

While shooting car features,...        read full caption While shooting car features, Jeff Koch of Hot Rod Magazine gathered a crowd of camera buffs hoping to pick up a few pointers.

Effingham's finest helped...        read full caption Effingham's finest helped out by protecting the precious metal--and wood, too.

There was plenty to see in...        read full caption There was plenty to see in the Mid America show area.

We're not sure just how many...        read full caption We're not sure just how many more rods would fit on the field, but events Mid America have drawn as many as 5,000 cars.

Mid America's museum collection...        read full caption Mid America's museum collection includes that unusual car from the movie "Corvette Summer."

The museum alone is worth...        read full caption The museum alone is worth a trip to Effingham. These Corvette Challenge and Show room Stock competitors are among the many significant and historical 'Vettes on display.

Have you ever seen an afro...        read full caption Have you ever seen an afro on a Baer? We did on the Power Tour.

Elmo & the Shades got everybody...        read full caption Elmo & the Shades got everybody into a funky groove at Mid America.

If you want to find out more...        read full caption If you want to find out more about the cow sculptures and upcoming Funfest events, go to www.madirect.com.

The crowds at Mid America...        read full caption The crowds at Mid America went wild for this stunt. When was the last time you pulled a wheelie in your pickup, and...

...fired off the exhausts...        read full caption ...fired off the exhausts (literally)? Tony Caprio (aka "The Texas Bandit"; txbandit@worldnet.att.net) does it on a weekly basis all over the country at various car exhibitions. The trick is to mount the engine as far back as possible and route the driveshaft to the rear wheels via a U-drive. As for the flaming exhausts, it's just a matter of installing some spark plugs and fuel injectors in the right places (preferably as far away from the driver as possible).

They just needed a bit of...        read full caption They just needed a bit of freshening up after blasting down the turnpike from Joliet.

Who could ask for a prettier...        read full caption Who could ask for a prettier place to hold a car show? Hope to see ya there next year.

Unfortunately, the following...        read full caption Unfortunately, the following morning, before our departure for Springfield, Missouri, the sound of screeching tires woke everybody up in the host hotel at 3:30 a.m. These were the tracks we found when the sun came up...

You can see how close these...        read full caption You can see how close these numb-nuts came to the other Power Tour participants' cars.

Note this license plate--we're...        read full caption Note this license plate--we're pretty sure this was one of the burnout dunderheads...

...see the tire flecks? Maybe...        read full caption ...see the tire flecks? Maybe he'll get a blowout and won't be able to finish the Tour (we hope).

LIST OF ALL DAYS

Just when we were beginning to think it would be hard to do much better than the trip to Joliet and the superb facilities of the Route 66 Raceway there, we made a relatively short run to Effingham, Illinois, and discovered yet another gem in the heartland. On the way there, even the gas stop was a pleasant diversion (quite a change from the venal merchants of the notorious "115 Truck Stop" we encountered the day before). In the little burg of Paxton (no connection with the supercharger company of the same name), the gas station manager made up a Power Tour welcome banner and had everything spic and span. Before we departed, Hot Rod TV set up a looonnng shot of a Tour hot rods all lined up for more of the Long Haul--stay tuned to Hotrod.com for a schedule of air times and dates. When this routine gas stop had suddenly erupted into a remarkable photo opp, and one of Paxton locals enthused, "I can't believe Hot Rod chose our town to stop--that's sooo coool!"

Mid America Designs, a premier supplier of Corvette components and other aftermarket products, had the ideal setup for the arrival of thousands of Power Tour cars, rolling out the green carpet of freshly mowed grass for us. In addition to good grub, great tunes and friendly car folks, we relished the warm nostalgia of the museum, with all sorts of classic Corvettes, collectibles, memorabilia, pins, models, and period auto decor. What an awesome place to hang out and bench race with your buddies.

After a really stellar day, it unfortunately ended on a sour note for some of us at 3:30 a.m., when a couple of a mindless Tour participants decided to do multiple tire burnouts in the host hotel parking lot right next to all the other Power Tour cars. Their antics rousted everybody out of bed, including one very irate Vic Edelbrock. Later on at the breakfast buffet and in the motel lobby we overheard a lot of complaints and grumbling from participants about not being able to get back to sleep and how those yahoos gave the Power Tour a bad name. We photographed these brain-cell challenged culprits' cars (and we were frankly surprised someone hadn't already slashed their tires for that moronic stunt). Hey buddy, that's what dragstrips are for--who are you trying to impress here--MTV's "Jackass" show? If you wanna play with dynamite go do it in your own backyard, where you'll only hurt yourself. The Hot Rod Power Tour is about high performance in every sense of the term, not substandard feats of sheer stupidity. We look forward to not seeing you at our event next year.

Next stop: Springfield, Missouri