With memories of our Mexican feast and great evening at Troy Trepanier's shop still fresh in our minds, we gathered at 7:30 AM for our morning driver's meeting. Tuesday's itinerary included lunch at the Indianapolis Speedway Museum and then on to Woody's Hot Rodz in Bright, Indiana near Cincinnati. The weather was getting better and we hardly remembered the snow of the previous day. Well, almost hardly.
While I had been to the Indy Museum a number of times, some in the group had not and we spent about two hours at the track. A ticket into the museum is very reasonably priced at $3.50 for an adult and has some great displays of early cars and significant items dealing with the history of the most famous race track in the world. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area.
From Indy the trip to Bright is just a short 2 hour drive down I-74 toward Cincinnati. Chris Sondles opened Woody's a few years ago and the Woody's crew has produced a number have high quality, high profile street rods and muscle cars. The PPG/Street Rodder Road Tour Team has been so impressed with their quality that we have chosen Woody's to build the 2009 Road Tour car. Shown to the public for the first time Tuesday evening at Woody's, work has already begun on our 1952 Chevrolet 2 door hardtop. The car and the concept will have everyone in our hobby talking. We also enjoyed some great pulled pork sandwiches with all the fixings. It was another fun evening at a very high quality build shop.
The Lokar Tour kept on rolling Wednesday morning with a stop at SoffSeal in Harrison, Ohio. Owner Gary Anderson greeted us and gave us a tour of their manufacturing facilities where where hundreds of seals and rubber gaskets are manufactured. We also got a peak at Gary's "Toy Box" which includes some great cars, toys and collectibles.
Wednesday mid morning we headed south to our evening stop in Kentucky at The Cumberland Falls State Park. As is the case with all of our Tours, we suggest a route or two to the day's destination, provide maps for the options and let each participant decide which direction they would like to travel. By this point in the week friendships had been forged and we broke into some smaller groups with some folks taking the winding route through the hills of Kentucky and others choosing the more direct Interstate route. We all ended up at the beautiful Cumberland Falls State Park and Resort by 5PM. We had booked rooms at the lodge for the evening and it was fantastic. The view from the lodge was beautiful and we enjoyed some time together to discuss the day's travels before dinner at the Lodge. After dinner we took the short drive to the Falls itself and everyone enjoyed the beauty and solitude and the area. I even got used to being out of cell phone service for an evening. The day and evening was a nice change of pace from our hectic schedule of earlier in the week.
Thursday morning we had our driver's meeting on the front steps of the Lodge. We were met by Chuck Losey owner of LeCarra Steering Wheels who had made the short trip up from their facilities in Oneida, Tennessee. Chuck led the pack as we made the one hour cruise to Oneida and the LeCarra facility. It was another beautiful drive. Chuck gave us a tour of the wheel manufacturing facility nestled in the rolling hills of Tennessee.
After our tour at LeCarra it was time to go. We were guests of honor at the Lokar 20th Anniversary party and the open house held every year at their facilities just west of Knoxville. We were greeted by owners Debbi and Skip Walls and Lokar President Rick Craze. Special parking had been set up for the Lokar Tour participants and we spent the day enjoying the food and hospitality of the Lokar Team. Over two thousand folks enjoyed the catered meal and the hundreds of door prizes that Debbi handed out during the afternoon. Cars lined the streets in all directions and by about 8 in the evening things wound down.
The weekend was spent at the NSRA Nationals South at the Chilhowie Fairgrounds in Knoxville. The PPG/ Street Rodder Road Tour tent was the center of activity for both the participants on the Lokar Tour and also everyone at the event who was anxious to get a look at the new Road Tour Speed33 Roadster and hear about our weeks travels on the road. The Lokar Tour was another great week of street rod fun on the highway. We saw some very cool shops, enjoyed some fantastic food and met many new friends. At the group photo shoot on Saturday I was surprised when I was presented with a big "Thank You" card signed by everyone on the Lokar Tour. I was also given the Indy Hi-Winders award for their club pick at the show. I truly appreciated both of these gestures.
The 2008 PPG/ Road Tour season is off to a great start. One tour is in the books and seven more are on tap. Be sure to see the details of all the Tours here at the website or in the pages of Street Rodder Magazine. Call the Road Tour hotline at 1-800-664-1362 with any question. Join us and come along for the drive. You will have the time of your life.
Jerry Dixey