When the folks at the Jones Group-Merrill Lynch in Youngstown, Ohio heard that the AMSOIL / Street Rodder Road Tour was coming to their town on the way to the Syracuse Nationals they knew that they wanted to be involved. To say the least, The Jones Group boys are not your everyday stock brokers. Kurt Allen, Sid Jones and Jim Rice enjoy high performance cars and motorcycles and appreciate craftsmanship in any type of vehicle. Twenty -five years ago Kurt spent a few seasons in Florida driving around a 1952 Chevy. His father and grandfather both had a love of cars and Kurt's Dad will be joining the Tour in his freshly finished 1954 Chevy Pick-up. Sid's tastes lean toward the engineering of the early military vehicles and he is intrigued by the workmanship in today's street rods. Jim is the Harley guy of the group and spends his summer days up on two wheels. These fellows are investment advisers during the day but their passion is all internal combustion.
The Jones Group Tour begins Sunday evening July 12th at Woody's Hot Rodz in Bright, Indiana near Cincinnati, Ohio. The Woody's crew built this year's '52 Chevy hardtop and will be anxious to see how the Bow-Tie build is holding up. Sunday night's headquarters is the Argosy Hotel and Casino. On Monday morning the Tour visits SoffSeal, the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio and then Brookville Roadsters for the evening in Brookville, Ohio. Tuesday's lunch stop will be at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. There will be an afternoon visit in New Springfield, Ohio at Don Synder Jr's amazing collection of over 80 muscle cars, street rods and high performance vehicles, including the very first and last Ford Thunderbolt factory funny cars of the '60s. Tuesday wraps up with a big party hosted by The Jones Group at the Quaker Steak and Lube in Austintown, Ohio and everyone in the area is invited.
Wednesday the Tour visits Classic Automobilia in Youngstown and Fred Warren's incredible collection of street rods which includes the Smoothster and Shockwave, the winner of the 50th Grand National Roadster Show in 1999. It is then on across Pennsylvania and into New York to Corning in the Finger Lakes Region. Thursday morning The Jones Group Tour visits the famous Watkins Glen International race course where those who choose to can take some laps around the course. From there it is on to the huge Syracuse Nationals where the weekend will be spent cruising the New York State Fairgrounds with over 6,000 special interest vehicle.
It will be a wild week on the Jones Group - Merrill Lynch Tour. If you would like to join the fun go to www.streetrodderweb.com to download a registration form or call the Road tour Hotline for all the latest details.