All rodders should have a "bucket list." Here are three things that should be added to this list: attending the NSRA Street Rod Nationals, going to Bonneville for Speed Week, and visiting the Smith Collection of American Speed at Speedway Motors. During our week on the Willy's Garage Road Tour we checked off all three of these activities over a seven-day period.inline_mediumwraptextright27698116/roadtour/1002sr_the_2009_amsoil_street_rodder_road_tour_leg_51002sr_02_o+the_2009_amsoil_street_rodder_road_tour_leg_5+wheel_vintiques.jpgTrue

This year's '52 Chevy two-door began its Road Tour life at Woody's Hot Rodz in Bright, Indiana. When we decided to attend the huge Syracuse Nationals in New York on the Merrill Lynch Jones Group Tour, Woody's was the perfect place to begin the weeklong journey across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The Merrill Lynch Jones Group is a team of financial advisors based in Youngstown, Ohio.inline_mediumwraptextright31460139/roadtour/1001sr_the_2009_amsoil_street_rodder_road_tour_leg_41001sr_02_o+the_2009_amsoil_street_rodder_road_tour_leg_4+wheel_vintiques.jpgTrue

It seems like just yesterday that I climbed into a blue '33 Ford Coupe with white racing stripes and headed out on what would be a 15-year and counting adventure that would cover over 300,000 miles. Since 1996 it has been a wild ride and I still find it hard to believe that I am the lucky guy to have this job of a lifetime.inline_mediumwraptextright27138682/roadtour/2010/0911sr_2010_amsoil_street_rodder_road_tour_schedule0911sr_01_z+2010_street_rodder_road_tour_logo+.jpgTrue

Wednesday morning dawned with much better weather although the memories of the previous day's trip down the coastline were still very fresh in our memories. Everyone had managed to get dried out and there was quite a bit of money spent at the dryers in the hotel but we made it. The skies were a little overcast but the weather report called for clearing during the day. That sounded just fine to all of us.

After our Monday morning driver's meeting it was a short drive to Steve's Auto Restoration in Portland, Oregon. Owner Steve Frisbie and staff were waiting with coffee and donuts when we arrived. Steve's Auto Restoration has been known for their high quality craftsmanship for many years. Their projects have won many awards and their field of expertise ranges from high end concourse work to more recently their 1934 Ford roadster and coupe reproduction steel bodies. It was interesting to see such a wide range of projects under way. The metal work that is done at Steve's is of incredible high quality. We were also given a demonstration of the work that can be done on the huge two headed vintage power hammer. These tools are very rare and finding craftsman who can put them to good use is even rarer. Steve's is lucky enough to have both.

The NHRA Wally Parks Museum is known for its incredible collection of hot rod artifacts that tell the story of the history of our hobby. A visit to the facility on the grounds of the Fairplex in Pomona gives visitors a look at hot rodding's roots and the men and women that pioneered what has become a passion for so many of us. On display in the museum are vehicles and memorabilia that show what things were like in the early days when hot rodding was in its infancy and the sport of drag racing was born. The NHRA Wally Parks Museum is more than just a shrine to our past. Each year the museum organizes two events that showcase the cars and the activities that helped shape the hobby. In June at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky and in October at Fomoso Raceway near Bakersfield, the Hot Rod Reunion events feature vintage drag racing and attracted race cars and hot rods from those early years.

With visions of riding Bob Panella's train still dancing in our heads, we had our daily driver's meeting at 8AM on Wednesday. It was a one-hour drive to Leonard Lopez's new Dominator Street Rod facilities in Tracy, California. Leonard and the crew at Dominator had built the 2007 Road Tour McMullen's Coupe and it was great to see all of our friends at Dominator. As usual they have plenty of projects in the works and they are all first- class builds. It was informative to have Leonard spend the time to fill us in on all the details of the vehicles that are in progress at the Dominator shop.

After Sunday evening in Morro Bay the Sherm's Custom Plating Tour rolled on towards Fresno, California. The drive across California Routes 46 and 41 was beautiful with rolling grasslands and winding roads. We arrived in Fresno around noon and had time to have some lunch. Our afternoon stop was at John Lawson Motorsport's new museum. Last year one of our Road Tours had stopped at John's shop and got a look at his unbelievable collection of hot rods. He has just recently moved much of his collection into a bigger facility and it was fantastic to see the cars in the new setting. There was plenty of room to walk around the 65 cars that were on display and really appreciate that quality of each and every car. John's love for the 1932 Fords goes back over 50 years and is evident by the shear number of Deuces in his collection. The quantity is amazing but the quality of each and every "32 is what takes your breath away. As always John was a gracious host and available to answer all of our questions about his vehicles.

The Classic Automobilia Road Tour ended on Sunday September 20 at the Northeast Nationals in Burlington, Vermont. While it was the end of one Tour it was actually the beginning of my cross country journey to begin the Sherm's Custom Plating Tour which was scheduled to start five days later in Escondido California 3,000 miles from where I stood in Vermont. Over the past fourteen years and 325,000 miles I have made the crossing many times but it had been a few years since I had needed to put together three or four 800 mile days in a row. I knew the AMSOIL/Street Rodder Road Tour Chevy was up to the challenge and I felt that I still had a few long distance runs left in me so with that in mind I set my sights on the left coast and rolled out of the fairgrounds on Sunday at 3:00PM.

After our fun evening at O'Brien Truckers in Charlton, Mass we were up and rolling as Thursday was the day we arrive in Burlington. Our first stop in the morning was at Intercity Lines terminal in Brookfield, Mass. Intercity Lines is the official auto transport company of the AMSOIL/Street Rodder Road Tour. Folks on the east coast have expressed an interest in participating in our west coast Tour and vice-versa for our west coast Road Tourians. Intercity provides a way to safely and conveniently get your vehicle across long distances worry free. At Intercity we were greeted by President Dave Wilson and the Intercity staff. While enjoying coffee and donuts we were given a demonstration the care and preparation that goes into securing of a vehicle for its trip on an Intercity carriers. Their services make it possible for more folks to enjoy Road Tours across the country.

The Tuesday morning driver's meeting was exciting as we were joined by five very official and very serious Secret Service agents at the hotel where the Road Tourians were staying. They were the advance team for President Obama's visit to the local General Motors plant that afternoon. They seemed to notice our cars but definitely not a lot of chit-chat from them.

The NSRA Nationals North in Kalamazoo, Michigan proved to be the perfect kickoff to the AMSOIL/Street Rodder. The September weather was great with clear blue skies and temperatures in the high 70's each day. The fairground was covered with participants and spectators each of the three days of the event.

After our Thursday morning driver's meeting it was time to get to Wendover and the Bonneville Salt Flats. It is just a two hour drive from Salt Lake City and everyone was very excited. Interstate 80 is a long straight road between Salt Lake City and Wendover. There are salt flats along almost the entire route. About 3 miles east of Wendover the signs for the Bonneville Speedway start to appear. After exiting the freeway it is about 3 miles to what is know as "the end of the asphalt". There is a sign that tells the history of the course. Here is where the salt begins for the spectators.

At the driver's meeting the morning after our visit to The Smith Collection of American Speed Museum, we all decided that we wanted to be adopted by Joyce and Bill Smith. Everyone was still talking about the incredible collection that we had the privilege of visiting the night before.

Recently one of our sister publications, Hot Rod Magazine, published what they felt were 100 things that a car guy should do before he goes to the big race in the sky. The list included attending the NSRA Street Rod Nationals, going to Bonneville for Speed Week and visiting the Smith Collection of American Speed at Speedway Motors. This week, on the Willy's Garage Road Tour we are doing all three of these over a seven day period. Starting with the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, stopping for a visit with Joyce and Bill Smith to see the incredible Smith Collection of American Speed on the Speedway Motors grounds, and ending up in Wendover, Nevada for the final days of Bonneville Speed Week. Along the way we are making stops at Pete and Jakes, spending an evening in Cheyenne, Wyoming and visiting the headquarters of our Tour Sponsor Willy's Garage in the Salt Lake City area. Willy's Garage has recently introduced a complete line of car care products. Owner Bill Williams and the Willy's Garage crew have a great evening planned complete with a visit by master painter Charley Hutton. It is going to be a wild week on the Willy's Garage AMSOIL Road Tour.

Tuesday afternoon and evening on the Merrill Lynch Jones Group Road Tour there was a huge gathering at the Quaker Steak and Lube restaurant in Austintown, Ohio near Youngstown. Kurt Allen, Sid Jones and the Jones Group team had invited many of their clients to The Lube for the evening to see the Road Tour cars and meet the Road Tourians. Many of the local rodders also brought their vehicles out and everyone in attendance enjoyed the cars and the beautiful weather. The Quaker Steak and Lube in Austintown is right off of Interstate 80 and every Sunday evening during the summer has over 500 cars at their weekly cruise. It was another fun evening with cars and car folks on the Jones Group Tour.

The Merrill Lynch Jones Group Tour continued on Tuesday morning with a visit to the Mid-Ohio Race Course in Lexington, Ohio north of Columbus. The drive across the rural areas of Ohio's farm country was beautiful with corn as high as an elephant's eye. It is beautiful time of year in the Buckeye State. We arrived at Mid-Ohio about 10:30 as planned and were greeted by Kendall Reed from the public relations department at the track. She gave us a brief tour of the facilities and we then enjoyed a box lunch under sunny skies as a high performance driving school was being conducted on the track.

This year's 1952 Chevy two-door began its Road Tour life at Woody's Hot Rodz in Bright, Indiana. When we decided to attend the huge Syracuse Nationals in New York on the Merrill Lynch Jones Group Tour, Woodys was the perfect place to begin the week long journey across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

The Wednesday morning drive on the AMSOIL Road Tour took us along Route 2 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was a beautiful morning as we traveled along the coast line of Lake Michigan, taking advantage of the many photo opportunities. We reached the Mackinaw Bridge in St. Ignace just after noon. The lake was fairly foggy and the huge bridge loomed in the distance as we took photos at the north end before we crossed over on our way to Charlevoix, Michigan.

The NHRA Hot Rod Reunion was the final destination for the Vintage Air Tour but also the starting point for the AMSOIL Road Tour to the famous St Ignace Car Show in St Ignace, Michigan. After our Sunday morning drivers meeting the AMSOIL Tour participants headed north on I-65 and made our first stop about 90 miles up the interstate at Jason Grimes shop known simply as "The Garage".