Power Tour

I, for one, have always believed that real men don’t need to read the directions, which explains why my Ikea furniture and any bolt-on mod I’ve ever attempted never seems to work properly and always has parts left over. Fortunately, Shane is the voice of reason (and apparently, the voice of every country song ever recorded) and for Day 5, he opted that we leave early (cutting into my beauty sleep) and follow the entire Tour route, turn-by-oftentimes confusing-turn. This meant leaving our ’59 Sedan Delivery, Brian Thomson’s 950hp LSX Chevelle and Steen Gilbertson’s ultimate-Plan-B Z06 behind in Memphis in the far-too-early wee hours of the morning. Yes, I do consider 7:00am the wee hours – beauty sleep, remember? Today, for Day 5 we partied with the people as we weaved through the lush countryside along 298.7 of the most picturesque miles ever between Memphis and Centennial Plaza in Gulfport, Mississippi. Since my back always needs to be gotten, we brought Glenn and Eli Reed along in their murdered out CTS-V sedan. Although we never really need back up, because Shane is one bad, multi-tasking Mother, as he can drive, navigate, follow the Tour directions, Snapchat with Eli, FaceTime with his girls at home, eat snacks and find the worst country music (is there any other kind?) all simultaneously. I’m pretty sure he took this picture too, but I can’t confirm, since I was probably napping at the time (I already told you people that I need my eight). I had such a relaxing time on the route today, even finding the time to eat locally with Shane and Reed boys. I’m just glad we didn’t come upon this joint on a Monday, otherwise I’d be dangerously deficient in my required daily intake of fried everything. Thank you, Whistle Stop Café, for your artery-clogging goodness. Back on the road we ran into all sorts of Tour delights – including the Kool Bus. And this old coal roller. We even spotted the Agent Orange Baja Camaro, our favorite Fury Road stunt vehicle. These guys appear to be long hauling it and by the looks of their ride, they might as well continue past Baton Rouge all the way down to the Baja Peninsula. Take a look at these two and then take a guess at what they drive. What else, but a primer black Camaro SS. I’m pretty sure I lost a prom date and found a wedgie at the hands of someone just like this. Bad to the bone personified. I’ve been staring somewhat creepily (seems to be the only way I know how) at John Bridges’ chopped up 1970 VW for the past two Power Tours. I finally had the chance to speak with him at a Shell station food mart on my way in to get more fried snacks. John owns Shadetree Machine in Middletown, Ohio. He built this one a couple years ago, with a 472ci Cadillac motor and a hodgepodge of appropriated parts that just came together perfectly. Before he started Shadetree Machine, John built motorcycles under the Shadetree Choppers name. When it came time to brand the bug, John says the latter just felt better going on the door. Couldn’t agree more as this thing is so much more chopper than machine. Some guys will do anything to stay on Tour as demonstrated by the owner of this Utah-tagged Camaro SS. Hopefully the Chevy Motor Medics helped him get off the trailer and back on the road to Baton Rouge. Otherwise, I’d hate to see that towing bill, but if I did, I’d be forced to beg Amy from Accounting to let me expense it. Did you know that the Mississippi state flag is the only U.S. flag that still incorporates the Confederate battle flag’s saltire? It’s also home to Forrest Street, but not our Forrest Tosie. Mindless trivia FTW! After 298 miles we made it Gulfport where we beached ourselves on the Gulf of Mexico. Centennial Plaza is a decommissioned VA hospital and our Power Tour takeover weaved between the abandoned buildings. I ain’t afraid of no ghost, but abandoned hospitals do freak me out a bit, which is why I quickly snapped this pic of Shane and Jim before scurrying back out to the safety of our Power Tour party. Mark Stielow is a Chevrolet engineer who builds some of the world’s finest (and fastest) pro touring Camaros. He doesn’t just swap in an LS9 engine, he incorporates the entire ZR1 drivetrain, from the brakes to the suspension on his builds. Our friend, Charlie Lillard scooped up not one, but two of these coveted Camaros. This is Charlie’s red car. Yes, I want to be like Charlie when I grow up, which is a fruitless concept, since I’m already grown up and sadly, nothing like Charlie. This Galaxie must have been running really hot. While this Camaro looked to have problems with its starter motor. Fortunately this little one was on hand to rebuild the starter all while having a Coke and a smile. Maybe she can help me figure out how to finally put together my Liatorp coffee table. This Laid-Back gasser Woodie was all sorts of right. It was nice to see this guy using our Showtime Instant Detailer to effortlessly wipe the road kill from his VW. Unfortunately Larry Kelley is going to need to a bit more than Instant Detailer to clean up his pristine ’59 El Camino. This is the aftermath of a deer getting up close and personal with Larry’s Elky. Fortunately, Larry owns Kelley’s Auto Body in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and his ’59 will live to Tour another day, too bad we can’t say the same about that deer. Our friends Jason Flamer and his wife Dana Delancey are rolling in style on the Tour in this mean looking SRT8. Shane says that this clean Volvo wagon looks like it could belong to Forrest’s nephew. If so, the kid’s got style, which makes me question if he is indeed related to Forrest. I only tease Forrest out of abject jealously as his celebrity as one of the only people to go on each and every single leg of the Power Tour has reached rock star status. This is Forrest buying dinner at Gulfport’s Blow Fly Inn for Guy and Leatha Thurman of Seymour Indiana. The reason Forrest sprang for dinner is because Guy and Leatha bid $4,000 to win an auction to dine with Forrest. All the proceeds went to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Guy and Leatha got to learn all about stoichiometric efficiency and much, much more! In all seriousness, our huge gratitude goes out to the Thurmans and Forrest for raising so much money for a worthy cause. While Forrest dined at one of Gulfport’s finest diners, drive-ins and/or dives we were treated to a tasty Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour BBQ thanks to Doug Evans. Thanks again for the good eats, Doug! Jim, Shane and I closed out the day by upping our Instagram game with some seaside pics of our ’59 Sedan Delivery. Regrettably, tomorrow is the sixth and final leg of the Power Tour where we’ll be going 169.0 miles to the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, Louisiana, just outside of Baton Rouge.