Thursday, June 5 – Friday, June 6
“More Rain, More Pain”
The drive from Shreveport to Arlington was supposed to be a nice easy drive across I-20. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the Honorary Amateur Meteorologist. We had rain. Lots of rain. Enough rain to cause cars to go directions they were not intended to go.
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It was ugly! We heard tales of crashed Corvettes, mini-vans, and we saw this non-Tour car, which, while crossing the median, dug the nose in and flipped into our lanes.
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We happened upon it before the fire, rescue or police arrived, but everyone looked okay (thank goodness). Seeing an accident like this dampened my appetite, but not Gary’s.
Too bad I paid for those low-cal, healthy donuts. Luckily, he left some for me.
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Running through East Texas, we found a really choice Chevy II Nova wagon in our favorite color, red.
Not too shabby, eh?
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After accidents and traffic, it was nice to arrive at the Ball Park at Arlington, where the Texas Rangers play. Unfortunately, there was no celebration for completing the Tour, just more rain. The ’59 looked kinda lonely out in the lot.
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Even the guys from Comp Cams looked lonely without anyone to talk to.
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About the only thing happening was the local NBC affiliate’s news chopper circling the venue.
At least he didn’t have to set up a display in the rain.
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Of the entire Tour, the biggest letdown was probably my inability to race Doc Riley on the Bar Fly stools. Since they don’t run rain tires, the track was quite the empty place.
Darn my luck. I’ll get Doc next year!
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Finally, some of the other Tour cars pulled-in. Here’s our old friend Mike Kent of Weld Wheels in his first car, a 1969 Cougar.
Lookin’ good, Mike.
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Remember the flamed mini-van from last year? Well, Al and Dawn were back, with Dawn sporting flamed hair for this year’s wild (read, childless) Tour. They left the kids back in Ohio for some quality time together. Al even found Hot Rod writer Steve Magnante for an autograph.
Steve, always the gentleman, obliged with a picture, too.
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On my way to the stage for my last presentation of the tour, I spotted Batman’s nemesis, Catwoman, prowling around. The guys from Hot Rod TV found her first.
No fair! They never stopped to film me! What’s she have that I don’t have? (Aside from the long hair, I suppose.)
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There was a huge crowd on hand for the finale. After Tom Ryan of Primedia presented retiring Jon Moss of GM Performance with a hot-rodded rocking chair, it was my turn to wow the crowd.
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I started with a follow-up e-mail from our lonely Danielle, who was searching for her boyfriend yesterday. Doc reduced the crowd to tears with his emotional, touch-filled, reading:
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 07:32:16 -0400
From: Blondeangl---@---.com
To:
Subject: Re: true love
Thank you so much — it means so much to me. I went on the website this morning and I read it and then scrolled down and saw Kevin and I got happy, and then sad because I wanna be there, and I’m sad. I wanna see him so much. Thank you so much. I can’t stop cryin’ I’m so happy and sad. . .
Sincerely Danielle
I called Kevin out of the crowd for a pair of matching Mothers T-shirts for him and Danielle. I hope they wear them many years together.
Isn’t love grand?
Then, it was time for my resignation as Honorary Amateur Meteorologist, since I couldn’t seem to get the forecast right, even though no one seems to mind when the guys on television get it wrong (and they get paid for it!).
A “Bucket o’ Wax” later, my official time as a Power Tour sponsor was over, and I was free!
A little bit o’ walking, a little bit o’ talking and the day ended. Tomorrow we finish up, and then I’ll head off to the airport to see the kids, who have some great report cards to show me!
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Friday morning dawned to what has become more of the usual — rain. Looking out from the balcony of my spacious hotel room, I saw Tour cars covered in Mother Nature’s finest.
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Note that swell little bronze-colored Gremlin in the front row. . .
Nope, you don’t see many like that any more.
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The line at the hotel was long with Tourers waiting to check out so they could head back home. Some of them looked rather tired.
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Back at the venue (the Ball Park at Arlington), I gave the lot one more looksee before heading for the airport. There were cars I had seen for a week but never had a chance to check out.
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Like, this 1966 Bonneville. . .
A rare Pontiac that Dave and his 6th grade daughter Megan drove from Indiana.
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And this 1964 Acadian Beaumont from SoCal, with Crazy Dave and Sonny handling the wheel. . .
It’s a Canadian cousin to the Chevrolet Chevelle, sold under the Pontiac brand.
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Those crazy Cutting Brothers from Detroit had that 427 Caprice last year that was a little — shall we say — rough around the edges. Well, they finished it up with paint and a new interior this year. Here’s a picture from Shreveport the other day. . .
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And the interior. . .
Tim and Dan must be getting soft in their old age.
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Sissy, from Louisiana, came on the Tour in her Corvette by her lonesome because her hubby couldn’t get off work. In addition to being every man’s dream (blonde hair, blue eyes, great smile, and a RED Corvette), she has impeccable taste in car care products.
Trust me, she had plenty of offers for a co-driver!
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Hidden in the back lot was an interesting truck — an SS540 Lingenfelter pick-up. What started life as a 454SS Chevy became John L’s first pick-up build-up. Cloaked in black, the hood covered a really impressive motor,
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which was even more impressive when you looked at the plate attached to it. . .
Yeah, that’s 705 horses, Bunkie. It runs high-11s while weighing 4,750 pounds. Remind me to quit picking on pick-ups.
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After 8 days of travel, it was time to head home. For those of you who inquired, no I didn’t burn my feet this year (thanks to Bob and Shadow’s generous donation of Bull Frog sunblock). Here’s the proof:
Those are tan marks, not a sunburn — I did good!
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I’ll rest up tonight and finish the epilogue some time this weekend. There are about 30 hours of sleep I lost this past week or so, and I plan to get it all back this weekend, in-between softball and baseball games for the kids.
Check back Monday, It’ll be worth it.
It was good for me! I hope it was good for you, too.
Your humble and obedient servant,
Forrest Tosie
Mothers® Polishes•Waxes•Cleaners
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2003 Cruise Night Schedule
Friday, May 30
Gaylord Opryland Resort
Nashville, Tennessee
Saturday, May 31
Desoto Civic Center
Memphis, Tennessee
Sunday, June 1
The Fairgrounds and Coliseum
Jackson, Mississippi
Monday, June 2
Fair Grounds Race Course
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tuesday, June 3
Lake Charles Civic Center
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Wednesday, June 4
Red River Raceway
Shreveport, Louisiana
Thursday, June 5
and Friday, June 6
The Ball Park in Arlington
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
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