Hot Rod Power Tour 2010 Coverage - Day 2

We have just finished day two of the Hot Rod Power Tour in downtown Springfield, Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. But we didn’t make it here without some trouble. We left Newton, IA, on Saturday evening, hoping to avoid some nasty storms headed our way. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to avoid them completely. Our group managed to catch the end of a tornado on the way, along with some serious rain, hail and one of the craziest lightning storms we had ever seen. But we did make it, and Sunday morning dawned sunny and beautiful – the kind of weather that’s perfect for Power Tour.

The downtown venue was a great place for the locals to come by and visit all of the vendor booths and check out the hot rods parked on the streets. Today was our first Kids’ Sidewalk Chalk Contest. We had the kids draw right on the roads and walkways in downtown Springfield. Our winner was awarded a special child’s t-shirt and coloring book. She also had her name announced on the main stage that evening. Our second Adult Big Wheel Race took place today and drew a big crowd. It was even funnier than yesterday’s contest. You can see from our pictures below that all of our contestants had fun and scored some very nice prizes, including a $50 product certificate from TCI® for the winner and an apparel pack from the COMP Performance Group™ for the runner-up. Clearly, these guys firmly believe that “rubbin' is racin'.”

Our technicians have been in high demand the last two days and have even managed to help out a few Power Tour drivers whose rides were in trouble. Robin Poole, our FAST™ tech, helped someone with an EFI issue, while Russ Culver, the TCI® specialist, helped reset a throttle position sensor. We will have some small parts on the CPG™ trailer all week if anyone has an emergency. If needed, we can even overnight larger parts to help get someone up and running again.

With a huge crowd of people, hot cars and beautiful sunshine, it was a great day in Springfield, IL. We have shorter drive ahead of us tonight as we head toward the fairgrounds in DuQuoin, IL. Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow.

We’ll see you in DuQuoin!


The fun is under way here in Springfield!


The old capital building in downtown Springfield, IL.


The kids weren’t the only ones playing with the sidewalk chalk today.


Not everything on the Power Tour is a typical car.


The long hauler banner in the COMP Performance Group™ booth that will be given away on Friday to a lucky long hauler


Is that a leash on the bumper of that car?


Miss Hot Rod


COMP® employees demonstrate how the big wheel race will work


Rubbin' is racin'.


Our Big Wheel Race winner and runner-up.


The long hauler crowd around the main stage.


Joe and Clarence entertain the crowd and give away prizes.


Russ from TCI® helps out a customer