2022 What's a Venue? And Other Tidbits

Here are a few tidbits that I learned on the Power Tour.  (You will know this is written by a female because guys usually know these things!)

VENUE

"Monday, June 12, 2022    Memphis International Raceway was our starting venue for the Hot Rod Power Tour."  I hate to admit my stupidity, but I had to look up "venue".  Do you know what it is? 

"A venue is a location where something happens."  This explanation is intriguing but I think this is even more clear:

All venues are places, but not all places are venues. 

Your house, for example, is a place. The stadium in your city is a venue. Your house could be a venue, however, if you were to host some kind of gathering there.

It makes life interesting to learn new words, doesn't it?

RAT RODS

 A rat rod is a custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts.  Basically a hodge-podge of car parts that may not even use custom items from the same era.

 Reminder, click on a pic to enlarge it.

The Power Tour - This is the 28th year it's been held.

How many cars go on the Hot Rod Power Tour? 

In previous years, there were 6,000 to 8,000 cars registered.  We think the 4,000 this year is a pretty good turnout, considering that gas is almost $5.00 per gallon and we're still gearing down from the Pandemic.

There are also many participants who run the route without registering so they can see all these unique, souped-up, improved cars and trucks. 

 
Have you ever wondered what it is like to go on a cross-country road trip with 4,000 of your friends?

The Motor Trend Hot Rod Power Tour is just that – a five-day, five-city mobilized car show where 4,000+ participants bring anything from classic hot-rods to newer builds to showcase.  Plus, there are up to 100,000 spectators.  

 

Last year, a friend had a relative who lived on the route.  He said cars started passing his home before 8:00 a.m. and continued the entire day till after 5:00!   It took a full day for 6,000 cars to pass by.

Social Event Every Evening

All the motels for miles around are full of Power Tour cars that come from all over the place.  We saw cars from Wisconsin, California, Texas, Washington state, and Vermont.  In the evenings, you walk around and chat with friendly people about their prized cars. The tone is so positive and upbeat."

The Route of the Tour

Carefully chosen routes pretty much avoid the interstate highways and take us through beautiful scenic farms and small towns.  

They inform the various towns so there are often people out in their lawn chairs, under shade trees, with all ages of people waving us on.   Local cops sometimes direct traffic to keep things moving.  When we stop for gas, the stations are crammed with hot rods gunning their motors.  Finding restrooms can be a challenge!

 

The most fun part of the Power Tour for us is throwing out Hot Wheel cars to children along the way.

Some people throw out ball caps or Mardi Gras beads.

 

A friend found a dollar store going out of business so Gary had her get all they had.  We started out 3 years ago with 150 cars.  In 2018, the tour was in early June so kids weren't out of school yet.  In 2021, it was in August so kids were already back in school.

 

This year, we finally saw some kids!  I was busy throwing cars so didn't get many pics.