HOT ROD Power Tour 2025 Day 3—181-Mile Cruise Through America—Gallery
Locals turn out in force to welcome our rolling car show.
On day three the 2025 Chevrolet Performance HOT ROD Power Tour Driven by Hagerty just keeps picking up speed as it winds its way through the heartland of America. This massive rolling car show is our biggest yet, and after 31 years it still draws thousands of gearheads and lovers of all things automotive, from all across the country.
AI Quick Summary
The 2025 HOT ROD Power Tour's Day 3 featured a 181-mile cruise from Illinois to Indiana, with local events like a car show in Hamlet. Thousands attended, enjoying hot rods, live music, and vendor booths. The tour continues to Monroe, Michigan, as part of its annual rolling car show tradition.
This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article
Read Next
0:00 / 0:00
Wednesday morning kicked off with a 181-mile cruise from Route 66 Dragway in Illinois to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s a fairgrounds setup, so there was no drag racing, but there was plenty to do. It also allowed participants the ability to linger on the cruise a bit more and enjoy the countryside. This route had a lot to offer.
What’s better than heading to a super-cool car show event? Finding a bonus event along the way there. Yep, the town of Hamlet decided to host a car show to coincide with the HRPT, and it was a first-class deal with live bands, a car show, and food vendors. It was like a mini Power Tour rest stop within our Power Tour.
The event was hosted by a car club in Hamlet called Street Freaks, and we want to thank them for welcoming our merry band of hot-rodding miscreants to their town and for making us feel so welcome. A group of inmates were at the event cleaning up trash, and we wondered if they were scoping out the best getaway car to leap into. You can find them, along with more images from the Street Freaks party, in the gallery of images.
Locals all along the route turned out in force to check out the hot rods rolling by. For this leg, the turnout of spectators was huge, and many die-cast toy cars were tossed out to the kids.
Everywhere you looked, gas stations and eateries were turned into microcosms of hot rodding. Checking out these clusters of cars is one of the best parts of Power Tour, where the journey from point to point is just as important as the destination.
When you stuff thousands of cars onto roads meant for dozens or maybe hundreds of cars, the traffic can back up at times. Thankfully the local police are generally there to help move things along and, sadly, keep the burnouts to a minimum. For many of these towns, the HRPT is a one-day stimulus check of revenue, and we felt welcomed all along the route.
On each day of the HRPT HOT ROD’s John McGann and designer Murray Pfaff pick five rides for a Power Parker Award. These five cars get primo parking spots near the stage, and it’s a struggle to choose just five from among the thousands in attendance. Here HRPT host Jeff Thisted and designer Pfaff hand out an award to one of the lucky winners.
The “officer” may change from year to year, but this Hellcat-swapped 1968 Dodge Coronet has been coming to Power Tour for many years. Complete with a 6.2L blown Hemi V-8, zoomies, and a GOTCHA! license plate, this B-body cop car rocks.
The coolest stuff you’ve never imagined tends to show up each year for the Power Tour. Everything from the Batmobile to a pro-street hearse to this badass big-block VW can be found throughout the event.
MuleTown Mobile Dyno was on site for participants that wanted to toss down a few bucks to see how much power their rides are actually putting to the pavement.
The traffic at the manufacturer’s midway was heavy as spectators and participants checked out the various hot rod parts and services companies were pitching.
On Thursday the 2025 the Chevrolet Performance HOT ROD Power Tour Driven by Hagerty travels 165 miles to the Monroe County Fairgrounds in Monroe, Michigan. No drag racing, but just like today, there will still be too much to do at the event and along the way at the world’s largest rolling car show!
31st Annual HOT ROD Power Tour 2025 Schedule
- KICKOFF / Day 1: Monday, June 9—Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Brownsburg, Indiana
- Day 2: Tuesday, June 10—Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, Illinois
- Day 3: Wednesday, June 11—Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Day 4: Thursday, June 12—Monroe County Fairgrounds, Monroe, Michigan
- Day 5: Friday, June 13—Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio
Born and raised in Southern California I started as the technical editor for Popular Hot Rodding (PHR) magazine where I learned the business before moving over to work with Nick Licata, at Camaro Performers, as his tech editor. At PHR I built a 1968 Camaro called Bad Penny that was one of the earlier pro-touring cars that actually ran the track hard. We won the first Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational in 2008 and placed well several other years. At Camaro Performers we started several project cars and did a ton of tech. Eventually I was made editor of Vette magazine for a short time before being slotted to run Super Chevy magazine. Running the brands was fun, but I've always enjoyed being a technical writer more. So after more than 15 years I'm back to writing tech content, this time for the HOT ROD network. I enjoy being with my family, shooting, and working on my latest car, a 1969 Camaro called Tri Tip.
Read More