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Thousands of hot rods descend on UD Arena lot

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A view of a small section of 15th anniversary Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour at UD Arena on Wednesday, June 10. Several thousand hot rods and classic cars took over the arena parking lot on a road tour trip from Wisconsin to Tennessee. Staff photo by Jim Witmer

Staff photo by Jim Witmer A view of a small section of 15th anniversary Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour at UD Arena on Wednesday, June 10. Several thousand hot rods and classic cars took over the arena parking lot on a road tour trip from Wisconsin to Tennessee. Staff photo by Jim Witmer

Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour was free to the 10,000-plus in attendance.

By Dave Larsen, Staff Writer Updated 8:20 AM Thursday, June 11, 2009

Adam Moffitt of West Carrollton said he was in “heaven” as he marveled over the thousands of hot rods, muscle cars and classic autos that filled the University of Dayton Arena parking lot on Wednesday, June 10.

“It’s definitely a dream to be around everything like this,” said Moffitt, 22, at the 15th anniversary Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour.

Dayton was a first-time tour stop on the rolling car show, which visits seven cities in seven days. The 1,200-mile journey started Saturday in Madison, Wis., and finishes Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn.

The free event was expected to draw 3,500 to 4,000 show cars and more than 10,000 spectators, said Jessica Hubley, Power Tour spokeswoman. Wednesday’s rain didn’t seem to hurt attendance.

“This is a really hard-core enthusiast base of people out here,” Hubley said.

Spectators such as Moffitt admired and photographed the lovingly prepared vehicles bearing license plates from as far away as Texas, Florida, Iowa and Ontario, Canada. Many people carried bags of freebies from automotive aftermarket vendors.

“In these tough times, there’s a lot of people who aren’t going to give up their passion for cars,” said Jerry Pitt of Los Angeles, publisher of Hot Rod Magazine.

A weekday tour stop typically contributes $1.2 million to $1.5 million to the local economy, Hubley said.

Lauren Streeter of Port Deposit, Md., was driving a 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass restored by her father and co-pilot, David Streeter.

“It’s a lot fun,” said Lauren Streeter, 22. “You get to meet a lot of new people. You see a lot of cars that you hear about but you don’t always get to see.”

Hot Rod Magazine’s editors were combing the lot for future cover cars. “There will be several that will come right out of here from Dayton,” Pitt said.

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