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Expect traffic to be a bit heavier — and louder — Friday morning as the Hot Rod Power Tour winds its way through La Crosse.
Organizers estimate the tour, with up to 4,000 collectible and vintage automobiles, will leave Rochester, Minn., at 9 a.m. Friday. It’s expected to reach La Crosse, traveling east on Hwys. 14/61, about 10 a.m.
Donald Atkinson, 60, of Onalaska, Wis., will be in his 1957 Chevrolet two-door sport coupe.
“It’s a true hot rod,” he said.
While he always has loved cars, Atkinson had given up restoring them — until five years ago — to devote his energies to running his custom metal stamping company, Venture Machine & Tool Inc.
“I thought it was time to get back to my hobby,” he said.
This will be the first Power Tour he’s joined, he said, and he’s looking forward to the size of the tour.
“It’s going to blow people’s minds when it comes through here,” Atkinson said.
This year’s tour began in Little Rock, Ark., he said, and continues over 1,400 miles, through seven cities, ending in Madison on Friday. Atkinson will only be going from Ames, Iowa, to Rochester, through La Crosse, and then to Madison.
“I’m totally excited about it because of the number of people I’m going to meet,” he said. “It’s pretty exhilarating.”
Bruce Miller, publisher of Hot Rod magazine, the tour’s sponsor, said he expects more than 70,000 spectators will come out to take a look at the cars.
“People build their vacations around the Power Tour,” Miller said.
Drivers come from all over the world, he said, but there are essentially three types who participate. Locals who come out for the day, other drivers — such as Atkinson — who do two or three legs of the tour, and those who drive the entire distance. They’re called “long haulers,” Miller said.
“They’re so passionate,” he said. “People build cars to go on the Power Tour.”
Bill Bauman, 56, of La Crosse will also be on the tour starting in Ames. He said he’s excited and he hopes the weather cooperates.
“I’ve been aware they’ve been doing this for years, and I’ve always wanted to do it,” Bauman said. “This year, I thought I better do it. You can’t get much closer to home than this.”
Bauman will drive his 1969 Camaro SS convertible. He said he wanted it to look vintage but perform as well as a current car.
“It’s pretty stock looking,” he said, “but all the running gear and suspension are current technology.”
Although they don’t know one another, Bauman is just the kind of person Atkinson expects to meet on the tour.
“You can hardly find a bigger cross-section of people who love cars,” Atkinson said. “Everybody’s got that in common.”
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