There has been a gripe for years now that classics, customs and hot rods are not just meant to be shown, they’re meant to be driven. Of course, no one has to convince 80-year-old Andy “The RodFather” Brizio and Goodguys Rod & Custom Association pioneer Gary Meadors of this. The two die-hard hot rod guys, who have been friends since the 1960s, couldn’t agree with the idea more.
That’s why the two legends are gearing up for the hot rod road trip of a lifetime, the RodFather Goodguys Road Tour, along with over 100 other enthusiasts. This tour will include visiting 13 states in total for a round trip affair to the Goodguys 2nd WIX Filters Speedway Nationals in none other than Indianapolis, Indiana next month. Not going along? Well, you can still be a part of the experience as Route 2 Media will join Bangshift’s Chad Reynolds to bring you daily web coverage of the entire trip.
As we told you back in June, the tour will include 100 or more rodders as the convoy of pre-1949 vehicles makes stops at some of the country’s finest hot rod hot spots to and from the Speedway Nationals, taking place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway September 21st through the 23rd. The trip will be led by Brizio in his ‘32 Ford and Meadors in his all black ‘40 Ford.
The trip will kick off on September 14th at the Bonneville Salt Flats and travel to Salt Lake City, Utah; Laramie, Wyoming; Windsor, Colorado; Lincoln, Nebraska; Ankeny, Iowa; Madison, Wisconsin; and Manteno, Illinois before hitting Indianapolis on September 20th. Along the way, the tour will make stops at places like Kindig-It Design, Wyotech, Pinkee’s Rod Shop, Speedway Motors, Kuck Motorsports, The Dennis Albaugh Collection, Heidt’s Hot Rods & Muscle Car Parts, The Roadster Shop, Billet Specialties, Rad Rides by Troy, the Richard Munz Collection, the Indycar race shop of Panther/Dryer & Reinbold, and Chip Gannasi Racing.
After participating in the Speedway Nationals, tour participants will hit the road again on September 23rd, making their way back through Missiouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona before finishing in Barstow, California on September 28th.
On the trip back, the tour will make stops at George Lange and Jack Stirnemann’s private car collections in St. Louis, MO, Darryl Starbird’s Custom Car Museum in Afton, OK, The Hot Rod Garage in Amarrillo, TX and the Unser Museum in Albuquerque, NM.
In total, the crew will drive their rides over 3,600 miles, proving that hot rods can do more than park on a lawn.
Route 2 Media will be tagging along for every leg of the trip, bringing with them a mobile editing studio to provide daily blog, video and photo updates from the road and the tour stops. Updates will be voiced/ hosted by Reynolds and you can see the RodFather Goodguys Road Tour updates on RodFatherTour.com once it starts, as well as a minute-by-minute GPS tracker of the tour.