As Downtown gears up for the June 7 arrival of thousands of vehicles for the 2009 Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour, Dave Brown will be on his way to Madison to join the tour for the long haul. Brown, who by day is the City of Racine's finance director, will be driving the entire 1,200-mile journey of the Hot Rod Power Tour in his Mazda Miata, a vehicle which has taken him all over the country on a variety of road tours since he bought it in 1990.

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If You Go

WHAT: Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour

WHEN: Noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 7

WHERE: Downtown and the lakefront, along Pershing Drive.

COST: Admission for spectators is free. Those who would like to display their car must register at the trailer in staff parking lot B at Gateway Technical College (enter at the corner of 11th and Main streets). One-day registration costs $25. The on-site fee to join the tour for the rest of its run is $80.

INFO: Go to http://www.hotrod.com or call 1-877-413-6515.

NOTE: Show attendees are encouraged to park in Downtown ramps.

STREETS TO BE CLOSED: Vehicles will be lined up along Main Street, between State and Seventh streets, as well as along Pershing Drive, and those streets will be closed to regular traffic from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Side streets that will be closed for the event are Third, Fourth and Fifth streets between Wisconsin and Lake avenues; and Sixth Street east of Main Street.

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This will be Brown's third time on the Power Tour. Back in 2007 he was a "long hauler" - the name given to those who make the trip to all seven cities along the route - driving his 1976 Chevy Nova from Cleveland, Ohio, to Little Rock, Ark., with a stop in Racine along the way. In 2008, he joined the tour again, doing just the part from Rochester, Minn., to Madison. And he is looking forward to returning as a long-hauler this year, hitting all the stops from Madison to Racine and then on to South Bend, Ind.; Mount Clemens, Mich.; Dayton, Ohio; Somerset, Ky.; and Bristol, Tenn., home of the famed Bristol Motor Speedway.

"It is a good time, with great people," Brown said of the Power Tour. "It is always fun to see new cities and scope things out at the different venues. And the driving part of it - just getting out on the open road and driving - is fun."

Cars are something that the lifelong Racine resident said he has been fascinated with since he was 4 years old. Growing up with a "gearhead" for an older brother, he has fond memories of building models of Ford Mustangs back in the '60s, and learning about automobiles of all kinds.

"Any car going down the street, I could tell you the year, make and model of it," Brown said.

He still feels such enthusiasm for vehicles today. And he isn't alone.

Officials at Hot Rod magazine, which sponsors the Power Tour, are expecting more than 65,000 spectators to participate in this 15th-anniversary edition of the tour throughout its run, and they anticipate having more than 4,500 vehicles join in along its route. That's pretty amazing, for an event that began as what Jerry Pitt describes as a five-day "survival run" from Los Angeles to a cornfield in Ohio with about seven or eight cars.

"In the last 15 years, there has been a tremendous amount of growth in this event, mostly through word of mouth," said Pitt, publisher of Hot Rod. "People go crazy for this. They plan their annual vacations around it."

Rolling in

In Racine, officials are expecting anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 high-end performance vehicles of all makes, models and years to descend upon Downtown and the lakefront area of Pershing Park beginning Sunday morning.

The car show portion of the event will run from noon to 7 p.m. and will not only feature cars from the road tour - including cover cars from Hot Rod magazine - but those of local enthusiasts who will join the show just for the day. There are even some cars that are being flown in from South Africa for the event, according to Dave Blank, president and CEO of the Racine County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Vehicles will be lined up along Main Street, between State and Seventh streets, as well as along Pershing Drive, and those streets will be closed to regular traffic from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Side streets that will be closed for the event are Third, Fourth and Fifth streets between Wisconsin and Lake avenues; and Sixth Street east of Main Street.

A special feature of this year's tour that will only be available to spectators in Racine and Madison will be the chance to meet the Ring brothers, a pair of legendary car builders whose home base is in Spring Green. Mike and Jim Ring are masters of metal fabrication and artistic, automotive vision whose work has won many honors, including the Good Guys Street Machine of the Year Award.

The Ring brothers will bring two of their feature cars with them to Racine: the "Razor," a 1969 Camaro and the "Reactor," a '67 Mustang. For more about the Rings and their cars go to:

http://www.ringbrothers.com

In addition to all of the vehicles, the Hot Rod Power Tour show will include a midway featuring manufacturer displays, prizes and autograph opportunities with industry legends such as Vic Edelbrock of Edelbrock Performance Products. Attendees may also find themselves on the pages of Hot Rod magazine some day, as editorial staffers will be there taking thousands of photographs and collecting the stories of the road.

"This is not just a car show, it is a mega show," said Blank.

It is also a good thing for more than just automobile enthusiasts. When the Power Tour came to Racine for the first time in 2007, it brought more than $1.3 million into the local economy through hotel room rentals, restaurant business and more, according to Blank. And that was despite a daylong rain.

This time organizers are hoping for better weather and a chance to really showcase Racine's Downtown and lakefront area, which Pitt says is one of the reasons "Hot Rod" wanted to bring the tour back here.

"There is a lot going on in Downtown Racine and to have the venue right there on the lakeshore is just tremendous," said Pitt, who will be at every stop on this year's tour. "We were so impressed with everything and everybody last time we were there. We are really glad to have the opportunity to come back to Racine."