Just drive: My favorite road trips of the New \’10s

Corvette Caravan at Kentucky Speedway

2019 was the 25th anniversary of the opening of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Thus, the annual caravans to the NCM were a bigger happening than previous years.

One of those caravans was making its last stop at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta before moving on to the silver celebration three hours away. I drove up to check out the gathering of mostly C4-era through C7-era \’Vettes rolling down from Ohio, all of whom were going to spend some time taking their cars around the 1.5-mile tri-oval for a handful of laps.

Originally, I had planned to just shoot video of one of the groups, riding shotgun in one of the Toyota Tundra pace trucks at the major NASCAR circuit. While waiting to do so, though, one of the caravanners offered to drive me around the track in his C6-era Grand Sport.

However, I let slip I had never driven a Corvette before. Thus, we switched places, and he let me take the wheel for the handful of 80-mph laps around the high banks. I will never forget that experience for the rest of my days, nor will I forget the generosity of the car\’s owner.

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NSRA Street Rod Nationals 50th Anniversary

The first days of August 2019 were filled with milestones upon milestones. For 50 years, the National Street Rod Association has put together the ultimate gathering of hot rods and street rods, known as the Street Rod Nationals.

This year was not only the golden anniversary of the annual festival of rumbling V8s, but was also both the 25th time Louisville has hosted, and the 22nd consecutive time Louisville has done so. I just couldn\’t miss these milestones for the world.

It was also a homecoming for me, as the Street Rod Nationals was one of the first events I ever covered at the start of professional writing career. And since the Nationals will be around through 2025, I\’m sure I\’ll return soon enough to see the wildest rides to gather at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

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