What can we say? Tour 2001 was a success-all thanks to you, the reader. But we couldn't have pulled it off without the finest sales staff, tour sponsors, and photographers, as well as a few thousand of our closest friends. Despite the national tragedy, we carried onward-for you, for everyone.
Although we couldn't get our edit staff out to meet you, we did manage to pull some awesome coverage. Once again, this is mostly because of you, the reader. A few of you might recognize a couple of these pictures-well, that's because you took them. When we needed help the most, you guys stepped up and accepted the challenge, and we thank you for it. A large part of the coverage also fell to the sales crew-most notably Mike Robleto, Skye Dunn, and Craig Lieberman-whose Tour experiences you can read about in the next couple of pages.
And don't worry, you can count on us to be there next year. We promise. -Super Street Staff
Mike Robleto, North LegThe Tour has become a machine. A very well-oiled machine. We embarked upon this year's Tour with more preparation than ever before. Plain and simple, we set out upon our fifth Super Street Tour to NOPI armed and ready for anything.
Almost anything, that is.
Being the Tour leader, I left one day prior to when the editors were scheduled to leave. I was accompanied by my tight-knit team of ad reps: Greg Yamamoto, Derrick Yee, and Matt Derting. The four of us arrived at the Philadelphia airport at 9:30 a.m. September 11, a day that unfortunately darkened America. We landed without incident, but we discovered the tragedy that had unfolded while we were airborne. To say the least, we were as shocked as the rest of the world was.
Our contact in Philly was Nick from Impulse Speed and Sound, our kickoff host for this year's Tour. We traversed the electric streets of Philly with cheerful spirits-you really had to during that time. We had to reroute alternative courses around Washington, D.C., another area hit hard. We had commitments to the Tour and our readers, but would we continue or cancel? In time we knew we had to head south, and we later discovered our editors for both Super Street and eurotuner would be stuck flightless in Los Angeles. All we had was a disposable camera-thank goodness for our freelance photographers!
During this frantic time, falling apart would have been understood. It was the worst thing many of us had ever been through. Today, I am proud to say that everyone, including readers, kept it together and performed with flying colors. The pre-Tour party at Hooters was an early indication that the turnout would be strong.
We left the Doubletree Hotel with an impressive 250-plus cars and started our journey to NOPI. In light of the tragedy, we were very pleased that people had decided to keep on the path of life. We gathered momentum as we blazed through the first stop and through the lunch in Richmond. With a full belly of pizza and soda thanks to Mike at Performance Direct, we soon headed south again. The overnight spot-the Sheraton Four Seasons-was a first for the Tour and proved to be a beautiful location.
Our journey down the road to NOPI put us in contact with Stephen and GMP Performance. Their hospitable and enthusiastic approach to the Tour showed with shuttle buses cruising back and forth to remote overflow lots and a huge BBQ that fed everyone around. Keep in mind that by that time the Tour had grown to over 600 cars.
Our final stop was Hooters in Greenville, South Carolina. At the request of President Bush, we held a brief moment of silence as a local priest read a prayer. It was a very touching moment in a time of uncertainty. All attending Tour participants enjoyed food, music, and of course, more Hooters girls (thanks for the great job, Aaron!). When we arrived at NOPI, we quickly began sending people to the drive-in final party.