2025 National Tour

 June 10-14, 2025 

By Chet Palumbo and Russ Miller

 Day #1  Bruce Litton Collection:  The first stop on our tour was the Bruce Litton collection.  Okay, sorry, shame on me, but I didn’t have a clue who Bruce Litton is, and when we arrived at Bruce Litton Trailer Sales, I assumed he’s some guy who got rich  from selling trailers.  Maybe if I were paying attention, I would have noticed that Bruce Litton Trailer Sales is  directly across from the entrance to Indianapolis Raceway Park.  To me, the building looked like any other  storage facility you would find in any industrial park.  Nothing that would prepare me for the surprise waiting  inside.  First, excluding the collection of cars,  The walls were designed to replicate the storefronts in Bruce’s hometown of Oneida, TN.  The common theme of Bruce’s collection was big block, four-speed Chevrolets.    Mostly “Plain-Jane” Biscaynes with a few Bel Airs and a couple Impalas.   Not everything in the Litton collection is Chevrolet.  I found this perfect example of a 1931 Murray-Briggs  slant-back windshield, three window, Model-A Town Sedan.  On the floor behind it was a dressed-out flathead.   If it were me, I would have the flathead in the Model A, and the 40 HP four, from the Model A, on display.  Now, back to Bruce Litton Trailer Sales.  Trailer Sales is his name, but Drag Racing is his game.  Bruce Litton  is a big-time IHRA Top Fuel Drag Racer.  Remember, I said his “Trailer Sales” is across the street from the entrance to Indianapolis Raceway Park.  Now I understand…  Next to the showroom is his shop for the Top Fuel and Alcohol dragsters.  Before Top Fuel Dragsters, Bruce raced Top Fuel Motorcycles.                                                         Lunch at the “Locale Diner”:  Great food and unbelievable service.  It is always difficult to find a restaurant that will serve a large group, especially when you request individual checks.  When we arrived, the Locale Diner had prepared our room with numbered menu cards that identified our seat at the table.  When we ordered, the menu identified the seat where the food and the check would be delivered. What a novel idea…  

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum:  When it comes to motor racing, I cannot think of any place that would be more iconic than “Indy” and we were there.  We hoped to drive on the track, but due to a “Vintage” race scheduled for the weekend, that was not possible.  I have always loved the old front-engine Indy cars like a 1948 Novi Grooved Piston Special Kurtis.   Nothing says “Indy” better than   A. J. Foyt and George Bignotti. Oh my…Some of my all-time favorite drivers include:  Al Unser Sr., 1971 Johnny Lightning Special #1, 1972 Mark Donohue Sunoco McLaren #66    For 78 years, the Indianapolis 500 was the only auto race held at the Speedway.  In 1994, they opened the door for the first NASCAR event.  The winner of that event was Jeff Gordon in his #24 DuPont Automotive Finishes Chevrolet Lumina.  It was obvious that NASCAR did not offer much to the history of the Speedway, as Jeff’s Lumina was off to the side on the lower level of the museum.  

End of Day #1:  Zaharakos Soda Shop/Museum:  Sorry, not a clue how to describe this place, you had to be there to believe it.  The Soda Shop itself is a piece of History that has survived since the 1900s.  Inside the soda shop are collections of mechanical music machines and antique soda fountains. Upstairs is the family’s restored living area, offices, and collections of music rolls for the music machines.  After dinner, we were treated to an ice cream bar, where we were allowed to create sundaes with our favorite toppings.  If you were not on the tour and are anywhere near Columbus, Indiana, you need to check this place out.  And yes, the homemade ice cream is excellent.  

Day #2 the Ray Skillman Collection:  This collection didn’t offer a “little of everything”; it offered “a lot of everything”. I could have spent the whole day there. Neon signs, race cars, muscle cars, Corvettes, and even a couple of Buicks. When it came to race cars, the Skillman Collection had an equally impressive collection of Indy Cars as the Indy Museum.  Indy cars on the left – USAC Sprint Ca and Cars on the right everything from Parnelli Jones to the Granatelli STP Special Lotus driven by Graham Hill.  Indy Cars with an Oldsmobile Aurora V8 and a Buick V6, Tons of Corvettes and classic muscle cars like the split-bumper 4-speed Camaro and last but not least, a pair of Buick Skylarks, one with the top up and one with the top down.  The shop for the Skillman Collection is behind the showroom:  On the left, they were running an IMSA Mustang on the chassis dyno. Deafening and a most impressive sound of power.  On the lift above the Mustang is a 1974 IROC Camaro that was being restored.  Only one of four is left from the series.  And on the engine stand was a Ford flat-head project.    Side note: Ray Skillman owns 12 dealerships in the Indianapolis area and sells eight different brands of cars.  I would think with resources like that, he would be able to source just about any part he needs for his shop.   

Lunch at Ford’s Garage: Great food and the decors was great!  End of Day #2 took us to Conner Prairie.  One of the features was a balloon ride 370 feet above the park.   Cabins were scattered about the sight with demonstrations of early life in Indiana, Dinner Thursday night was back in Nashville, IN at the Nashville House. The dining room was on the second floor and had a very rustic feel will a large stone fireplace on one wall. The food was excellent!  

Friday was an open day allowing everyone to do whatever they wanted, shop the many boutiques, candy, and specialty shops in Nashville, tour The Brown County State Park or visit local wineries, distilleries and breweries.  The day concluded with a banquet back at the hotel with plenty of food. The fifty/fifty drawing was won by Karl and Tena Schulte in the amount of $120.00.  LG Shaffer won the neon clock raffle this year.    John Greer had won the clock last year and was sitting at the table with Karl Shultz whose car was on the clock face.  John didn’t realize it until he got home. Johns' car was featured on the clock this year and John had made arrangements with Denny to purchase an extra clock with this year's design on it. In a surprise move John brought the clock he had won last year with him and presented it to a very surprised Karl. Even better, leading up to the clock raffle Karl kept telling John he was going to win the clock this year and trade with him for last year’s clock. The camaraderie was great this year as always, with several first timers making the trip.  Each evening there was a circle of chairs in the parking lot and renewing old friendships and the making of new ones.  We are already working on next year’s tour which will be held June 9th-12th 2026 so mark your calendars and join us for a great time.