Hurley, Thiessen, Thompson and Thorpe Complete 2023 Sweep, As Rocky Mountain Race Week 2.0 is Completed and Visits Bandimere Speedway for the Final Time
The second and final Rocky Mountain Race Week (RMRW) of 2023 recently completely seven days of racing and street driving for competitors and Road Week participants on Race Week 2.0.
Day one started at Pueblo Motorsports Park on Saturday September 30th, and once racing was complete, the participants got a full travel day to reach Kearney Raceway Park in Kearney, Nebraska for racing on Monday October 2nd.
From there, the group guided their rides to Bandimere Speedway for the second day of racing on Tuesday October 3rd. Due to SCRA Drag Strip closing for the 2023 season, the tour would visit Bandimere Speedway once again on Thursday October 5th, following a drive day, marking the final time RMRW would visit Bandimere Speedway.
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The Unlimited class would find a familiar face at the top of the list once again, as Jason Hurley and “The Meltdown Firebird” topped the field with a 7.21 average. Hurley laid down a 7-second pass at each and every stop, and clocked a best of 7.02 at 200 mph on the final day at Bandimere.
This marks Hurley’s second win in RMRW victory in 2023. Michael Boegler locked up second with an 8.89 average from his 1962 Chevrolet Nova, and John Wischmann’s 1981 Chevy Malibu landed third with a 9.45 average.
The Hot Rod class would once again be dominated from start to finish by Corey Thompson. The 7-second capable 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle did start with an 8.47 at Pueblo, but steadily got faster with an 8.14 at Kearney Raceway Park.
Thompson dipped into the 7-second range with a 7.81 on the first visit to Bandimere Speedway, and finished out the week with a 7.87 lap at Bandimere, to earn an 8.07 average, his fifth RMRW Hot Rod class win, and sixth drag-and-drive class win in as many events.
Fellow Chevelle owner Walter Doyle averaged 8.65 for second place, the second-straight time he did it in 2023 at RMRW. Tim Brunnert took a unique 1950 Chevrolet pick-up to third courtesy of an 8.92 average.
Brad Thiessen put his 1970 Chevrolet Nova atop the Ultimate Radial class at RMRW once again in 2023. Improving on his 8.25 average from the first RMRW event of the year, Brad Thiessen dipped into the 7-second range on three of the four track days, giving him a 7.96 average for the top spot.
Blaine Thiessen took the second spot with his ’91 Isuzu pick-up producing an 8.68 average, and Brandon Tapp’s Corvette laid out an 8.84 average for the third spot.
Four cars dipped into the 8-second range to start the competitive Stick Shift class, with Chad Fegley’s 2010 Chevy Corvette leading the charge over Chris Hein, and former class winners Bill Armstrong and Richard Guido.
But following his opening 8.42, Fegley was sidelined by day two. Armstrong and his classic Ford Fairlane was also out after day three, leaving Hein and Guido to battle it out for the win.
After four days of competition, Hein claimed victory with his ’33 Factory Five Coupe netting an 8.72 average over Guido’s 8.94 average from his well-traveled ’65 Pontiac GTO. Brent Stephens put his ’69 Dodge Dart Swinger in the third spot thanks to a 9.11 average.
Outlaw Street also found a 7-second ride at the top of the standings, as Will Carter’s 1977 Chevrolet Vega delivered a 7.95 average from a quartet of 7-second runs.
Drag-and-drive vet Robert Williams put his 1977 Chevrolet Nova in the second spot thanks to an 8.51 average, and Nick Lawson rounded out an all-Chevrolet top three with an 8.64 average from his 1973 Chevrolet Camaro.
The Limited Street class started with Brady Matysek, Aaron Shaffer and Trevor Branden separated by just three-hundreds of-a-second on day one, but in a shocking turn of events, Shaffer was sidelined with problems after day two.
That left Matysek and Branden to fight it out for the lead, and Matysek turned in all 8.5-second runs to grab the win with an 8.53 average. Branden’s Nissan GTR locked up second with an 8.69 average, and Steve Willingham’s 8.71 average from his ’86 Grand National finishing a close third, his second-straight third-place finish.
Ben Neal would battle 1.0 event winner Adam Crego for the Pro Street title, and at the end of seven days, Neal got the win with an 8.58 average from his unique Toyota Cresta. Crego’s 8.75 average from his 1968 Chevy Nova would land in the second slot, and David Bell got his second top three finish of 2023 with a 9.48 average from his 1978 Chevrolet truck.
The Rowdy Radial class would be a tough battle between the top three rides, and at the end they were separated by less than one tenth of-a-second in the standings.
Vince Murphy’s 2000 Chevrolet S-10 would squeak out the overall win with a 5.42 average, with Randall Reed just a few ticks behind in second with a 5.44 average from his ’93 Ford Mustang. Brian Walden rounded out the top three in his ’86 Mustang delivering a 5.51 average for the third spot.
For fans of the naturally-aspirated route of drag-and-drive, RMRW offers a pair of classes that leave power adders at the front gate: Naturally-Aspirated Small Block and Naturally-Aspirated Big Block.
The big cubic inch N/A class had Carlos Astro with the only 9-second average, putting his ’81 Oldsmobile Cutlass in the top spot. Rich Pedraza’s ’67 Mustang navigated the week with a 10.38 average for the second spot, and John Daugherty landed third thanks to a 11.14 average from his ’74 Chevy Nova.
The Small Block N/A class had the ’64 Chevy Nova of Dave Berry in the top spot with a 10.61 average, while Keith Horton’s 10.76 average and Britney Friesen’s 10.78 tally rounded out an all-Chevrolet top three finish.
The Gasser class found a new name at the top of the standings, as Rob Lepenske’s 9.75 average from his 1954 Chevy 150 Sedan would be enough for the win. Jason King’s ’50 Willys Jeep posted a 12.33 average for the number two slot, and Fred Cullon rounded out thew top three with a 12.68 from his ’55 Chevy Bel Air.
The index classes always bring a large crowd to RMRW, and five titles were up for grabs.
The quickest index class is the 9-Second class, and Vince Ruhe traded his second-place 1.0 finish for the top spot with a 9.09 average from his ’62 Chevrolet Nova. Second went to German Avila, and Michael Baker took home the third-place accolades.
The 10-Second class found the 2000 Camaro of Travis Urbach at the helm thanks to a 10.02 average. Dustin Peterson landed in the second spot with a 10.04 average, and Melisas Dickehage’s game 10.05 scooped up the third spot.
Cameron Thorpe once again topped the 11-Second field with his LS-powered Volvo station wagon, nailing a near perfect 11.01 average for the win. Todd Stadel finished a close second with an 11.03 tally, and Jesse Hazlett in third with an 11.04 average.
The largest index class at 2.0 was be the 12-Second class, and Heather Ruhe topped the list with a 12.29 from her ’62 Chevy Nova. Matt Rowe and Chad Wilson claimed the second and third-place spots, respectively.
The 13-Second class would produce the closest finish of the entire event, with the top three averages separated by fourteen thousandths of-a-second! A 13.03 average for Curtis Tanke would secure the top rung on the ladder, while John Long’s 13.03 tally came in just six thousandths of-a-second back in second. Krista Long’s 13.04 average secured came in third place.
The 14-Second class had Ernie Raile knocking out a 14.04 average with his ’48 Chevy Coupe for the class victory. Jarrod Aspegren claimed second with his 2005 Corvette, while third went to Mark Piel’s ’86 Corvette.
Junior Street, contested on the eighth-mile standard, had a new batch of racers for the top three. Ari Myers nabbed the top spot with a Ford F150 pick-up truck, nailing a 9.09 average. Second went to Makenna Lepenske, who carded a 10.11 average with her ’79 Chevy Camaro, and third went to Walter VanDiest, whose 12.52 average rounded out the top three with his ’78 GMC K15 pick-up.
The Motorcycle class was an all 8-second battle between Chris Baker and Dustin Moody, and the 2008 Hayabusa of Baker came out on top with an 8.70 average. Moody scored the second spot with an 8.96 average, and Shane Werner scored his second podium finish of the 2023 season thanks to an 11.11 tally.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Rocky Mountain Race Week.
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