Rocky Mountain Race Week Rolls into Texas for Day Three – Goldstone and Linwood Retain Their Leads, Ultimate Radial Sees a New Leader Emerge, and the Summer Heat Takes Its Toll on Competitors
To kick off the tenth running Rocky Mountain Race Week (RMRW), Tulsa Raceway Park hosted 314 vehicles and 12 motorcycles on Sunday.
With racing activities completed that evening, the Monday ‘workload’ would be who could survive 350-ish miles from Oklahoma to Texas to stage up on Tuesday for day two of racing, and day three of the week.
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As we previously reported, the drive day wasn’t kind to several people, including Bob Koetting and Matt Koetting, competing in the Naturally Aspirated Small Block class.
The Camaro was involved in a serious crash, and although Matt Koetting was discharged Tuesday morning, father Bob suffered a severe concussion and a broken ankle, and was expected to be discharged in a couple of days.
Another competitor battling the road was Bryant Goldstone, who hit the street leading the Unlimited class with a 6.81 at 216 mph pass. Unfortunately, he found a giant pothole that torn his oil pan open, necessary a roadside ‘oil change’ and repairs.
They got it all back together, and with no sleep for over 30 hours, Goldstone pounded the surface at Texas Motorplex for an even quicker and faster run than Sunday, a 6.76 at 218 mph!
That keeps Goldstone in the lead, and with the sad news of Jason Hurley in ‘the Meltdown Firebird’ failing prey to mechanical problems, as well as John Faraone’s popular Aussie Charger on the sidelines, Goldstone now has a huge lead over Jack Crowford’s LTD.
Can Goldstone be the second drive in RMRW history to clock a 6-second average, and could he reset Larry Larson’s 6.911 average that’s stood since 2015?
Rowdy Radial still has the Mustang of Donavon Linwood at the front of the pack with a 5.21 average, but when Marc Grote had transmission issues to only post an 11.97, Aaron Shaffer’s best of the day 5.22 pass put him into the second spot, with a 5.28 average showing he wants success in the small-tire class.
The Stick Shift class continues to be led by ‘Bangshift Billy’ Armstrong, who backed up his 9.11 from day one with a 9.16 in Texas.
We’re hearing he’s arriving at Thunder Valley Raceway Park with possible rear end problems; can the ’66 Fairlane be fixed in time to keep the lead?
Pro Street continues to be a Nova 1-2 punch at the top, with Mike Hazelwood still on top over Adam Crego via an 8.49 to 8.84 average difference.
Jim Parkingson strengthened his grip in the Outlaw Street class with an 8.40 blast, but Brady Davis answered with an 8.54 to keep Parkingson within a two tenths of-a-second reach.
The Limited Street class still has Ryan Minyard at the forefront, and his 8.74 average is now a solid force with Steven Willinham on the sidelines after day three.
Although we saw some classes retain their early leaders, others changed the names at the top of the sheet. One of those is the Ultimate Radial class, and although incoming leader Ricky Daniels improved from day one to a 7.85 at 175 mph pass, second-place Brad Thiessen did even better, posting a 7.67 at 181 mph blast to assume the leader role.
Clint Sodowsky sits third in Ultimate Radial with an 8.03 average, and the ‘68 Camaro is seeing double use this year, as Clint is joined by 16-year-old daughter Jasmine behind the wheel.
The Hot Rod class has the making of being a doozy, with incoming leader Walter Doyle still in the top spot with a 9.167 average, but Tim Meyer has narrowed the gap to three thousandths of-a-second as his sits second with a 9.171 average.
The Gasser class showed Eddie Wilson didn’t falter from the Texas heat, staying consistent for a 10.96 average. But Joe Grier made a big move, improving from his day one pass of 11.15 to a 10.64 to leapfrog Wilson with a 10.89 average and the lead.
Naturally-Aspirated Small Block class still has Sean Stanford out front at a 9.61 average, but the Big Block side had a shakeup when Carlos Astor dropped out, moving the 10-second ride of Bob Ruppel to the front with a 10.52 average, with John Daugherty close behind at a 10.541 tally.
Austin Allsup still has the quickest ride in the Junior Street class, was his Mustang produced a 9.10 pass just thirty-five thousandths of-a-second away from his 9.07 on day one.
The Index classes had a mix of leaders staying the course, as well as some movements for the top spots. The 9-second class still show Jeremy Wilson at the front with a stellar 9.009 average, Mike Mead retains the top spot in 10-Second thanks to a 10.045 average, Landon Jensen’s Nova holds on to the 11-Second lead with an 11.01 average, and a perfect 12.00 pass in Texas gives incoming leader Nicholas Roberts an insane 12.003 average.
The 13-Second class saw a change on the leaderboard, but the same car in the leader spot, as Alan Ledesma’s 13.041 average edged ahead of Nicole Ledesma’s 13.05 average in their 2023 Mach-E electric Mustang.
Incoming second-place runner Alex Rops tried to swap engines overnight in his 2015 GMC pick-up, but the replacement powerhouse was locked up tighter than a bank vault, forcing Alex to drop out.
Leader roles also changed hands in the 14-Second class, as incoming leader Jennifer Gilliard slipped to a 14.35 pass, opening the door to Jennifer Burst to roll around in her 2015 Camaro for her second-straight 14.0-second pass and a 14.061 average for the top spot.
The Motorcycle class seems to have put the record player on repeat, as after incoming leader Chris Baker bowed out after day one, new leader Dustin Moody also bowed out after not making a pass in Texas. That swings the lead to Shane Werner with a 9.71 average, and he has Donavon Leeder and Pete Chongris also in the 9-second range to contended with.
Today finds RMRW returning to Oklahoma to invade Thunder Valley Raceway Park for day three of racing action after surviving 100-plus degree temperatures to make it to the track.
Who can survive the midweek heat and continue on to the finish line? We’ll continue to post updates on Sick the Magazine, including results and photos.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com