Tales From Death Week – Daniel Grubaugh Goes the Extra Mile to Complete the Ultimate Drag-and-Drive
Drag-and-drive events have traditionally included competitors and cruisers that have traveled great distances to participate in the event. But what Daniel Grubaugh pulled off to complete the first-and-only Death Week is a trip of an entirely different kind.
Daniel participated in the 2022 and 2023 editions of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive with a 2006 Dodge Charger Ute, a unique vehicle that combines the Charger with a pick-up rear section.
But when Death Week was announced, the California resident decided to participate with a different ride, his 1973 AMC Hornet Sportabout Gucci wagon.
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Just a couple days into the event, Daniel informed us he might have to do a work shift in the state of Washington. The trip to Washington was over 1,000 miles one way from our third track stop of the event, Famoso Drag Strip in Bakersfield, California. “I didn’t remove any baggage from the car at Famoso,” said Daniel. “Just made one pass, and jumped on the road north.”
About 1100 miles and 26 hours later, Daniel arrived in Washington for his work shift, and even added a ‘Death Week was here’ decal to the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.
After completing a 6:30 am to 4 pm work shift, Daniel got back on the road and headed south to make his return to Death Week in Bakerfield.
Leaving the state of Washington nearly two full days after the tour completed its visit to Bakerfield, Daniel faced the very real task of navigating nearly 2000 miles to stay in competition for Death Week.
Knocking down the same 1100 miles he traveled to Washington, Daniel got back to California, and re-joined the route to travel a minimum 748 miles back to Chandler, hit all the check points, and arrived on Sunday morning just short of 2 am.
Just over nine hours later, Daniel rolled to the starting line at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, and clicked off a 12.14 at 58 mph from the 6-cylinder AMC wagon. But that wasn’t good enough to get Daniel his goal of an 11-second pass.
He made two more passes in the 12-second range, then ditched the hood for run number four, which provided the magic 11.97 at 56 mph pass. Just over three hours later, Daniel received his ‘Survivor’ skull, completing his Death Week.
“I never dreamed I’d get into Sick Week last year,” Danny admits. “Now I have run multiple drag-and-drive events. These have become my vacation!”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Motion Raceworks and Danny Grubaugh.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com