Tales From Death Week – Pushing a 300,000-Mile All-Wheel-Drive Truck To Its Limits to Complete Death Week
Death Week brought out cars that you’d expect to see: Camaros, Mustangs, Corvettes and even trucks. Dustyn Caudle earned the number three spot with his 1978 Isuzu, and Byron Mcmahon almost made it two truck in the top ten standings with his 1999 Chevrolet Silverado.
The Arizona-based pick-up of Mcmahon caught plenty of attention throughout the week for its all-wheel-drive burnouts / dry hops, as well as the unique ‘Pizza Planet’ sign on the roof.
By the end of the week, the truck’s performance gave fellow competitors and spectators alike another reason to pay attention to the truck.
Don’t miss our next one-off drag-and-drive: Sick 66 - October 2024!
Event information and expression of interest forms can be FOUND HERE!
“Started the week with a 7.30 (time slip), and ended with a 6.50,” said Bryon. “Decided to not turn in our best times in order to keep our 6.9-second average. Officially we placed 11th; had we turned in our fastest slips, we would have made the top 10.”
For a vehicle like Mcmahon’s truck where traction is the ultimate key to a good run, ending the 2000-mile trip with a 6.54 at 107 mph and earning the coveted ‘Survivor’ skull is the ultimate reward.
“Having personally touched every part of this truck, then entrusting in your own work to carry you through well over 2000 miles with 28 passes down the strip is a pretty special feeling that few will understand,” said Byron.
After doing Rocky Mountain Race Week 2.0 as a member of the Road Week crew in a 413,000-mile VW station wagon, Byron and co-pilot Jason Rellinger switched to the pick-up for Death Week.
They camped in Pismo Beach, California, toured the Sequoia National Park, nipped a few spark plugs along the way, but made a 300,000-mile gen-three LS truck survive the distance.
“I might be blurring my timelines here a bit, but we are so crazy busy. All week just seems like 1 day,” Byron wrote in one Facebook update. “But car 44 completed Death Week.”
Did you miss the chance to participate in Death Week? Check out the details on our next one-off event, Sick 66, scheduled for October 2024. More details and ‘expression of interest’ forms available HERE!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Byron Mcmahon.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com