The 10th Running of Rocky Mountain Race Week Is Underway - Bryant Goldstone, Ricky Daniels and Donavon Linwood Among the Leaders After Day One
The 2024 season is proving to be one for significance in the drag-and-drive world. The second major drag-and-drive to hit the scene, Rocky Mountain Race Week (RMRW), celebrates its tenth year of holding at least one event each year in 2024.
The first of two RMRW to be held this year, RMRW 1.0 Presented by Sick the Magazine features new tracks, as well as some new competitors.
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Featuring some of the more scenic routes on a drag-and-drive, RMRW got its start yesterday at Tulsa Raceway Park in Oklahoma for day one. Today, the tour rolls on a drive day to Texas Motorplex in Ennis for racing on Tuesday.
The event then returns to Oklahoma, but for Wednesday will visit Thunder Valley Raceway Park for racing action. Thursday will steer the group to Mo-Kan Dragway in Missouri, before the event returns back to Tulsa Raceway Park on Friday to wrap up the week.
The quickest class, Unlimited, has been captured by Jason Hurley at the last four RMRW events. But “The Meltdown Firebird” could have some stiff competition this year, as recent Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks overall champion Bryant Goldstone almost went straight from Illinois to Oklahoma.
After struggling with boost issues early on, Goldstone posted a 6.81 at 216 mph last night for not only the Unlimited class top spot, but the overall lead. Hurley’s 7.78 sits second in class.
Today, Goldstone discovered a large pothole in the road, and the oil pan paid the price! He’s all patched up now, and has re-joined the route to Texas.
The Ultimate Radial class witnessed two rides invade 7-second land, and it’s a Ford versus Chevrolet battle. A 7.91 at 174 mph pass gives Ricky Daniels the early lead in his ’86 Mustang, but Brad Thiessen is close behind thanks to a 7.94 at 177 mph blast from his ’70 Chevy Nova.
Rowdy Radial can be a hotly contested class, with the tiny 26-inch tall x 8.5-inch wide tire size being the limiting factor. Donavon Linwood’s Mustang leads the pack with a 5.18 initial hit, but Marc Grote’s 5.23 from his AMC Gremlin and past RMRW winner Aaron Shaffer’s 5.35 will make this class one to watch.
The Stick Shift class shows a healthy 28-competitor field, and the twin-turbo ’66 Fairlane of ‘Bangshift Billy’ Armstrong leads the pack with a 9.11. Joel Magill, Miles McCullough and Nathan Curran also clocked 9-second runs on day one.
A pair of Chevrolet Nova models command the top spots in Pro Street, with Mike Hazelwood’s 1963 model leading Adam Crego’s ’68 version via an 8.32 to 8.88 count.
Jim Parkingson sits in the number one spot in Outlaw Street with an 8.61 at 162 mph from his 1978 Chevrolet Camaro, with Brady Davis just a couple tenths behind in his 2000 Silverado pick-up.
The Limited Street class has a lone ride in the 8-second zone, with the ’78 Chevy Malibu of Ryan Minyard clocking an 8.79 to sit out front of Steven Willinham’s 9.02 pass.
Walter Doyle’s 1966 Chevrolet Malibu is a regular on the drag-and-drive scene, and he sits in the leader spot in Hot Rod after producing a 9.24 day one pass. Tim Meyer’s Pontiac is close behind with a 9.33 run.
The Naturally-Aspirated rides get a Small Block and Big Block class to play in, and with one day in the books, Carlos Astor leads the Big Block class with a 9.43, while Small Block has Sean Stanford out front at 9.57.
The Gasser class has the unique 1955 Pontiac Chieftain of Eddie Wilson at the helm with a 10.94 run, with Joe Grier and Rob LePenske in the 11-second range to round out the top three.
Austin Allsup currently has the quickest run of the Junior Street class, with a 9.07 from his 1991 Ford Mustang.
RMRW is one of the few drag-and-drive events to host a motorcycle class, and although Chris Baker posted the quickest pass of day one at 9.28, he’s already listed as being ‘out of competition.’ That puts Dustin Moody’s Kawasaki at the top with a 9.33 pass.
The Index classes can be some of the toughest ones to win, as there are a lot of vehicles able to hit the mark closely. The quickest of the Index classes, 9-Second Index, has Jeremy Wilson in front, but Shawn Slaubaugh and Brian Walden are just five hundredths of-a-second behind.
The 10-Second class is led by Mike Mead with a 10.01, with a trio of 10.0-second rides right behind him, rerady to snatch the lead if the 2015 Mustang of Mead slows.
The 11-Second Index class is the closest so far, with Landon Jensen’s near-perfect 11.002 just ahead of the 11.006 of Lynn Holman. Lee Watkins and David Glanzer both have an 11.01 pass on their side, and three more rides have 11.0-second clockings on day one.
The largest class of the event is 12-Second Index, and Nicholas Roberts leads almost a 50-vehicle field with a 12.006. Eleven rides are less than a tenth of-a-second behind the leader, and Sick the Magazine editor Luke Nieuwhof turned in a 12.22 pass on his first drag-and-drive day as a competitor, wheeling a ‘sick’ 2023 Dodge Charger.
The 13-Second Index class has ten cars that turned in passed quicker than 13.10, with Nicole Ledesma’s 2023 Mach-E electric Mustang at the helm with a 13.012 run. The 14-Second Index class. The 14-Second Index class has Jennifer Gilliard in the top spot thanks to a 14.018 first day run.
Today is a road day, as one of the largest RMRW groups in history heads to Ennis, Texas and Texas Motorplex for racing tomorrow. We’ll have updates on Sick the Magazine throughout the week, including results and photos.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, 1320 Video, Bryant Goldstone and Dustin Moody.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com