The First Redwood Rally Completed on West Coast – Propst, Ballard and Mendonca Among the Class Winners
The drag-and-drive community has seen drag-and-drive events primarily in the middle and east coast of the United States since the Hot Rod Drag Week event started in 2005.
But the left coast has started to see the drag-and-drive schedule contain some events for them as well, including Death Week and last week’s Redwood Rally.
The Redwood Rally, a new event for 2023, covered nearly 700 miles of Pacific Northwest roads between Coos Bay Speedway, Medford Dragstrip, Redding Dragstrip and Samoa Dragstrip.
Twelve different classes were conducted, and each contestant was required to hand in a minimum of two time slips at each track (the elapsed times for all ten slips were added together for the competitor’s ‘score’ for the week).
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The Unlimited class has no restrictions, and is run on the eighth-mile standard. The quickest resulting winner, Shane Propst in his 1967 Chevy Nova, compiling a 37.751 total for the top spot. Ryan Nystrom finished second with a 1969 Nova thanks to a 55.24 total time.
The Redwood Radials class mandates the tiny 235 radials (a 26-inch-tall x 8.5-inch-wide tire) on the eighth-mile standard, and the resulting winner was Donavan Linwood thanks to the 44.593 total from his 1989 Ford Mustang. Nate Curran was a close second, tallying a 45.837 for the runner-up spot in the class.
The Mind Over Matter class is based on a personal index, and although cars and trucks are encouraged to run the full quarter-mile, the results are based on eighth-mile times. A competitor’s first pass of the week sets the index, and the rest of the week, the competitor’s job is to get as close to the index without going under it. If they run below the index, the difference is added to the total, PLUS a .2 of-a-second penalty.
Jordan Pierce would stand atop the largest field of the week, with a total of nine runs .364 of-a-second above the original index. Dylan Ellsworth guided his 2011 Ford Crown Victoria to a .458 variance of-a-second above his index for second, and Sarah Field’s 1971 Plymouth Duster earned third with a .652 of-a-second above her index.
The 3 Pedal class focuses on those that enjoy banging gears going down the track and, on the street, and the only requirement is having to use a clutch pedal. Redwood Rally separated them into a Domestic 3 Pedal class and an Import 3 Pedal class.
On the Domestic side of things, Kevin Barden wheeled his classic 1965 Ford Mustang to the class win, using a 69.714 result to clinch the top spot. The 1962 Pontiac Tempest of Dean Rock scooped up second with a 70.313 tally, and Benjamin Enebo landed third with a 70.876 calculation.
The Import stick class found the unique 1968 Beaumont of Chris Oler at the top of the sheet, as he posted up a 61.507 for the accolades.
American Graffiti is a limited tire (28-inch-tall x 10.5-inch width maximum, as well as a 275 radial, but a 30-inch-tall x 9-inch width is also an option), plus a primarily stock-appearing exterior and run on the eighth-mile standard. That overall theme is separated into three classes: a Naturally-Aspirated (N/A) class, Single Power-Adder class and Double Power-Adder class.
The American Graffiti N/A class found Bill Fowler at the top with a 51.235 tally in his 1987 Ford Mustang, followed by Brian Rock’s 1965 Pontiac GTO in second with a 54.994 result and Brian Hawksley rounding out the top three with his 1965 Chevrolet Biscayne posting up a 56.76.
American Graffiti Single Power-Adder had some of the closest competition amongst the top three finishers, and holding the number one spot at the end of the week was Robert Mendonca in his 1972 Dodge Demon due to a 47.477 result. Just a heartbeat behind in second was Austin Jennen, who made Mendonca sweat a bit when his 1972 Chevrolet Vega put together a 47.525 tally. Third went to Tom Hall’s 2021 Dodge Challenger thanks to a 48.148 total time.
Stepping up to the Double Power-Adder, Kris Ballard denied the rest of the field with a 46.462 result from his 1931 Ford Model A Coupe. The 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle of Tyler Koranda captured second with a 48.011 total, and James Sisk posted a close 48.123 for third in his 1964 Chevrolet Nova.
American Graffiti Magnum steps up the level of task of American Graffiti, with any tire allowed, on the eighth-mile standard, separated into a Naturally-Aspirated (N/A) class and a Power-Adder classes.
The American Graffiti Magnum N/A class was captured by Allan Taylor, who guided his 1966 Ford Fairlane to a 52.940 total for the win. Jared Nichols rolled his 1970 Mustang to second from his 58.391 result, and Doug Risley earned third with a 60.602 tally from his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle.
The Power-Adder version of the American Graffiti Magnum class found Darce Laws in a Ford Mustang at the top of the sheet, as Laws posted up a 47.653 total for the victory. Danny Crossover was second with a 79.065 in his 1992 Chevrolet ½-ton pick-up.
2 Wheel Motion is a class for motorcycles as well as trikes as a ‘run-what-you-brung’ ruleset. Charly Blunt wheeled his 2013 ZX14R to a 67.620 tally for the class win.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Darce Laws, Lance Thormahlen, Greg Gandee, Donavan Linwood, Jordan Pierce, Kevin Barden, Dean Rock, Cole Ruchonnet, Ryan Saiki, Kris Ballard and Redwood Rally.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com