The Long Road Back – Rebuilding a ’69 Chevelle Stolen and Recovered During Rocky Mountain Race Week
It’s among the most gut wrenching things a car enthusiast can experience - when your ride is stolen. Advancements in GPS tracking and theft deterrents have made a dent to bring the numbers down to an extent, but it still happens.
And although a recent theft during a drag-and-drive event didn’t have a 100-percent happy ending, the car was recovered thanks to the efforts of the car community and social media at large.
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After participating on their first Rocky Mountain Race Week (RMRW) in 2023, Jay and Tammie Jacobs planned a return trip for RMRW 1.0 this year.
Along for the ride would be their 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport, a big block ride still sporting the factory Hugger Orange paint job. Jay and Tammie would also be joined by Jay’s father Gary in his 2017 Chevrolet Camaro.
Jay and the Chevelle competing in the sizable 13-Second Index class at least year’s RMRW 1.0, finishing with a 13.48 average for the sixteenth spot.
For the 2024 edition of RMRW 1.0 Presented by Sick the Magazine, the Chevelle was tuned up and changed to the Pro Street class, clocking an 11.33 at 120.29 mph at Tulsa Raceway Park on day one.
Between the first and second competition day, the Jacobs traveled from Oklahoma to Texas, and stayed at a hotel that wasn’t an official RMRW hotel with extra security. But seeing other RMRW competitor vehicles in the parking lot, they figured it would be okay. They awoke the next morning to find both cars missing.
Tammie made a post about it on Facebook, and it was shared by thousands of people, including over one thousand times from Doug Cook’s personal page alone.
Just over 24 hours later, the Chevelle was found, as Tammie shared the news on Facebook. “It has been located but has been stripped down,” she said. “We haven’t heard anything on the Camaro or the trailers. We just got back to Tulsa and picked up our truck and trailer. We’re heading back to Dallas now to pick it up.
We want to thank each and every one of you that have shared the post, called, text and spread the word! The officer that accidentally came across was working on surveillance and recognized it at a known dump site. He said he heard about it online…you guys are amazing!”
Less than twelve hours later, the Chevelle was loaded up and heading for Mo-Kan Raceway. “We thought we had prepared ourselves for the worst, but after seeing it up close and personal, there are no words,” Tammie posted.
“Moving forward, Jay will have to make the tough call on rebuilding it or not. It’ll be tough decision that’s for sure! In the meantime, we’ll focus on getting the old girl home and take it from there.”
The made it back to Kansas a day later, and Jay posted that he planned to rebuild the car. “I’ll start coming up with a game plan on a new power plant and transmission then dive into it mid-winter,” Jay said. “Thanks for the positive influence everyone.”
Recently, a video detailing the current condition of the car has come out, including what is missing or damaged:
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Jay and Tammie Jacobs.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com