The Final Drive: Rocky Mountain Race Week 1.0 Travels Back to Tulsa to Finalize Class Champions - Host Shootout and Bracket Races
After five days of racing and driving, Rocky Mountain Race Week (RMRW) 1.0 Presented by Sick the Magazine has one final drive today, back to where it all started, Tulsa Raceway Park in Oklahoma.
The standings have been set based on the final day of class competition; now all the leaders must do is make the drive and stage today to earn victory.
But that’s just one part of a packed final day of RMRW.
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RMRW staged its final class competition race day at Mo-Kan Dragway in Missouri on Thursday night.
For nineteen class leaders, it was the chance to secure the lead before making the final day’s drive back to Tulsa. For the rest of the fields, it was their wake-up call for a last shot to unseat the class leaders in the standings.
Friday brings the group back knowing that all competitors are required to do is stage their rides to finalize their averages.
But RMRW creator Matt Frost always brings some fire to the final day, so a trio of shootouts are on the agenda for a combined $11,000 in payouts, plus a large bracket race for the rest of the competitors that completed the week, as well as an exhibition class for those that went out during the week.
Bryant Goldstone held on to the top spot in Unlimited despite fuel injector issues on the drive to Missouri. His best eighth-mile pass equated to a 7.34 quarter-mile time, which unofficially clocks his average at 6.962, the first driver to average a 6-second week at RMRW since Larry Larson did it at the first RMRW in 2015.
The leaders in the following classes held onto their top spots, and now need to complete the drive to secure class victories.
They are: Pro Street (Adam Crego), Outlaw Street (Jim Parkingson), Hot Rod (Walter Doyle), Rowdy Radial (Donavan Linwood), Stick Shift (Bill Armstrong), Limited Street (Ryan Minyard), Shane Werner (Motorcycle), Reggie Moore (Gasser), Shawn Slaubaugh (9-Second Index), Nicholas Roberts (12-Second Index), and Sean Stanford continued his assault on the Naturally Aspirated Small Block class.
The leads changed hands in several classes before the final day’s drive! Ricky Daniels jumped back in front of Brad Thiessen in Ultimate Radial, Bob Ruppel and John Daugherty played musical chairs for the second time in Naturally Aspirated Big Block with Ruppel back on top, and Kyle Calkins slipped ahead of Mike Mead in 10-Second Index by three thousandths of-a-second.
Derek Lewis took over the leader slot in 11-Second Index, Alan and Nicole Ledesma swapped spots for the second time this week in 13-Second Index, with Nicole back on top, and Josh Odom took the lead away from Jennifer Burst in the 14-Second Index class.
Will all the leaders survive the drive back to Tulsa Raceway Park to claim their crowns, or will the standings get shuffled a final time? We will have a final report from RMRW, including race results and confirmed class champions, this weekend.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com