MEGA WIN - Bryant Goldstone Clean Sweeps Unlimited Class, Shootout Victory and Sets New Record Mark on the Highest Participant Drag and Drive Event Ever – Rocky Mountain Race Week MEGAWEEK!
The second drag and drive to hit the scene, Rocky Mountain Race Week (RMRW), has done at least one event a year to put people and their vehicles through their paces in the central part of the United States.
For 2025 to celebrate their 10th anniversary, Matt Frost ratcheted things up a bit by creating RMRW’s MEGAWEEK Presented by Sick The Magazine, with over 500 competitors participating in a unique two group format for seven days to crown 40 class champions, as well as Shootout, bracket and Junior Street winners on the final day.
Event coverage is just one part of the 200+ pages we pack into each issue of Sick the Magazine, which include features, guest columns and MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE to subscribe to the print magazine that covers drag and drive best - Sick The Mag!
514 competitors passed through tech inspection on Day 0, May 31st, at Tulsa Raceway Park in Oklahoma, before getting competition under way on Day 1. The tour then rolled from Tulsa to the Flying H Drag Strip in Odessa, Missouri for Day 2 on June 2nd, followed by the first of two dedicated drive days on June 3rd.
Wednesday, June 4th put RMRW on track at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Oklahoma for Day 4, and driving a little further south to Texas for Day 5 staged up the fourth track day at the legendary Texas Motorplex in Ennis, where competitors got their final shot to put down a good time and lock in their week-long average.
Friday, June 6th was a drive day back to Tulsa Raceway Park, where competitors needed to return in order to ‘finalize’ their averages and class standings. Saturday would be the RMRW Shootouts, as well as a bracket race for any competitor to jump into, and the Junior Street class eliminations.
Several brave competitors chose to run both the A as well as the B group, requiring a minimum of two passes per day from each group. But, the one competitor most were watching was Bryant Goldstone, who at RMRW 1.0 last year became just the second competitor to earn a 6-second average, and he was looking for more in 2025.
By the end of the week, Goldstone and his ‘73 AMC Javelin had accomplished what some might have considered impossible: winning the Unlimited class title in both the A and the B groups, as well as surpassing the long-standing 6.91 overall record held by Larry Larson, with a 6.68 second average, done in the A group. Goldstone finished the week by also claiming the overall average.
Goldstone would not be the only one making headlines, as three more drivers joined him as double class champions, making at least two runs in each group each day, to collect Group A and Group B victories.
The second double winner chose to do it between two different classes, instead of the same one. Past RMRW winner Bob Ruppel was successful twice in his familiar ’72 Chevy Nova, earning the Naturally Aspirated Big Block win with a 10.25 average in Group A, and then added the 10-Second Index crown as well with a 10.08 average in Group B.
Motorcycle class champ Shane Werner and his 2021 Suzuki wasn’t the quickest of the A Group at the beginning of the week, but consistent mid 9-second time slips earned Werner the Group A win with a 9.55 average. He doubled down with the Group B victory by assembling a close 9.57 average to ride into the sunset with both titles.
The fourth and final competitor to score a pair of wins did so in the 14-Second Index class. Anthony Watson, who came in the defending RMRW 2.0 winner from last year, showed it was no fluke, as he wheeled his 2002 Camaro to the top of the index twice, with a 14.05 average the best in Group A, while a better 14.01 average would get the trophy in Group B.
The Stick Shift class is a popular one, with attendance right up there with RMRW’s index classes. Group A was controlled from the start by Nathan Curran, who wheeled his ’80 Fairmont to an 8.96 average for the win. Group B had the pick-up of William Hogan putting together an all 8-second week, averaging 8.90 for the accolades.
The Pro Street class required a mid 8-second vehicle to get close to the top spot, and both group winners were wheeling clean white forced induction rides. Tony Wisman wheeled his ’69 Dodge Dart to an 8.38 average for Group A accolades, a new personal best for him.
The Group B Pro Street title was secured by Brady Davis, who endured a week of 8-second runs, as well as a broken windshield caused by his hood coming loose at 164 mph. His 2000 Chevrolet Silverado pick-up tabulated an 8.57 average for the win.
The Ultimate Radial class featured leader changes in both groups after one competitor in each looked to have a solid lead. The Group A leader was noted competitor Tina Pierce, but a 20-second pass on the final day allowed Brad Thiessen’s ’70 Chevrolet Nova to get around for a 7.91 winning average.
Group B had Eric Kuhn’s ’55 Chevy at the front of the Ultimate Radial class after two days, but he suffered problems and wasn’t able to continue, leaving the leader spot for Ryan Hill, and he secured the win with a 9.59 average from his 1984 Mercury Colony Park station wagon.
The A Group of the Outlaw Street class looked to have a familiar name at the top by mid-week, but Jim Parkison dropped out to surrender the victory to Dani Odom’s 1020 average from a 2011 Challenger. Lance Walker secured the Group B title for Outlaw Street, guiding a ’91 S-10 to a 9.08 average.
Two-time Sick Week Street Race class winner Randy Seward brought his proven ‘91 Ford Mustang to RMRW and the 8.5-second Limited Street class, and Seward secured the Group A victory with a solid 8.511 average.
Aaron Slayden’s familiar ‘Taco Time’ Fairmont wheeled to the B Group Limited Street class win with an 8.78 average.
Defending Rowdy Radial champion Donavan Linwood did the deed once again at MEGAWEEK, guiding his ’89 Mustang to a 5.14 average for the Group A victory. Fellow Mustang runner Jacob Broyles secured the Group B accolades thanks to a 5.50 average from his ’94 Ford Mustang.
The Hot Rod class would be won by a pair of blue oval Fords, with Troy Meek’s 8.98 average getting the top spot in Group A, and the 9.75 average of Daryl Stutzman would earn the win in the B Group.
The Gasser class witnessed Mickey Lowder’s Willys earn top status in Group A with an 11.13 average, while the B Group was captured by Michael Jones thanks to a 10.74 average from his ’45 Ford truck.
In the Naturally Aspirated classes, only fuel and air are allowed to determine a competitor’s chances at a class ranking. After failing out early in last year’s RMRW 1.0, Carlos Astor completed his week with a stout 9.49 average for the N/A Big Block win in Group A.
On the Naturally Aspirated Small Block side of things, a pair of 6th generation Chevrolet Camaros swept the rankings. Defending 1.0 champ Sean Stanford earned the Group A win with a 9.49 average, while Michael Friesen wheeled daughter Britney’s Camaro to a 10.11 winning average.
The Tailgate class allows anything with a tailgate to compete, with a competitor’s first time slip as the base for the week. Their goal is to get closest to that elapsed time for the rest of the week. Brent Fulton’s ’89 GMC Sierra pick-up would be the best of fifty competitors in the A Group, while Levi Ruppert .053 of-a-second spread was tops for the Group B winner swag.
The Junior Street class follows the same outline as Tailgate for base e.t, but to give the 13-16 year old competitors a chance at the track. Brylea Tilson was tops in the Group A segment with her 2002 Chevy Silverado, while the ’72 International of Tyler Weinhold would top the field in the A Group.
RWRM features six index classes, and they are always hotly contested with a large group of participants in each.
The quickest of the index classes, 9-Second Index, almost had the fifth double winner of MEGAWEEK, as Vince Ruhe made a solid bid for both titles. The ’62 Nova put up a 9.02 average to secure the Group B win, but a 9.04 average fell less than a hundredth of-a-second short in Group A, which went to Shawn Slaubaugh with a one with a 9.03 average.
The 10-Second Index title in Group A went to recent Sick Week Pro DYO champion Azeem Sheikh, who wheeled his ’73 Camaro to a stout 10.01 average for the award.
The 11-Second Index titles went to a pair of later model rides, as Lee Watkins and his 2009 Pontiac G8 scored the Group A win with an 11.05 average, while the 2020 Hellcat Challenger of Dale Gebhart was top dog in Group B thanks to an 11.02 average.
Alan Ledesma may have finished second in the 2024 version of RMRW, but Ledesma would quietly make his way to the top of the 12-Second Index class in Group A with a 12.04 average. On the Group B side, Mike Barnhill used a pair of perfect 12.00 passes to arrive at a 12.012 average and the class win.
The 13-Second Index class had the second highest car count and featured the tightest margin for the class title. Darren Gebhart and Bryan Brown duked it out all week, and at the completion of the event, Gebhart’s 13.045 average just edged out Brown’s 13.048 average for the Group B win! Group A had Brian McCutcheon starting the week with a perfect 13.000 run, and he rode a string of 13.0 passes to a 13.02 average and the Group A win.
A full report from RMRW announcer Adam Dorey will appear in the Summer 2025 print issue of Sick The Magazine.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick The Magazine, Rocky Mountain Race Week, and various participants.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com