Gearhead Gathering – Rocky Mountain Race Week 2019

June 18th, 2019

Welcome to one of the most grueling tests of man and machine to be found anywhere on earth. Drag cars – designed to accelerate quickly over a short distance, reach a maximum speed and suddenly come to a near halt – are charged with travelling to four venues over seven-days. The drag cars must be driven the 1,000-miles (roundtrip) over the Rocky Mountains and back! Bru-tal!

It is common to see a tubbed-out muscle car or late model, pulling a travel trailer full of tools and car parts, during Rocky Mountain Race Week. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty common to see racers broken down on the side of the highway. Race cars are built with low gears and hot engines. Some struggle on the open road. The most memorable thing about Race Week are the friendships developed along the way. Competitors who aggressively talk smack to one-another constantly are the first ones to pull over and lend a hand when the other one breaks. It’s amazing.

On hand are 200 of the most impressive cars to ever roll onto a drag strip. There’s a beautiful ’57 Chevy Bel Air with a blown 540 cubic-inch engine, a turbocharged Cadillac Hurst with triple sixes in the VIN (creepy), a twin turbo Ford Lightning F150 with a 428 engine, an LSx turbo (76-millimeter) Nova that looks like a show car, a twin turbo Chevy Silverado that is capable of running eights, and a four-door AMC Ambassador with twin turbochargers. Of course, there’s tons of other interesting and unique builds. Have a look for yourself.

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