It’s time for Rocky Mountain Race Week folks, and that means 5 days of drag and drive action going on LIVE right here at BANGshift.com. We’ll be bringing you the action from all 5 days of racing, PLUS on road streaming action as well throughout the week. We start off Sunday June 23rd at Tulsa Raceway Park, then spend Monday on a beautiful drive through Oklahoma and Texas before hitting the famed Texas Motorplex in Ennis on Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday we’re at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble Oklahoma, and Thursday we make the trek to Mo-Kan Dragway for day 4 racing action. Friday we’re back at Tulsa Raceway Park for several big money heads up shootouts and the bragging rights for who will be crowned champions for Rocky Mountain Race Week 2024!

Racing starts each day around 3pm Central and will go until the last car makes a pass around 11 pm each night. If you aren’t subscribed already, please do that now, and ring the bell so you’ll be notified when we go live from various checkpoints and trailer burnout spots on the route! And if you want to know what those routes are, just visit the   / rockymountainraceweek   page to see them all!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH ALL THE ACTION LIVE AND FREE! 

The post FREE LIVE DRAG AND DRIVE COVERAGE! Rocky Mountain Race Week Race Day 4 – Mo-Kan Dragway appeared first on BangShift.com.

It’s been a crazy summer of car shows and drag races, and it’s not going to slow down until Christmas at this point. But man it has been fun getting to see a bunch of you monkeys at different events. You have no idea how cool it is to look across a packed show field and see BangShift and Forum Freak shirts. It really does make Brian and I proud. Hell, there were like a billion of you on Drag Week this year.

Most of this year’s show and race season seems to be one big Goodguys show, as I’ve been traveling all over announcing at the Goodguys Autocrosses. If you haven’t made it out to one, you have a couple left to see this year as we head to Charlotte, Pleasanton, and Del Mar. Thanks to a great relationship with the Goodguys, I’m allowed to be Chad on about 8, which is better than I would have expected when I started working with them a couple years ago. Next year there are going to be 18 Goodguys Autocross events, and they want me to do all of them. Uugghhhh. We’re looking at schedules now so I’ll keep you posted. A ton of you have come to say hi at the events, and know that my goal is always to have fun and poke fun. With great Vendor participants like Bret from Ridetech, Kyle and Stacy from Detroit Speed, Kurt Ukasik from RPM, Jason Childress from Gateway Classic Mustang, and all the others, it’s hard not to have a good time. They put on a killer show and on occasion let me get behind the wheel and prove I can operate more than my mouth. Come see me in Charlotte, Pleasanton, or Del Mar before 2011 is over. You won’t regret it. 

Bonneville sucked. Well, not really, but damn it is hard to be on the salt and not race. I love spectating certain events, and this place defies description on the cool meter, but it sucks balls watching everyone else get to race. Fear not, BangShift has a land speed car. Yep, I’ve had it for a couple of years and Freiburger and I have talked about running it together, but next August it will be on the salt or I’m going to cry in public. Not that I haven’t done that before, but you know what I mean. It’s a 1975 Monza, and has history running on the dry lake at El Mirage. It’s been decades since it ran under its own power so it needs a fair amount of stuff, but we’ll make it happen. Anyway, back to Bonneville. I was lucky enough to take Mike Copeland around the salt this year as he had never been. He was supposed to drive Turk and Freiburger’s Camaro, but DF blew that junk up early so Copeland was shit out of luck. Alll was not lost as he got to see what it’s all about and meet all the cool people I could find, but man it is hard watching cars race rather than being the one doing the racing. Still it was cool to hang out with our boys from Spectre, as well as make Freiburger’s broke big block run on two cylinders for a 32mph record. Next year it’s racing time. I still want to get into the 200 mph club behind the wheel of the Camaro, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen. I want it to, but we’ll just have to see. I’ve had offers to drive a few other cars over the past two years and have turned it down because I really wanted to do it in the Camaro since I’ve worked on it so much, but we’ll just have to see. The Monza is not going to be a 200 mph car. At least not yet.

Drag Week was great from a participation stand point. There were like a billion of you competing who were running BangShift decals, and we appreciate it greatly. I’m not sure the hot rod staff loves having BangShift decals in their photos, but that doesn’t bother us a bit. Ha ha ha. Major thanks to BangShifter Michael Moore aka “the crazy Canadian” who decided that since he couldn’t make it he’d send beer money on Drag Week. He sent us $200 and there were a big group of you drinking all his beer on Thursday night in Topeka. Corona, Bud Light, Miller Light, and Coors Light were flowing like mad and it was all because of Michael, so we owe him a huge thanks. Free beer is the best beer, and although we would have rather seen him there in his big bad Ford, the beer was a “fair” replacement. Congrats of course to our good friend Larry Larson on yet another win, and to all the rest of you who made it, won your class, or both. Daphne and I were running around like crazy people all week trying to take a million photos and get all the scoop. Sorry we weren’t as vocal and out there as usual, but we kinda got told to be good. So, we were good. Next year I’m competing in Drag Week, so I’ll be as loud as I want to be, and nobody can stop me. Major thanks to Todd Berry and Joe Barry, who gave us their scooter and golf cart respectively for the week. It made life much easier on us getting from one place to the next. 

Camping. Yep, Daphne and I loaded up the kiddos and headed camping. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, except that at 10 and 14 the two of them had never been camping before. Blame Daphne. Anyway, after a day long cruise around the Angeles National Forest while the kids were out of town, Daphne and I decided that we needed to come camping with them. Killer idea I thought, as I went camping a lot as a child, but there was still a part of me thinking hmmmmm “Is this a good idea?” It turns out it was once we got over the siblings having to share a tent thing. So we camped by a creek, watched the deer run around, heard a story about a bear one campground up from us, and played with fire. Ahhhhh the site, smell, and sound of a campfire. The kids had a great time, and so did Daphne and I. It was a short trip, but a good one, and we’re going to do more in the spring I’m sure. Of course there is a photo of me playing with fire, and one of the kids and I in the creek. The creek ruled and we walked up it a couple of times. Cold mountain water feels good.

I’ve saved the funniest for last. It is official. I’m a member of the clergy. Yep, Reverend “BangShift” Chad Reynolds here. I have neen ordained as the leader of the Church of What’s Happenin Now, a branch of the Universal Life Church. Why you ask? Well, it all started when my buddy Sean, who I’ve known since high school, decided to get married. This came as a shock to all that know Sean because he has been anti-wedlock forever. But Cynthia is a cool chick, and they are a match made in heaven so he pulled the trigger. 

Anyway, he announced that they were getting married, and then asked if I would perform the ceremony. So i did what any good friend would do and said “Hells yeah bitches!” and got ordained online. And so it was that on September 24th I performed my first wedding ceremony. It ruled. Video will be available soon, and I’ll post it here. Until then a photo below of my getup will have to suffice. Let me just tell you that Prince lyrics and the words “You have the right to remain silent” were included in the ceremony along with several other funny things. And yes, I was wearing shorts and flip flops. So was the groom. 

Okay gang, now it’s time to decide what we are going to do to get ourselves into trouble this week. Any topics you want me to discuss? Any questions you have for me? Almost anything is fair game, so let’s have it. I have a couple Chadmouth rants in mind, including NASCAR, Traveling for dumbies, Whiny bitches, etc. Suggestions? Oh, and I might do one or two with video rather than text. What do you think?

The post Chadmouth: It’s Chadweek at BangShift! Brian is on vacation and left me the keys! Woo Hoo appeared first on BangShift.com.

At last count, I have visited 48 of the 50 United States by car, truck or RV. Admittedly, most all were visited during my childhood on family vacations or trips to races. In the last 15 years I’ve visited 44 or 45 on my own while traveling across the country for work, fun, or both. Am I bragging? A little bit. How many states have you hit? How many in a hot rod? I can honestly say that 35 or more have been seen behind the wheel of mine, or someone else’s, hot rod. How is this possible, you ask? Events like Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour and Drag Week have been responsible for a lot of them, but I’m also a gluten for a good road trip. Seeing what really makes this country tick, is as easy as hitting the road and seeing where it takes you. Trust me, there is no shortage of great places to eat, drink, and visit here in the good old US of A. In fact, I find it mildly annoying that people often think they have to leave the lower 48 to enjoy a vacation and find something interesting to look at or do. Seriously? Clearly you haven’t visited Milwaukee, driven through Kentucky in the fall, or enjoyed the sun on your left arm while cruising out west.

On country singer Jason Aldean’s new album you’ll find a song that refers to the great states of the Midwest as the flyover states because most people never see anything more than the view from a Southwest Airlines flight. And we all know that flying is clearly the most efficient way to move across the country. Hell, we spend a lot of time in the air ourselves. But if you get the chance to enjoy the drive, don’t pass it up. Throw your girl, or a buddy, in the passenger seat and see where the road takes you. I know that gas is expensive but, even at $4 a gallon, it’s cheaper to spend 4 days on the road than it is to fly somewhere for a 4 day vacation. And imagine the reaction you’ll get when you tell the gang at work that you are taking a few days off for a road trip, and how many will want to here your stories after you return. So get off your ass, dust off the car, and fire it up. Where you go only requires one decision at the end of the driveway. Left or right.

The post Chadmouth Poll: Road Tripping Your Hot Rod Rules! How many states have you hit? appeared first on BangShift.com.

The post Video of Larry Larson’s Record Breaking 6-second Pass on Drag Week appeared first on BangShift.com.

Congrats to Yost and crew for making this win a reality. We’re glad to see that they got the hardware, even after a year’s wait!

The post Eric Yost wins Pro Street Power Adder Class at Hot Rod Drag Week 2010 appeared first on BangShift.com.

Hot Rod Magazine’s Drag Week is a true test of man and machine. It’s not only about being fast, but also being durable. And when your car fails, which it will, it’s about having the balls to thrash on the side of the road in order to make it to the next track. On day four of Drag Week 2010, we’ve seen record breaking speeds and elapsed times, and today those fast passes really took their toll. Eddie Miller, driver of the now famous purple Duster, is out after completely destroying one piston in the big inch Mopar. Eddie isn’t one to give up, but after multiple attempts at finding a way to make it to the next stop, he threw in the towel.He was not alone today.

Meanwhile, Larry Larson and Jeff Lutz are embroiled in oneof the coolest street car brawls we’ve seen in recent years and tomorrows final day of competition promises to be a bad assed, double throw down, shootout that will not end until they’ve both thrown the whole toolbox at it. 

The highlights of Friday’s action included Eric Yost throwing down a 7.78 in his Pro Street Power Adder entry, after pedaling the car hard at the hit, Larry Larson running a 7.11 at only 184 after accidentally shutting the car off early, and Jeff Lutz answer the call with his own 7.11 and then driving off the end of the track when his chutes didn’t open. It was dramatic to say the least.

We’ve got a gallery of pictures up right now, and more video coming in the morning.

To check out our gallery of 110 pictures from Hot Rod Magazine’s Drag Week 2010 Friday, click here.

To see all the weeks action here at BangShift.com, click here.

To see more from the staff at Hot Rod, visit HotRod.com by clicking here.

The post Hot Rod Drag Week Day 4: 7 second passes, and lots of carnage. appeared first on BangShift.com.

The event will take place from September 13-18 and will visit the following tracks, National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, Indy Raceway Park, in Claremont, Indiana, Milan Dragway, in Milan, Michigan, and Pittsburgh Raceway Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. It’s a great mix of larger and medium sized facilities. Giving the competitors the opportunity to test their mettle on the historic strip in Indy is going to be worth major bonus points to competitors.

There have been some small rules tweaks, the most notable being the new requirement that racers leave the track all at the same time each day at 1 p.m. Why the change? It makes things easier to police, and as is stated on HotRod.com, puts pressure on competitors whose junk cannot keep a normal pace on the highway.

This event is truly awesome and we’ve experienced it first hand as both competitors and fans. It is filled with all the things that make the gearhead life great. There’s competition, thrashing, and a sense of community and camaraderie that you’ll find nowhere else.

Click here to go to our coverage of Hot Rod Magazine’s Drag Week 2009, featuring thousands of photos, video links, and more.

Stop making excuses as to why you can’t go and come up with reasons as to why you have to go!

Click here to get all the info, and to see the details of Hot Rod Drag Week 2010! 

The post Drag Week 2010 Registration Open: Dates and Venues Announced appeared first on BangShift.com.