I did Rocky Mountain Race Week this year in my 67 442 convert. It was not competitive, and I knew it wouldn't be. So it was a fun parade lap. RMRW was much less intense than DW, because there was dedicated drive days where you don't race that day. There was definitely a lot of opportunity to get my requisite 8 hours of sleep that DW lacks. It was so hot in Pueblo, and the racing was from 3 - 11, I hung out at the hotel making business calls all afternoon, and didn't go to the track till sun down when it dropped to under 90 degrees. That would never happen at Drag Week.
RMRW seemed to be very well organized. June, who is the lady in charge, really has her ducks in a row. When I showed up at the sign in desk and told her I was new, she very thoroughly and succinctly explained everything I needed to know without me having to ask a bunch of questions. What a nice surprise, vs. wondering around lost and confused for lack of instructions.

A drag and drive is totally different when you are trying to be competitive vs. just having fun. The main reason I decided to go this year was to add Bandimere to my list of tracks raced at before they permanently closed. I was still waiting for parts for the coupe, so I took the Olds. I picked up 3 new tracks. I like testing these different tracks, see how they operate, and I think about the challenges and the struggles that the owners face and am so thankful that they exist.

It was a cool event, and fun, with beautiful drives thru the Rockies and the prairie. There were some crazy pulls up the mountains, 7% grades for miles. I wondered how the cars pulling trailers with 5000 stall converters made it without cooking the trans. With a Doug Nash 5 speed in my Olds, of course that wasn't an issue. The absolute coolest checkpoint ever in drag and drive was the Bishop Castle. Look it up. I climbed to the top of all 4 towers. Some folks where scared to even go in it.
I love the drag and drive stuff. The combination of racing and road tripping suits me perfectly, as I have always relished both. But I am competitive, so I'd rather show up in a car that has a chance than a parade car. I definitely want to do Drag week 2024 in the HemiCoupe.

As far as DW not paying cash prizes, that's fine with me. Racing is a money pit. A $50 prize or a $10,000 prize is a fart in a hurricane, it would barely touch my wallet and then be gone. And racing would still be a money pit. I'd rather win the Drag Week jacket, something I will have and treasure the rest of my life as a reminder of the good times. I still have the trophys I won at NorthStar drag strip in 1978 and '79, and when I look at them on the shelf, it brings back great memories. A $20 prize would have been gone and forgotten. I suppose I'm sentimental about that stuff.

I'm signed up for Death Week, that will be a awesome endurance test, with lots of cool drives. https://www.sickthemagazine.com/death-week