2nd Annual Big Sky Race Week Completes a Week in Montana – Jason Pickett, Randy Seward and Jake Klein Lead the Winners Roster!
June is an insane month for the drag and drive community, with eleven events on the roster for 2025.
One of the newest, Big Sky Race Week, celebrated their second year with a full roster of rides to do a drag and drive across the state of Montana, with four days of competition.
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The week started with day zero tech and testing at Yellowstone Dragstrip in Acton, and that would also be the site of day one for competition.
From Yellowstone Dragstrip, competitors hit the road to Hi-Line Dragstrip in Malta for day two, followed by Lewistown Raceway for day three, Lostcreek Raceway for day four, returning to Yellowstone Dragstrip for the final day on June 20th.
Big Sky Race Week featured ten classes, and the quickest average came in the Hot Rod class, where last year’s second-place finisher Jake Klein climbed the final rung on the ladder for the win in 2025. He played musical chairs for the top spot with 2024 champ, David Kenney, by dropping his average over 1.5 seconds to a 5.38 average.
The Outlaw class featured a familiar name at the top of the roster, as Jason Pickett averaged a 5.481 in the ‘Haulin Ash’ 1993 Buick hearse to trade his third-place result from 2024 for the win in 2025.
Mike Grady would top everyone in the Radial class with a 5.57 average, marking his second drag and drive win in less than a month, following his Tail Gate win at the Olympic Streetcar Shootout.
One of the most competitive classes would be Pro Street, and with not only some solid drag and drive competitors, but also a 5.35-second index cap. At the end of five days, two-time season winner Randy Seward put together a 5.4565 average, just enough to hold off the 5.46225 average of Royce Payton in second, and Shawn Fink in third with a 5.48225 average.
Garrett Waldo earned the top spot with a 6.55 average in the Limited Street class with his fourth-gen Chevrolet Camaro.
The Stick Shift class had 16 cars battling for the top spot, and Robert Warrick was in command from day one, averaging a 6.13 to grab the win.
The True Street class would once again be the largest one on Big Sky Race Week, with nearly 60 cars making it to day one. Last year, Darce Laws would top the huge field, and he returned with a better performance in 2025, varying from his ‘Dial-in’ by just .009 of-a-second average over the course of the week. But Ray Dominiak III was three thousandths of-a-second better, thwarting Laws’ chances of a repeat victory, and Nathan King finished third, just one thousandth of-a-second behind Laws.
Justin Dall backed up his 2024 win in the Diesel class, with his 7.65 average used to win this time around improving by nearly a half-second over last year’s result.
Last year’s Naturally Aspirated class would be expanded into a pair of classes for 2025, with the Naturally Aspirated Small Block representing the 434 cubic inch and smaller displacements, while Naturally Aspirated Big Block would contain the 435 cubic inch and larger engines.
The 2024 Naturally Aspirated champion, Dan Bold, returned to claim the Naturally Aspirated Big Block class victory with his full size Chevrolet pick-up.
The Naturally Aspirated Small Block side found Adam Bailey’s RX-7 at the top of the list.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Big Sky Race Week and participant submissions.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com