Malta Part of First Big Sky Race Week

Last week, a new event for drag racers in the State of Montana named the Big Sky Race Week took place.

And one of the stops for this race was the Hi-Line Drag Strip on Tuesday, June 18. 119 cars were registered to reach Malta and the trip was a total of 950 miles.

The cars were all street legal, some of them stock and some of them with racing modifications, but all had a big stipulation. Make it from one track to another without any outside help.

"Racers in competition can help each other but no outside help from anyone else on the car," said Austin Walsh of Laurel. "You have to drive the car that you are racing from track to track (without the use of car trailer.)"

Walsh created and operated Big Sky Race Week.

He was asked what he thought of the turnout.

"It's beyond what I could have ever imagined," Walsh said. "I organized it and it blew up. We are just out here having a good time."

The idea of Big Sky Race Week was something that Walsh wanted to do because other states have similar Drag and Drive events.

"They started Hot Rod Drag Week in 2015, and I have been following them since then," Walsh said. "Last year, I went to Death Week, and they did one in southern Arizona and southern California. We did one down there and had a blast. I decided that we needed one in Montana."

The event went to four tracks across the state. They started at Yellowstone Drag Strip in Acton (Billings) on Sunday, June 16, and then traveled to Malta on June 18. They then headed to Lewistown Raceway in Lewistown, then Lostcreek Raceway in Anaconda, and then back to Acton.

Several racers from Malta made the trip.

Hi-Line Drag Strip Track Operator Shane Carnahan was asked what he thought of the event.

"I think it's awesome," Carnahan said. "I know there are these Drag and Drives all over the US and to get one in Montana and have four tracks that we can make this work, is one of the coolest things we can do."

Carnahan loves what the event is doing for the exposure of the sport.

"It is a great way to promote the sport of drag racing," he said. "People see these cars going down the highway and how cool is that? If I was driving down the highway and saw it, I would turn around and want to figure out where they were going."

Carnahan believes that initially, the track was expecting 120-150 cars, but he was pleased with the turnout.

He also said that there were a lot of people following again, but not racing.

"It's awesome," Carnahan said.

Walsh said that Malta's track is the furthest away, and it was even further because racers took the turn at DY Junction to avoid the road construction.

"I love Malta," Walsh said. "It is the first time that I have come up here. Everybody has been super welcoming, super helpful, and super supportive. The whole town backs this drag strip, which is awesome to see. If it wasn't for Malta, we may not have even got this thing off the ground."

He was asked why the racers couldn't rely on outside help with their vehicles in case of a breakdown.

"It's back to the old-time grassroots style,"Walsh said. "You drove your car to the track and worked on it from what you had. You're sticking to that. You are working on it with what you have in the trailer and what you have with you."

The race itself was graded by the fastest average overall. There were several categories including Outlaw, Radial, Pro Street, Limited Street, Stick Shift, True Street, Hot Rod, Gasser, Naturally Aspirated, Junior Street and Diesel.

"We have everything from street cars to two-chassis drag cars that somebody stamped a vent onto so that they could get registration," Walsh said. "We have things going four seconds capable in the eighth-mile and we have things going 11 seconds in the eighth-mile."

The event gave on-lookers around town plenty of cars to look at in the street away from the track, but one vehicle stood out amongst the pack. A hearse pulling a coffin-shaped trailer.

The car driven by Jason Pickett was no ordinary hearse.

"It's a tube chassis, twin-turbo, LS Hearse," he said. "It's a fast Hearse. It's actually the fastest Hearse. They just haven't submitted it to Guinness for the World Record. But they have the record."