Lowery Racing

08/18/2026

Happy Monday everyone!

I wanted to hop on here to thank two very important people/businesses. Without them helping, I’m not sure what Big Sky Race Week would have looked like for us. If you’ve ever seen a sticker on the wagon/dragster and wondered why it’s there, there’s good reason. They are very important places, races, people, businesses. Kevin doesn’t just put stickers on his cars for fun. There has to be a reason for it. Recently, we got two new ones due to these people/businesses.

The first one is James B Depew with Roman’s Hotrod Speed & Fabrication out of Eldon, Missouri. We had looked everywhere we could think of for a short block for the wagon after hurting the motor that was in it at The Circuit - A Charity with Horsepower in early May. We went and looked at several different ones in a field and looked all over marketplace, and none of them had exactly what we needed. Finally, I made a post asking if anyone had a short block that would work. James sent me a message almost immediately saying that he had one we could come and get. Wow! 🤯

The second is Michael Neal and Driven Racing Oil. The oil we received from them really came in handy for this trip. We have ran GP-1 in the wagon for a while now, and we couldn’t be happier with the product. If you have a race car and aren’t running Driven Racing Oil, what are you even doing with your life? Jk.., but seriously, look into running this in your car because it is the best!

After hauling two motors in my car within the last few months, I was glad to have the Driven Speed Clean laying around to use. One of the motors we hauled was far dirtier than the other, and it puked a bunch of coolant on the bottom of my trunk. I’ll let you all decide which one that one was.

08/07/2026

The ride home from Big Sky Race Week.

July 18th & July 19th

Before we left Billings, we met up with Lily & Chris Wozniak with WAF Racing to grab lunch. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy the end of a race week with some really cool people. Once we left town, we were hammer down. I had mentioned to Kevin that I really wanted to see Mount Rushmore on the way up there as we stayed in Rapid City, South Dakota and there were signs everywhere for it. We just didn’t have the time since we left way later than expected. So, we decided to stop on the way back home instead. We got to see the lighting ceremony, so that was really cool. We didn’t know they did that, so it was a great surprise. We ended up making it to Rapid City again and decided to stop there for the night. We Ubered to a great restaurant/bar that I can’t remember the name of now and I didn’t take and pictures.

Sunday was a very long, hot, and uneventful(thank goodness) drive. We made it home well past midnight, and we just parked the car and the trailer in the yard.

All in all, Big Sky Race Week was an amazing time. It was long and exhausting, but if it was easy and fun all the time, everybody would do it. At least that’s what we were telling ourselves for the first half of the trip.

We have met so many amazing people at this event and our friends list just keeps growing. I want to thank each and every person who stoped by to say hi or welcome any help they could when we were on the struggle bus of drag and drive life. This one knocked us down a bit, but we WILL be back next year.

08/01/2026

Big Sky Race Week Day 6 (Final Day) 7/17

Yellowstone Drag Strip, Acton, MT

Kevin went out for his first pass of the day and ran an [email protected]. He wasn’t very happy with the pass, but that pass meant we had officially finished the week and I could celebrate(a beer was had). Kevin decided he would make another pass before we turned in our slip to see if he could do a little better. He went out and ran an [email protected]. It was hot and he decided that would be the slip he turned in.

We finished the week with an 8.42 average and finished 7th out of 32 entries! During awards, Kevin and I took a small well needed victory nap.

Dinner was had afterwards and a hotel parking lot story that will never stop being talked about at the C’mon Inn, Get the F*** Out Hotel & Suites.

This race week was the hardest race week Kevin and I have went through. The heat was awful(inside car temps of almost 130°), sleepless nights, and car repairs, but we finish, and we’re still married, so there’s something to brag about there. 🤣

07/29/2026

Big Sky Race Week Day 5- 7/16

Day 5- Malta, MT
We got up and made the changeover to race mode. Made it up at the end of our first call for our class. This was the first pass out with the new cam and lifters. Kevin made the hit and got an 8.47 @81.85. This wasn’t what he wanted to run, but he decided that’s what we’d take so we could get on the road and made it to Acton/Billings at a decent time. So, we turned the slip in, made the change over, and headed out towards Joe’s In & Out in Malta for our Wanda burger. If you ever get the chance, get one. They are amazing!

We actually were able to cruise past race cars to snap rollers! I was excited for this. We made it to Billings at around 5:30. We ended up dropping the trailer off and running to go help a good friend get their trailer back to the hotel. (Sorry Jim 😢, wish there was more we could have done to help). We went to Canyon Creek Brewing, and I finally got to enjoy my Peach beer I had waited over a year for. We got dinner and managed to make it back to the hotel while there was still daylight, and we just beat the storm rolling in.

07/26/2026

Big Sky Race Week Day 4- 7/15

Lewistown, Montana- Thrash Day

We decided that we weren’t going to tear the motor apart in the hotel parking lot the night before just in case Orielly’s didn’t get the parts we needed in. We walked down to the Orielly’s down the road to pick up the cam and lifters because the wagon blew the blower gasket and the burst panel gasket the night before on the drive into Lewistown. So, it was only running on 7 cylinders and had a HUGE vacuum leak. So, it would hardly run. When we got to the store, the power went out and it took an hour to finally be able to checkout. An hour that we didn’t have to waste. Once w got the parts, we decided it would be best to bring the wagon out to the track in case we needed a part or a tool that we didn’t have in hopes that a racer may have it. We got to the track, and the thrash began. It took us about an hour to have the camshaft in hand. We have never wished for rain at the racetrack more in our life than we did this day. There were a few rain delays which worked in our favor. They called the slick cars to the lanes and were going to end racing and it actually count. Thank goodness for that last rain shower that ultimately forced them to make the call to end racing as around 20something cars weren’t able to make a pass. When I tell you we were so happy in the pit because there was NO way we would have finished putting the motor back together in time to make a pass, we were thrilled. We continued our thrash to get the car back together and try to beat the storms. We got the car back together with the help of Mike Smith. Everyone had left out of the racetrack except him, and if it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to get on the road as quick as we did. We fired it up for the first time at 6:18pm, and unfortunately, we lost three spark plug wires due to a timing issue(whoops). We had grabbed two spares, but I could only find one. Luckily, Mike had a set and graciously gave them to us. Mike helped Kevin think through what needed to be fixed. We fired it off again at around 7:30pm and hooked the trailer up and rolled on to Malta with no major issues. We should send Montana road district a bill for how many mosquitoes we killed while driving. At one point it looked like we were in a blizzard because there were so many of them. We got to the last checkpoint in Malta at 10:15 and were able to talk to the owner for a bit. We raced to the track to set up camp and hang out with our .

07/24/2026

07/23/2026

Big Sky Race Week Day 2 7/13 - Day 3 7/14

Day 2- Anaconda, Montana
We got up fairly early to run into town to get premium gas in the wagon. We ended up running out 6/10 of a mile from the gas station. Kevin tried to push the wagon and managed to push it 4/10 of a mile. Luckily, Dan drove by and saw him pushing and turned around to offer him enough gas to make it to the gas station. We get back to the track and change everything over to race. We made three passes total because we knew the drive was supposed to be a bit shorter. The best pass was an 8.36 @85.57. We ended up closing the track down before we got everything packed and went for a dip in the creek next to the racetrack. It was so cold, but also so refreshing. The drive was so pretty through the mountains. We ended up getting to see the most amazing sunset as we stopped to check on a couple fellow racers.

Day 3- Helena, Montana
What an awesome track! We had planes flying around us, and the race track was so sketchy it was cool. We made one pass here against Jamie Mackey. It was a pretty cool long roof race. Kevin ran an 8.47 @82.8. We get everything packed up afterwards and go to head out of the racetrack. We make it to the first checkpoint not to far from the track and the car is making an awful noise. We stopped and talked with the owner of Leny’s Repair & Service for a little bit, and decided to go to the brewery just down the road to get a stamp in the passport book. On our way there, we decided that we needed to pull the valve covers off and check the lash on the valves. Turns out we found our issue as soon as we took the drivers side off. (Video to be posted later). Noise found. We tried to find a cam and lifter set in Helena, but had no luck. We ordered a set to be sent to Lewistown the next morning at 7:30am. Kevin bandaided it and we decided to drive it towards Lewistown. Because of the damage, the rpm’s in 6th gear were far too low and it kept backfiring like crazy. So, fifth gear and a higher rpm it was. It started storming towards Lewistown, so luckily for us, the storm seemed to be in front of it and we weren’t catching it too quick. We ended up getting to the hotel around 11:15pm or so. We decided that we wouldn’t tear the motor apart until the next morning in case Orielly’s didn’t get everything we needed.

P.S. Kevin told Adam Dorey he was number 1 as he was staging (last photo).

07/22/2026

Pig and I stole the wagon to go for a ride today while Kevin was at work. Shhhhh…. Don’t tell him.

P.S. He already knows. 😜 Also, Pig loves the wagon more than we do I think, so she was a happy girl.

07/22/2026

Big Sky Race Week – Day 1 7/12

We didn’t actually race today because we opted to take the Beartooth Pass route. We did this last year, and it took around 8–9 hours. This year, it took closer to 13–14.

We got a much later start than originally planned because we repacked the trailer and the wagon much better than we had them when we arrived. Since I had packed most of it, I basically just threw everything wherever it would fit and told myself I’d deal with it later. As we were packing up the trailer, I grabbed the canopy out without thinking about the lid prop being in the way. When I pulled the canopy out, it yanked the prop loose, and the trailer lid slammed shut on my left arm (initial photo included).

Once I sat with my arm in the cooler for an undisclosed amount of time, we were finally loaded up and ready to head for Yellowstone. This was by far the hottest day of the entire trip, with the internal car temperature reaching around 130°—in the shade. It was hot. 🥵

Once we got to the top of Beartooth Pass, we sat there for almost two hours to cool down. Well… I did, at least. Kevin dropped me off to take photos of the wagon (those are coming very soon).

We hit all of our checkpoints with minimal issues. We didn’t roll into the drag strip in Anaconda to set up camp until well after 1:30 a.m. I felt bad for Kevin because, during the last hour of the drive, I hit a level of exhaustion I didn’t know existed. I couldn’t have read the directions if I wanted to. Thankfully, I always make sure I have the correct route plugged into Google Maps before we leave, so he was able to use that.