MORRISON — You must wait until Oct. 9 to watch the drama unfold, but here are some teasers about what went on Saturday at Bandimere Speedway during filming of “Pinks All Out,” the drag racing reality television show on Speed.
Brothers Adam and Nate Pritchett, the show’s co-stars and technical advisers, had the task of evaluating 475 participants and creating the most competitive and interesting group of 32 drivers for the 19th show, and ninth this season.
It seemed to work, because most of a near-sellout crowd of 20,000-plus stuck around for the past prime-time finale. One lucky driver was scheduled to collect $10,000 cash and $8,000 worth of tools — and begin planning an Oct. 9 party to check out their reality TV debut.
“It’s something different, out of the ordinary, and obviously a chance for these people to be on TV and win some big bucks,” track general manager John “Sporty” Bandimere III said. “And these people are used to running in front of a couple hundred people, not thousands of people.
“So this is big-time, it’s huge for them.”
The Pritchetts settled on a group that covered the quarter-mile in a little more than 12 seconds and averaged 115 mph. The group included 61-year- old Linda McClellan of Platteville and 40-year-old Chris Konecny of Colorado Springs.
McClellan, who was driving a sharp-looking 1997 Corvette, listed “retired housewife” as her occupation on her entry form. Konecny, driving a 1955 Chevrolet “Shorty” that smelled like mothballs, wrote he worked as a “Pinks All Out Racer.”
Both were kind of true.
“I don’t keep house much anymore,” McClellan said from her car, donning corrective-lens glasses and an open- faced helmet. “I don’t hire a maid, but my kids are grown, so I spend my time having as much fun as I can.”
Konecny was undercover. The 1991 Air Force Academy graduate said he has spent the majority of his military career as a federal agent. He was competing in his seventh “All Out” event, so he said he feels like it’s a job.
“I travel all over the country, dragging my wife and three kids around to these races,” he said. “I come up the road from Colorado Springs and finally make the field.
“So this is lucky No. 7.”
Each of the 475 participants paid $40 to make at least two passes. Apparently there is no shortage of “All Out” wannabes on the Front Range.
“We sold out in 20 minutes, and our website had over 380,000 hits the morning (competition spots) went on sale,” Sporty Bandimere said. “It was like gold, and it is gold, because somebody gets to walk away with $10,000 cash and $8,000 worth of tools.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
