With five days of racing and driving in the books for Edelbrock Sick Smokies, most drag and drive events would be wrapped up and complete.

But for Sick Smokies, the schedule calls for two more days of fun, drag strip action and street miles cruising. So, Saturday, October 18th found us dipping a toe into Georgia territory, and racing at Brainerd Motorsports Park.

After four straight days of racing and driving in Tennessee and Alabama, competitors and Sick Ward enthusiasts would be treated to some amazing falls vibes and great roads, as Friday, October 17th would be a drive day for Edelbrock Sick Smokies.

Some drivers would choose the famous ‘Tail of the Dragon’ as part of their travels, but Sick The Mag editor Luke Nieuwhof offered up a couple alternatives to give Sick Smokies participants a way to get from Cosby, Tennessee to the northern area of Georgia and the city of Ringgold.

Rolling into Knoxville Dragway for Day Four of Edelbrock Sick Smokies meant the mid-point of the event had been reached, with three days in the books and our fourth track of the week ready for action.

The Thursday racing didn’t disappoint, as some category battles heat up. And although a few competitors are once again burning the midnight oil to repair their rides for a Friday drive day, a few others found that the end of the road for their adventure came earlier than expected.

With over 300 miles on the odometer after the first two days of driving, Edelbrock Sick Smokies started Day Three at Fitzgerald Motorsports Park. The revamped track alongside I-40 highway had just changed owners for 2025, with Blake Fitzgerald at the helm for his first full year of operation in 2025.  

With a new game plan and renewed sense of energy, Blake and team welcomed the Edelbrock Sick Smokies competitors, Sick Ward and Sick Spit Show & Shine to Crossville, Tennessee, and a steady stream of spectators made the trip to check out the action.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in racing, a situation occurs that leaves everyone in attendance talking, and in some cases, scratching their heads on how to move forward.

That very thing happened on Day Two of Edelbrock Sick Smokies, where a huge wheelstand would lead to a pause in the action that could’ve been permanent. But instead, an alternative was initiated, and the day ended with positive success in Tennessee.

The concept of a drag and drive is an easy one – to survive the tracks AND the street drives, in order to successfully complete the event. But the competition side has been heating up over the last few years as well, as more new cars are being built to quicken the pace in certain classes and/or events.

The Edelbrock Sick Smokies marks the first time a drag and drive event has made a serious push for a large contingent of Gassers, and that call to action was answered by more than 40 entries. Combined with nearly 200 additional entries teched outside the Gassers, Edelbrock Sick Smokies marks the largest ‘one off’ Sick The Magazine drag and drive event in our three-year history.

A sunny and warm day at Rocket City Dragway provided the basis for Day Zero of Edelbrock Sick Smokies, as over 200 cars and trucks were teched in and given some testing time on the drag strip.

A diverse field of entries from across the US and Canada came together in the staging lanes, and we got to witness some stellar runs, and some familiar faces dropped some solid elapsed times during the test and tune on Day Zero.

History was made on day five of Hot Rod Drag Week 2025 as Ned Dunphy claimed the world record for the quickest overall drag-and-drive average.

Cecil County Dragway brought the heat for day four of Hot Rod Drag Week, the penultimate stage of the OG drag and drive event.

A nine-year-old Hot Rod Drag Week record is under threat following another solid day of competition at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA.

Day two of Hot Rod Drag Week took over Numidia Dragway in Pennsylvania, with mixed fortunes on the track as the event unfolded.

The 2025 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week is off and running with big moves and surprising moments galore on day one at Maryland International Raceway.

Jeff Lutz led testing results for Hot Rod Drag Week 2025 with a flying 5.91 at just 222 mph on Sunday at Maryland International Raceway.

Following their successful MEGAWEEK Presented by Sick The Magazine with over 500 competitors, Rocky Mountain Race Week hosted their second different event of 2025 - Rocky Mountain Race Weekend, September 5th through the 7th.

With a slightly different format than event's week-long format, the Rocky Mountain Race Weekend event centered around Pueblo Motorsports Park.

Two days of racing would compile the averages, and two separate cruises would be held from the track. Sunday would bring the traditional Rocky Mountain Race Week Shootout, with additional titles on the line for competitors.

Following a solid first year of the Drop The Hammer event, Michigan native and drag and drive competitor Carl Stancell III expanded the brand to two events in 2025, the first one staying in his home state of Michigan in the month of May.

The second Drop The Hammer event of 2025 invaded North Carolina this past weekend, for three days of racing between Farmington Dragway and Galot Motorsports Park, combined with a 300-mile road trip between the two.

The sheer magnitude of drag and drive continues to impress, and for 2025, Canada had five different events scheduled for the season. The fifth, and final one, would be Dragway Rush, an event with a unique two day, two track format.

Competitors would start on Friday, August 22nd at St. Thomas Dragway in St Thomas, Ontario, where racing would take place from 10 am until 2 pm. Competitors would pack up and hit the road to Grand Bend Motorplex in Grand Bend, Ontario, where the Friday evening session of racing would take place from 6 to 10 pm.   

Saturday, August 23rd brought competitors back for a second helping of racing at Grand Bend Motorplex, with on-track action from 10 am to 2 pm. Competitors then merely needed to set their sights on St. Thomas Dragway, earning the ‘completion’ checkmark as soon as they rolled through the gate.

For the fourth year of the Cruise and Lose event, the event made a few changes from the previous events. The biggest move was the event being held in spring time to late summer, on the fourth weekend of August.

The event would put in play two of the three tracks used in 2024, with Kearney Raceway Park in Kearney, Nebraska as home base for Day One and Day Three activities, with a trip to I29 Dragway in Pacific Junction, Iowa for Day Two racing.

More than a dozen new drag and drive events have been announced or hosted in 2025, and this past weekend had two of them.

The I57 Drag and Drive, centered on a three-day format and based at Coles County Dragway USA in Charleston, Illinois, would do just over 330 miles on the street between Coles Cunty Dragway and I57 Dragstrip.

Originally scheduled to be two days of racing, Coles County jumped into the mix for Saturday, August 23rd, upping the fun to three days of racing.

Sick The Magazine started in mid-2021 with the first print magazine dedicated to the drag and drive community, and although most featured an event would follow at some point, Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022 caught some by surprise.

Since then, we’ve added Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks as an annual event starting in 2023, and a one-off event each year as well.

2025 marked the opportunity for Sick The Magazine to showcase our home state of Michigan, and Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil was held over the last seven days.

After reaching the northern most point of the week at St. Ignace, then traveling over 280 miles south along the coastline on our Thursday, August 14th, we reached our fourth new track of the week at Ubly Dragway for racing action on Friday, August 15th.

Ubly Dragway first opened in 1963, and a solid crowd of enthusiasts came out to watch the rides that had survived nearly 900 miles to this point on Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil.