A Wild Day Two of the Driven Racing Oil Sick Michigan Miles At Northern Michigan Dragway Brings Lead Changes, Thrashes, and Some New Category Frontrunners!
Following a record-setting Day One of Sick Michigan Miles presented by Driven Racing Oil at Mid Michigan Motorplex, over 200 competitors and a couple hundred Sick Warders rolled over 200 miles on their odometers to reach Kaleva, Michigan and Northern Michigan Dragway.
Regarded by many as a hidden treasure of a track with tons of acreage with dozens of bracket cars scattered in the tree-covered pit areas, Northern Michigan Dragway would play host to the second day of racing action, and action there was!
Sick Michigan Miles presented by Driven Racing Oil is two days in, and that means you FOUR DAYS to join us for a day watching over 200 competitors tackle the race track, AND the street miles! We still have advance spectator tickets available; CLICK HERE for details on Sick Michigan Miles!
The first session of the ‘A group’ – the cars quicker than 5.35 seconds on the eighth-mile format, didn’t go well. The ‘oh-sh**’ moment came when Chuck Marlatt’s Camaro came off the starting line in the right lane, and hung a hard left, a result of water under the rear tires. He recovered for a 6.19 at 139 mph, which would hold as low e.t. until the ‘B group’ rolled into the water.
The ‘B group’ – vehicles between 5.35 and 6.39 seconds, found top ten finisher Tom Kuepper maintaining his pace from Day One, putting the twin-turbo truck through the finish line at 5.41 second and 129 mph of speed. That would be the quickest time of the first session, as well as keeping him in front of the ‘Quickest Ford/Lincoln/Mercury’ category.
CLICK HERE FOR THE RESULTS AND AVERAGES FROM DAY TWO OF SICK MICHIGAN MILES!
After completing the first session of racing, the A and B groups got their second shot at the track, and several stepped up to deliver. Marlatt grabbed the headlines, as the supercharged ’85 Camaro hiked the front end in route to a 1.10 60 foot time, and powered through the lights with a 4.86 at 147 mph!
With Connor Leimenstoll suffering not only traction problems and a best time of 8.77, but also limited to one run due to problems, Marlatt would take over the overall top spot, as well as stay atop the ‘Quickest Big Block’ category.
Aydan Bailey also rolled into Northern Michigan Dragway with some issues, as the ‘Deuce Box’ needed some work before making its first attempt at a run in the second session. A traction-limited 6.01 gave them some initial data to tune with, and on the second run, a 5.22 at 138 mph on the scoreboard meant he’d retain the number one spot in ‘Quickest Chevrolet/GMC’ and slide into number two overall.
Recent Motion Raceworks Sick Summer class winner Eric Bjerketvedt needed four runs to find the magic time slip, but his 2000 Camaro found the 5.35 safety threshold with a 5.351 at 125 mph pass. This number moved him into the ‘Quickest Radial’ category lead, as well as the third overall spot.
Past Michigan Miles participant Kevin Partin had all things in line on Day One, clocking a ‘one and done’ 5.39 at 133 mph. Today would require two shots, and that second shot delivered a 5.46 at 135 mph, good enough to retain the ‘Quickest Small Block’ category lead, and sixth overall.
Jon Moore came into Day Two on a 5.07 pass, but the 2011 Ford Crown Victoria struggled with traction. After five runs, his best would be a 5.89 at 131 mph, dropping his average to 5.48, but he still has a window for a top three finish for the week, as well as climbing back into the ‘Quickest Radial’ category number one slot.
Timothy Darnell rolled into the event with a ‘new to him’ ’83 Ford LTD wagon, and a 5.56 lap from Day One was improved on with a 5.50 at 131 mph at Northern Michigan Dragway today, putting him seventh overall.
The quickest of the two entries from the Smokies Garage group continued to be Darren Mayer, as he wheeled the shop’s 2019 Dodge Demon Challenger to a 5.79 to grab the eighth spot, while fellow Mopar runner Terry Keifer continues to lead ‘Quickest Mopar’ category with a 5.77 average.
Rounding out the top ten is multi-time Sick The Mag event runner Joey Marshall, who needed a couple runs to invade the 5-second range with a 5.86 at 122 mph, putting his 2011 Mustang in the second spot in the ‘Quickest Ford/Lincoln/Mercury’ category.
With averages starting to define category leaders, some familiar names came into focus.
2025 Edelbrock Sick Smokies helmet winner Jay Grabiak has the ‘Gray Ghost’ 1955 Chevrolet at the helm of the Gasser category thanks to a 6.28 average.
Paul English has his 1970 Dodge Superbee leading the Quickest Naturally Aspirated category with a 6.33 average.
Speedfest DYO (Dial Your Own) winner Josh Opfermann is trying to collect another title in 2026, and has sprayed his way to the lead in the Quickest Nitrous group with a 6.50 average.
Defending Diesel category champ Dustin West has more competition this year, but the Chevrolet pick-up is in the top spot currently, thanks to a 6.68 average.
The Stick Shift category has over twenty participants, but William Philippin is the best of the bunch so far, putting together a 5.98 average so far in his C5 2000 model Corvette.
Douglas Whited leads the Quickest Pontiac category, with his 1989 Firebird holding a 6.10 average thus far.
Christopher Weingartz has the lead in Quickest Oldsmobile category with a 7.84 average.
Quickest 4 Cylinder has Adam Helmer leading with an 8.25 average from his Goblin, while veteran drag and drive participant Steve McNair is commanding the Quickest 6 Cylinder group with a 7.31 average from his turbocharged Cadillac ATS-V.
The Motorcycle categories have team Clarke in control, as Sean Clarke leads Quickest Motorcycle V-Twin with a 7.02 average, and Jim Clarke’s 7.04 average atop the Quickest Motorcycle 1000+ cc.
The final class in coverage is Junior Street, and following the Sick Summer fashion, the ‘Quickest’ format has been swapped for a ‘DYO – Dial Your Own’ format. One year ago, Cooper Lawson edged out Harrison Hurst, but this year is a whole ‘nother deal.
After two days of competition, the pair is nearly tied for the lead, with both drivers varying a mere 3 thousandths of-a-second between their two submitted time slips, and Hurst’s Mustang in the lead.
After 190 miles of street driving and a pair of checkpoints, the competitors and Sick Warders enjoyed the wonder of the Mackinaw bridge before Day Two requirements were complete. Day Three is a drive day, as the group completes the west side drive of the state, before making the clockwise turn to the southeast and a date with Ubly Dragway on Friday, August 21st.
With three days of racing still on the schedule, as well as some epic checkpoints, including a visit to Sick Town Hall for a Friday evening block party with all our drag and drive friends, YOU should join us for a portion of Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Hard Target Images and Cooper Lawson.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com