Taylor Sets Sights on Sick Summer Breakthrough
Alex Taylor and her six-second, 200mph ’55 Chevy are never far from the top at any drag-and-drive event she attends, but the Arkansas racer is hoping Motion Raceworks Sick Summer 2025 will finally bring a long-awaited overall win from a Sick event.
Following a third place at Sick Summer last year and seventh overall at this year’s Sick Week Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive, Taylor believes some recent performance gains will prove critical next week.
“After Sick Week we raced at the PEAK Street Car Shootout at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals and we tried out a couple of upgrades to the car,” she said. “We ran our best ever time of 6.60 and backed it up with a 6.62, so the car is in a really good spot. There are a lot of factors that go into winning a drag-and-drive but the car feels happy.”
Motion Raceworks Sick Summer will begin at Byron Dragway on Sunday, June 15, with competition stretching across the Midwest to include Great Lakes Dragaway, Cordova Dragway and Tri-State Raceway.
“I like the tracks of Sick Summer and the turnouts are always huge,” Taylor said. “Byron has been a hit-or-miss track for us in the past but we are ready to turn that around.”
In the short history of Motion Raceworks Sick Summer, both events have been won by Indiana’s Bryant Goldstone. Goldstone will miss this year’s event, having just completed (and won) Rocky Mountain Race Week and finishing a new car. While Sick Summer is guaranteed a new overall winner, the competition will be no less intense as Taylor battles the likes of South Carolina’s Devin Vanderhoof and Michigan’s Steve Morris, both capable of mid-to-low sixes on the quarter-mile.
“Both Devin and Steve are very competitive and on paper have the quicker cars, but drag-and-drive has always been about the whole package from the track,” Taylor said. “Both those guys are prepared and experienced but by the measure of consistency I think we can be competitive.”
Motion Raceworks Sick Summer runs from June 15 to 20 across the Midwest, featuring over 300 of the world’s quickest real street cars plus the Cleetus Cheap Car Challenge. The full schedule and spectator tickets are available at sickthemagazine.com and the event will stream live on FRDM+.
