Home State Heroics - Aydan Bailey Scores First Win, As We Wrap Up Seven Days Exploring the Roads, The Lakes, The Sights and Four Race Tracks on Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil
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 thus, the Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil event was created, and winners crowned on Sunday, August 17th.
Did you miss your chance to join us for Sick Michigan Miles? Our FINAL event for 2025 is just two months away - Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock, October 12-19th, 2025! We’re doing seven days on some awesome roads, including Tail Of The Dragon, and four great drag strips! Discounted advanced spectator tickets, as well as Sick Ward / Sick Spit Show & Shine entries are available - CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE about Sick Smokies!!
Day One, Monday, August 11th, would start a planned seven days on the road, at four different tracks, and even a chance to participate in the widely-popular Woodward Dream Cruise.
Things would get underway at Darana Dragway in Milan, where Evan Uerkwitz would get an initial lead with a 5.11 at 136 mph blast. Aydan Bailey landed second with a 5.24 at 133 mph run from his ’57 Chevrolet wagon, and Jon Moore’s 2011 Crown Victoria sat third with a 5.37 at 134 mph.
Following the Day One drive, the crew at Mid Michigan Motorplex tried to get the track dry for racing action on Day Two before Mother Nature crashed the party. But persistent drizzle meant there wouldn’t be any racing action on Tuesday, August 12th.
The rain out meant everyone got on the road a little earlier than expected, and the Sick Michigan Miles group would focus on a trio of checkpoints, and just shy of 200 miles, to arrive at our most northern drag strip on the trip and be ready for Day Three.
A foggy beginning to Day Three brought Sick Michigan Miles to Northern Michigan Dragway. Despite a later than planned start due to the fog, the on-track action was hot. The overall lead would change hands here, as Aydan Bailey clocked a 5.26 at 127 mph, while Uerkwitz struggled a bit and would light the scoreboards with a 5.52 at 130 mph.
Moore also slowed a bit with the turbocharged Crown Victoria at Northern Michigan Dragway with a best of 5.70 at 133 mph, and when TJ Linebaugh and his ‘Wonder Wagon’ Fairmont station wagon produced a 5.46 at 130 mph, it was enough to slide into the third position.
Day Four brought our first ‘day off’ from racing, with over 280 miles of street driving on the agenda, mostly on US-23 South along Lake Huron. The start of the day included a trip across the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, the seventh-longest suspension bridge in the world.
Although Day Four had four checkpoints, including one of several Big Boy locations in Michigan, and the USS Edson ship to cap off the day, several participants added some additional stops to their trip, including ferry rides or a visit to one of several lighthouses close to the route.
Day Five brought Sick Michigan Miles to Ubly Dragway, and the locals welcomed us with open arms and packed grandstands. Aydan Bailey once again delivered the quickest run of the day on a ‘one-and-done’ 5.24 at 134 mph to retain the lead.
The quickest radial-tired cars struggled a bit at Ubly, with the LS-swapped wagon of Linebaugh once again delivering the best run on radial tires, collecting a 5.53 at 130 mph time slip.
Uerkwitz held onto the second spot, using a final pass of 5.69 at 121 mph to keep him just ahead of Linebaugh. Moore’s 5.71 run kept him fourth, and Kevin Partin’s ’67 Chevy II rounded out the top five.
Following a trio of checkpoints and 235 miles of street time, competitors and Sick Warders alike could enjoy their Saturday, August 16th, however they desired. Most would take in the sights of one of the largest automotive gatherings in the world, the Woodward Dream Cruise, taking place all day Saturday.
We saw several Sick Michigan Miles competitors and Sick Ward enthusiasts alike enjoying the cruise, with a wide variety of both new and old rides traveling the famous Woodward Avenue.
That brought us to Sunday, August 17th, and a return to our starting point, Darana Dragway in Milan, for the final day of Sick Michigan Miles competition, and the last time slip to complete their event average.
Although Linebaugh had an outside chance at the overall win, the focus was mainly on Aydan Bailey and Evan Uerkwitz to see who fired the best opening shot.
The top two actually got paired up on the first pass, and Aydan Bailey produced his best run of the week, a 5.21 at 130 mph alongside the 5.39 at 130 mph from Uerkwitz.
Uerkwitz came back for a second shot, but failed to improve on his first pass. And when Linebaugh delivered a best pass of 5.37 at 126 mph, it clinched the overall victory for Aydan Bailey with a 5.24 average, and the first overall win for the ’57 Chevy known as the ‘Deuce Box,’ as well as the Quickest Chevrolet category title.
“It was a pretty good week,” said Aydan Bailey. “We added a Gear Vendors Overdrive unit since the last time I did an event with the car, and it made a big difference with cruising over 1,000 street miles.”
Uerkwitz’s run gave him a final average of 5.430, good enough for the second spot, and the Quickest Radial category win over the ultra-close 5.439 average of Linebaugh, putting the wagon in third.
Moore produced a solid 5.36 at 135 mph to arrive at a 5.54 average and the fourth spot in the standings, while Partin’s twin-turbo LS-swapped Nova ripped off a 5.38 at 132 mph, his best of the week, and securing the fifth spot with a 5.55 average.
The Quickest Ford category went to Thomas Kuepper, who reset his personal best run twice on the final day, the best being a 5.43 pass. Those runs, along with a huge wheelie, got him a 5.64 average in his 1994 Ford F-150 pick-up, netting the sixth spot in the overall standings.
Chris Rizor captured the Quickest Small Block title, wheeling his ’97 Chevy S-10 pick-up to a 6.02 average, good enough for the seventh spot on the overall roster.
Bryan Reid made his first drag and drive event appearance as a competitor a solid one, wheeling his Coyote-swapped ’94 Ford Mustang to a trio of 6.0 time slips for a final average of 6.21, good enough for eighth overall, as well as the Stick Shift category win.
Tim Darnell brought a bunch of nitrous to play in the 6-second zone with his 1991 Pontiac, and his final average of 6.27 scored him ninth in the overall standings, as well as the Quickest Pontiac title.
With a borrowed engine in his 1985 Chevrolet Camaro, and the goal of merely finishing the event, Chuck Marlatt accomplished just a bit more on Sick Michigan Miles. He completed the event with a 6.30 average, securing the Quickest Big Block category win, and a top ten overall finish.
Justin DeWeerd’s beautiful 1967 Chevy Chevelle came home with the title of Quickest Nitrous, as he sprayed his way to a 6.43 final average.
Fresh from her second-straight win on Roadkill’s Direct Connection Grudge Race, Morgan Evans kept her winning ways rolling on Sick Michigan Miles with the Quickest 6-cylinder title. Her ’87 Dodge D150 truck, sporting a Mopar crate Hurricane engine with a recent Precision Turbo & Engine turbo upgrade, turned in a 6.50 average for the week.
The largest category was Naturally Aspirated, and less than three hundredths of-a-second separated the top three. The wheelstanding 1998 Camaro of Luke Van Allen rose to the top, as his 6.53 average held off fellow Camaro owners Mark Daniels and Lori Walton.
First time drag and drive participant Tim ford entered his 1989 Nissan 240SX, and got better as the week went on, resulting in a final average of 6.79 and the Quickest 4-Cylinder category win.
Christopher Vanderwalker scored the Quickest Mopar title, amassing a 6.84 average with his 2019 Hellcat Redeye Charger.
Jay Sweetland scooped up the Quickest Buick category win, wheeling his 1970 Skylark to a 7.94 average.
Eric Hlubek’s 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass completed the event with a 7.93 average, good enough to capture the Quickest Oldsmobile category win.
Clinton Scheidegger topped all comers in the Quickest Beetle category, with a 7.83 final average.
Dustin West fogged his way to the Quickest Diesel category win, getting a final average of 6.76 from his 2001 Chevrolet three-quarter-ton pick-up.
In our first event with Motorcycle participants, we had a pair of category wins up for grabs. Ban Maxey clutched the Quickest Motorcycle 1000+ cc title with a 6.96 average, while the Quickest Motorcycle V-Twin category victory went to Kirk McGuire and his 8.27 average.
We also featured the Junior Street rides at Sick Michigan Miles, a class which allows teenagers ages 13 through 16 to compete in street-legal rides than are limited to 9-second and slower with a licensed driver in the passenger seat. Harrison Hurst and Cooper Lawson battled all week, and Lawson’s 2005 Pontiac GTO got the nod with a 10.52 average.
Michael Osbourn would capture the Pure Michigan unique blue helmet, as his ‘converted’ 2008 GMC Savana van would reflect and capture the Michigan spirit throughout the event.
Jason D’Amico, who had to substitute his ‘88 GMC dually pick-up for his C5 Corvette when the Corvette had clutch problems, was selected for the ‘Sickest of the Sick’ award.
Our next Sick The Mag drag and drive event is Sick Smokies, October 12th through the 19th! Spectator tickets are available in advance for a discount on our website, and we still have Sick Ward and Sick Spit Show and Shine spots as well! CLICK HERE for more details for Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com