Georgia On My Mind – Brainerd Motorsports Park Was the Ticket for October 18th’s Action on Edelbrock Sick Smokies - Now Just One Day of Racing Remains for Sick Smokies Enthusiasts!
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 the Sick Smokies event, the schedule calls for two more days of fun, drag strip action and street miles cruising. So, Saturday, October 18th found us dipping a tow into Georgia territory, and racing at Brainerd Motorsports Park.
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Nick Cryer got to celebrate his birthday at the race track, and his twin-turbo ’33 Ford also delivered a present – a wheels-up 4.608 at 157 mph pass, his best run of the week. Just one drive and one more solid run separates the drag and drive veteran from his first overall win, and we caught the ’33 Ford stopped for a minute on our second checkpoint, Lookout Mountain Pizza.
The king of trailer burnouts, Rajveer ‘Rovic’ Ahuja didn’t fail to mark his territory in front of our first checkpoint on Saturday, ACES EFI. The fuel injection company is joining us for their first drag and drive, and hosted an open house with beverages, food, and plenty of shop talk.
It’s not the first time someone debuted a new build on a drag and drive event, but for Eric Bennecker, this wild Pontiac Tempest Gasser also marks his first dive into racing. The tunnel ram equipped ’67 station wagon has been a hoot to watch all week, airing out the left front wheel on almost every pass.
For the second time in 2025, a Sick The Mag drag and drive added the Junior Street class to the mix. Designed to get teenagers between the ages of 13-16 behind the wheel at a drag strip, a couple of them answered the call for action on Edelbrock Sick Smokies.
Keeping his nose in front of the competition in Junior Street is Troy Steinke, wheeling the infamous ‘Honk If Parts Fall Off’ ’67 Chevelle of Rick and Jacki Steinke. Troy leads Cooper Braswell and Connor Aspegren with one more day of action on tap.
Not many choose the nitrous route on a drag and drive versus the other power adder choices, but the competition isn’t laughing when Lamar Swindoll Jr. is on the property. The big block stock suspension ’72 Camaro is right on the edge of a 4-second pass, with a best of 5.017 at nearly 141 mph from Brainerd Motorsports Park.
While Saturday was good for some, it was sour for others. After running into problems at this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, Robert Freund looked to bounce back at Edelbrock Sick Smokies. But an errant deer had other ideas Saturday night, and the twin-turbo big block powered Tesla caught the brunt of the damage, putting Freund out of competition.
Considering Robbie Wysuph’s ’64 Nova has been a rocket ship all week, it just makes sense that we’d include a photo of the A/Gasser ride in front of the shuttle at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, our final checkpoint on Day Six.
Sunday, October 19th returns the Edelbrock Sick Smokies drag and drive back to where we started, Rocket City Dragway for the final day of racing action, and a chance to crown our class and category champions.
Don’t miss your chance to join the party! Gates open for competitors and Sick Spit Show and Shine at 8 am, while the spectator side and Sick Ward gates open at 10 am. Racing action is set to start at 11 am, and should conclude around 3 pm, with awards to follow.
Spectator tickets are available in advance by CLICKING HERE, or they can also be purchased at the gate. For more details, visit the Edelbrock Sick Smokies page by CLICKING HERE!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Robert Freund.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com