Choosing Your Drag and Drive Adventure – Why Change Is Good, and Why Staying the Same Is Important as Well
Since the very beginning of the drag and drive event structure, change has been part of the plan. Each and every year, Hot Rod Drag Week has changed tracks, routes and in some cases, classes.
Since that first event in 2005, over 50 more drag and drive events have been created, and while some follow the same plan of changing tracks at a minimum each year, some have held true to the same tracks, to the appeal of the competitors and spectators alike.
If you missed Sick Michigan Miles, you’ve got one more chance to join Sick The Mag for our final event for 2025 - Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock, on October 12-19th, 2025! We’re doing seven days cruising the South, 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!!
Think about it; how many times have people heard about an event, they can’t make it for a variety of reasons, and say “I’ll make plans to attend next year?” In the case of Hot Rod Drag Week, each year location and tracks were changed. The opportunity to do that exact route, the exact tracks, is more than likely gone forever.
In the twenty years since it has started, Hot Rod Drag Week has seen some repeat visits to race tracks. And the second drag and drive created, Rocky Mountain Race Week, has also paid to visit to certain tracks more than once, including the popular Bandimere Speedway.
When Sick Week was created by Tom Bailey in late 2021, the projected January-February timeline eliminates a lot of possible locations due to the winter season. At the time, Florida had four operational race tracks, but Bailey chose to add one Georgia track, the popular South Georgia Motorsports Park, to join Gainesville Raceway, Bradenton Motorsports Park and Orlando Speed World Dragway.
From year to year, we’ve used the same four tracks, giving competitors, Sick Ward participants and spectators the consistency a lot of drag racing events have, but had been largely absent in the drag and drive world.
Although the tracks remained consistent from year to year, the tracks have rotated where they will fall on different days of the week, and the routes have been changed to show off different parts of Florida.
Following a successful Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022, Bailey decided to expand the Sick The Mag event offerings for 2023, adding in Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks.
The Sick Summer event followed the Sick Week blueprints, utilizing Byron Dragway and Cordova Dragway in Illinois, Great Lakes Dragaway in Wisconsin, and Tri State Raceway in Iowa every year.
But 2023 also brought an event that would guarantee change from year to year, as Bailey introduced the ‘one-off’ event into the Sick The Mag line-up. That first year would take us out west for Death Week, a nearly 2,000-mile event that would cover ten days, three states and four race tracks.
Although not as heavily attended as the Sick Week or Sick Summer events, Bailey stated from the beginning that the ‘one-off’ events were about “the adventure and completing the event.”
Since that first ‘one-off’ event, Sick The Mag did the Sick 66 event in 2024, covering a good chunk of Route 66. This year, we doubled-down on the ‘one-off’ events, recently completing the Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil event, and Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock coming up in less than two months.
But as much as we hear about people enjoying the ‘one-off’ format, so many more say comments like “I’m bummed I couldn’t make it this year, hope they bring it back,” or “hope it becomes an annual event.”
So, what does the drag and drive community want more on the events – consistency or change? What’s your thoughts?
Don’t forget: Our next (and final) 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 and 1320 Video.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com