Cleetus and Team Reveal the Return of the Cheap Car Challenge to This Year’s Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks – New Rules, New Builds – Who Will Emerge the Champion?
After competing in the first three Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive events, with familiar cars like ‘Mullet’ (a twin-turbo ‘86 El Camino), ‘Ruby’ (single turbo C5 Corvette) and ‘McFlurry’ (turbo Fox Mustang), Cleetus McFarland and crew switched things up for 2025 with their ‘Cheap Car Challenge’ for Sick Week 2025.
The premise was a $7500 budget for each two-person team, and with less than 48 hours to acquire a ride, each of the three teams was at South Georgia Motorsports Park for Sick Week Day Zero.
This time, the basic Cheap Car Challenge idea remains the same, but with a few more rules, and a new starting point: Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks. There’s a little more to the budget, more time to get the builds right, and possibly more than just bragging rights on the table.
We’re less than 2 months away from the start of summer - Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks that is. Three states, five days, four tracks, hundreds of enthusiasts on a road trip and drag race that clicks all the right boxes! For more information and details, including track dates, Sick Ward and Sick Spit Show & Shine options, visit the Sick Summer event page by CLICKING HERE!
Unlike when it first debuted in 2025, the Cheap Car Challenge for 2026 will gives viewers a chance to see the cars be selected, built and possibly tested for Sick Summer, which is 46 days away as of this editorial deadline.
In 2025, the basic idea of a purchase price of a vehicle, plus ‘fair market value’ for parts, and no labor charges, led to the discovery of gray areas (where teams could seize an advantage without cheating). This year, Cleetus made it clear he wanted to have a more balanced approach.
“What we need to get down to right now is a set of rules that we agree on,” said Cleetus. “This isn’t really cheap, but we all agree that we’re starting with a $15,000 budget.” That’s an increase of five thousand from 2025, where team started with $7500, and then got an additional $2500 for Sick Summer upgrades and survival.
As before – safety equipment is not part of the budget. For 2026, an eight-to-twelve point roll cage, certified to 8.50-seconds, plus an upgraded driver seat, will be added to each entry and doesn’t cost a team any money. Neither does a fuel cell, or an engine diaper.
“The reason we have to start now is that we have to put roll cages in them,” said Cleetus. The start happens to fall perfectly in line with the ‘Month of Freedom’ – a tradition for the Cleetus McFarland channel starting in 2020, when he would upload a video every day in the month of May.
All teams must start with a stock car, and show up to the Month of Freedom Day 1 video with that car still in stock form. From that point forward, the building of the cars will likely be featured numerous times during the Month of Freedom, which will lead the teams into June.
But, last year the gray area of “safety” was exposed on parts that were upgraded to prevent issues. For example, better fasteners to keep a cylinder head intact, or a rear end or brake upgrade. This year, the only safety equipment that is free is a roll cage, driver seat, fuel cell and engine diaper.
Another change from the 2025 rules is that no parts may be sold off the car to add to the budget, and no sponsorships. The overall mediator of the event will be Ryan Warning, who works at the Freedom Factory, added to keep parts at a fair market value and weight in on anything.
If the car breaks, a team is required to thrash and do their best to fix it. Teams are allowed to bring in a tuner to help, but instead of free labor that has been allowed in the past, a $500 fee will be assessed. Also, for every $100 over budget a team is, the car would be penalized half-a-second on their time slip.
There will be a winner for the 5-day average, and a heads-up shootout on the final day of Sick Summer, Day Five, back at Byron Dragway.
What’s on the line besides bragging rights? The initial proposal was that the losers have to drive their cars back to Florida from Illinois, but not every team would agree. Cleetus pitched the idea of the viewers cooking up with a better solution after the week was complete.
Based on 2025, the initial three teams would like be Cleetus and LS George, Tye and Zack, and ‘Jackstand’ Jimmy with Dr. TuneEmAll - Nate Kuhle. Tom Bailey will likely be joining the challenge based on a recent Facebook post.
Watch the introduction video from Cleetus McFarland below:
Don’t miss your chance to be a part of Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks, June 14th through 19th, 2026. We’re starting it all at Byron Dragway, and you can grab DISCOUNTED spectator tickets in advance by CLICKING HERE!
For more details about Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks, CLICK HERE!!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Cleetus McFarland.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com