David Diehl Clocks First Six-Second Pass In Super Street, Bryant Goldstone, Nick Cryer and Brian Acton Tame the Heat for Class Leader Spots On Day One of Sick Summer Presented By Motion Raceworks
Following a busy day of tech and testing, 342 rides returned to the staging lanes for Day One activities at Sick Summer Presented By Motion Raceworks.
The crowd was once again massive for a summer Monday, and they were treated to some stellar runs and close competition, as the classes got assembled on standings for the first time this week.
The big news out of day one would be the Diehl brothers. The Super Street class has yet to see a 6-second pass in drag and drive competition for a complete week, and the Diehls took a step in that direction with a 6.92 at 205 mph!
“Our goals are: 1- finish the week; 2- run sixes every day; 3- win (Sick The Mag’s orange) helmet,” said Nick.
Bryant Goldstone, a two-time overall champion at Sick Summer, started his third campaign with a one-and-done 6.60 at 221 mph run that gave him the overall lead in Ultimate Iron. Steve Morris is right behind Goldstone with a 6.90 at 205 mph, the best of his three shots at the track.
The second quickest runoff the day belonged to Josh Davis, who piloted the ’93 Mustang of Devin Vanderhoof to a 6.63 at 217 mph.
But the convertible known as ‘Big Ern’ suffered convertible top damage, and some additional issues meant the team would be parked after just one day.
For the first time, Nick Cryer is leading the Unlimited class, guiding his twin-turbo ’33 Ford to a 7.34 at 189 mph blast on just it’s ninth run since debuting in May. Timothy Blythe is second with a 7.79 from his Triumph Spitfire.
Veteran drag and drive runner Clark Rosenstengal leads a massive Heavy Metal class thanks to a 7.22 at 198 mph in his 2010 Camaro. Jesse Nelson and Craig Douglas complete an all 7-second top three.
A sizable Stick Shift class finds a familiar name at the front, as defending champ ‘Bangin Bob’ Gruber produced an 8.82 for the lead. Damon Elff is right behind with his Supra and an 8.91.
The 8.50-second limited Sick Street Race and Street Race 275 classes always bring some tough competition, and we’re already seeing some tight runs in the top three for both classes.
Brian Acton, a former Sick Week and Sick Summer winner, leads the Sick Street Race group with an 8.512 from his LS-swapped Nova. Just one thousandth of-a-second behind is drag and driver vet Randy Belehar’s nitrous-fed Firebird, and third with an 8.518 is Cameron Alley.
On the Street Race 275 side, Jeremy Ortiz has the initial lead with an 8.523 from his purple Nissan 240. But Mike McMahon’s green Fox Mustang, and Dead Anderson’s gray Chevy Malibu are less than four hundredths of-a-second behind in second and third, respectfully.
The Cleetus McFarland ‘Cheap Car Challenge’ got underway for Day One, and ‘Jackstand’ Jimmy Taal has the early lead with an 8.86 at 120 mph in the nitrous-fed LS-swapped Nissan 240. Tye Braun is second with a 9.82 pass from his turbocharged Mustang, and Cleetus sits third with a 10.03 at 136 mph in the ‘Lumberjack’ El Camino.
The lone checkpoint for the day was Rush Creek Distillery, who rolled out the red carpet with tons of parking, several food trucks, and the locals showing up in droves to see some of the machines rolling through on their way to Wisconsin.
We will hit Great Lakes Dragaway for Day Two activities on Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks. A large crowd is expected based on previous years at the famed facility, and the FRDM+ crew will also be on site to stream the day’s racing action, and tons of pits reports.
For more details, a schedule and our routes each day, visit https://www.sickthemagazine.com/sick-summer.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com