David Diehl, Josh Davis and Steve Morris Lead Testing on Day Zero at Sick Summer Presented By Motion Raceworks at Byron Dragway in Illinois
With lanes full of street and strip ready rides, Byron Dragway got Day Zero underway early on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15th for the third annual Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks.
Tech inspection was followed by a test and tune in the afternoon, and the crowds came to see how well cars and drivers were sorted for the week of driving and racing through Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa over the next five days.
The way to start your Summer is at Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks - June 15th through the 20th, 2025!! Over 300 competitors and dozens of Sick Warders will visit Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin over five days for over 600 miles of street driving and some serious racing action! Don’t miss out on any of the action, the cruising and the checkpoints - join us for a day, or for the full week as part of Sick Award! CLICK HERE for more details on the drag and drive event of the summer - Sick Summer!
David and Nick Diehl rolled into testing fresh from a victory at the previous day’s River Redemption Street Car class at Byron Dragway. The single turbo 2001 Mustang has shown 6-second runs in testing, and a 7.05 at 197 mph would be the low e.t of the day as the Diehl brothers will mix it up with Doug Cook and a healthy field of Super Street rides.
The small tire Mustang of Devin Vanderhoof is a past Sick Summer champion, and Vanderhoof is back with good friend Josh Davis wheeling his ’93 Mustang convertible.
After struggling a bit during Friday testing, the drop top Fox produced the best eighth-mile lap on Sunday with a 4.38 at 172 mph in Modified class trim.
Just six days off his Rocky Mountain Race Week MEGAWEEK overall win, Bryant Goldstone brought his proven ’73 AMC Javelin to Sick Summer ready to do battle in the Unlimited class. Bryant is a two-time Sick Summer overall champion; can he pull off the hat trick and score a third title in as many years?
The defending Rowdy Radial champion Mustang known as ‘El Toro’ is back, but the Motion Raceworks-owned ride has a new driver! FuelTech’s own Luis DeLeon will pilot the small tire ride this week, with Sick Week overall champ Brett LaSala riding in the co-pilot seat.
Fresh from engine upgrades, a re-wire with a FT600, and a session on FuelTech’s hub dyno, DeLeon rolled the ‘El Toro’ Mustang to a 4.85 pass during testing.
Less than a month from his Drop The Hammer win in Michigan, Steve Morris rolled the ‘Boostmaster’ station wagon into Sick Summer with his eyes set on an overall win. The wagon didn’t make a full pass, but a 7.16 at 154 mph shows that 6-second runs are well within reach for the week.
Although the Cryer family has become known for their wheelstanding Divco Milk Truck, Nick Cryer has wanted to turn things up a bit.
This ’33 Ford has been under construction for the last couple years, and Nick recently completed the ride and made some shakedown laps. The Unlimited classed ride packed a twin-turbocharged 427 cubic inch LS, and ran an early shutoff 7.76 at only 134 mph.
The Cleetus McFarland ‘Cheap Car Challenge’ is back for round two at Sick Summer. Getting its start at Sick Week Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive earlier this year, each competitor was given a $7500 limit and a short amount of time to find a ride to survive Sick Week for bragging rights.
‘Jackstand’ Jimmy Taal got the ‘Cheap Car Challenge’ win at Sick Week, and round two has given each team the chance to refine their rides with an extra $2500 in the budget. All four teams made it to Illinois, including the father-son team of Tom and Aydan Bailey with their ‘G-Money’ 3rd-generation Camaro. Who will come out on top of this exhibition class at Sick Summer?
Sam Lankford, known to most as ‘Mr. Sam’ or ‘Sam Shine’, celebrated his 80th birthday at Sick Summer with the Sick The Mag and Cleetus McFarland crews. A massive gathering sang ‘Happy Birthday’ before being rewarded with a piece of cake for all in attendance.
The 2025 edition of Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks will officially get underway today, Monday, June 16th, with Day One at Byron Dragway! Over 300 drag and drive competitors look to prove their rides, and themselves, over hundreds of street miles and five days of racing action.
For more details, a schedule and our routes each day, visit https://www.sickthemagazine.com/sick-summer. And we’ll be live-streaming the racing action on FRDM+ all week – CLICK HERE to watch!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com