Making the Mid-Point – Some Competitors Thrive on Day Four of Edelbrock Sick Smokies at Knoxville Dragway, While Others Look for a Way to Survive Three More Days
Rolling into Knoxville Dragway for Day Four of Edelbrock Sick Smokies meant the mid-point of the event had been reached, with three days in the books and our fourth track of the week ready for action.
The Thursday racing didn’t disappoint, as some category battles heat up. And although a few competitors are once again burning the midnight oil to repair their rides for a Friday drive day, a few others found that the end of the road for their adventure came earlier than expected.
Did you know that registration for Motion Raceworks Sick Summer opens in just 2 weeks?!? Don’t miss your chance to join us for the ‘official’ start to Summer - Sick Summer, on June 14-19, 2026! CLICK HERE to visit our event page, and fill out an ‘Expression of Interest’ form!
Thomas West has been a stick shift enthusiast for a long time, and debuted this 2016 Mustang at LS Fest East in September with wife Breonna behind the wheel. One month later, that Mustang is attempting its first drag and drive at Edelbrock Sick Smokies.
After breaking an alternator and axles on the first three days, Thomas was tired and ready to throw in the towel when the transmission waved the white flag on the starting line at Knoxville. But the drag and drive community rallied, Austin Mayhew from Wicked Performance found a replacement transmission, and they hit the road overnight to stay in competition.
The trio of Adam Burrell, Daniel Roberts and Greg Overman tackled their first drag and drive together on last year’s Edelbrock Sick 66 event, so they targeted a return for Sick Smokies in 2025.
Although Roberts and Overman survived Knoxville Dragway without incident, Burrell’s 6.74 at 107 mph pass came with bad news, as the clutch decided to exit the chat. Pulling the clutch for inspection for inspection revealed a multi-colored hue that nearly matched Roberts’ Mystic Cobra paint code. A replacement clutch is in the bellhousing for Friday’s drive day.
Richard Guido and Kyle Buntley continued their stick shift battles at Knoxville Dragway, with both competitors getting their best passes of the week on Day Four: a 5.48 at 134 mph for Guido, to Buntley’s 5.55 at 124 mph.
Buntley went back to try and narrow the elapsed time gap a bit, but instead the head gaskets decided to surrender, and water on the starting line was the result. Buntley avoided what could have been a nasty ride, and the thrash was on late in the afternoon to patch the Mustang back together.
Donovan Meyers also ran into trouble at Knoxville Dragway, when the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro lost a cylinder thanks to collapsed lifters. Fellow Death Week and Sick 66 competitor Danny Grubaugh jumped in to help, and local business Retonkulous Garage gave Meyers the space to get everything fixed. He completed all five checkpoints by 4 a.m. and is ready for Day Five.
Nick Cryer continues to lead the field, and posted his best pass of the week at Knoxville Dragway, as the ’33 Ford belted out a 4.62 at 147 mph for a ‘one and done’ pass, and he hit the road.
The battle for second is heating up between Lamar Swindoll Jr. and Jarrod Aspegren. Aspegren made the better run at Knoxville Dragway, 5.087 at 144 mph to Swindoll’s 5.090 at 138 mph, but Swindoll stays in second overall by a narrow margin, 5.145 to a 5.153 average!
Jimmy Dale has shown he’ll drive anything with wheels, and for the Edelbrock Sick Smokies, he chose the Datsun 240 known as the ‘Rotsun.’ Originally built on the now-defunct Roadkill show, the Datsun sports a small block Ford, a single turbo, a stick shift transmission, and a lot of rust!
The car that ‘never fails to fail’ was the cause for many parts calls over the first three days, but Jimmy Dale put it all together for a crazy good run at Knoxville Dragway, a 7.66 at 90 mph.
From a Frostee Freeze to a couple overlooks, the checkpoints have been a good blend of scenery and southern flavor on Edelbrock Sick Smokies. One that competitors enjoyed is English Mountain Raceway, a popular grudge and no-prep eighth-mile track about an hour from Knoxville.
Several competitors made laps on the track, but Heather Krug and Yvonnda Hutchins stepped up the game a few notches, doing side-by-side trailer burnouts before a pass down the track.
In addition to the checkpoints, the drives on Edelbrock Sick Smokies have been amazing so far. That will play into today’s hand, as we set out on a drive day to make our way to Georgia and Brainerd Motorsports Park for Saturday racing action!
Some competitors will tackle the famous ‘Tail Of The Dragon’ today, while others will attempt to save the parts, pieces and their sanity with one of two ‘less spicy’ routes. You can join us along the route, or at any checkpoint by visiting our SICK SMOKIES EVENT PAGE HERE!
Spectator tickets are available in advance for Saturday racing at Brainerd Motorsports Park by CLICKING HERE, or they can also be purchased at the gate.
For more details on the Edelbrock Sick Smokies event, held October 12th-19th - CLICK HERE for more details!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Daniel Roberts, Donovan Meyers and Kelly Metzmaker.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com