Summer Schooled – Bryant Goldstone Remains the King of Sick Summer, While David and Nick Diehl Re-write the Super Street Record Book, as Sick Summer Wraps Up at Byron Dragway
For the third time in six days, Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks would start its morning at Byron Dragway for Day Five, the final day, of Sick Summer.
After several hundred miles, bad weather that forced a cancellation of one day of racing, and visiting Cordova Dragway, Great Lakes Dragaway and Tri-State Raceway, over 300 competitors returned to Illinois for the final day, last passes down the track, and crowning class champions.
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Bryant Goldstone came into Sick Summer less than a week after completing Rocky Mountain Race Week’s MEGAWEEK Presented by Sick The Magazine, where he captured a double class win, and a Shootout win as well.
Goldstone come into the final day with a trio of 6.6-second passes and a healthy lead for not only the Unlimited Iron class, but the overall leading average. One final shot on Saturday was all it took, and in 6.71 seconds at 218 mph, he secured his third straight class win, and third straight overall win at Sick Summer.
This also earned Goldstone another Sick The Mag orange helmet as class champion, along with him and co-pilot Rob Sanders getting matching guitars from Gear Vendors Overdrive as the top average.
“I want to thank Tom and all his staff for putting on another great event and keeping it fun,” he said. Steve Morris grabbed the second spot in class with a 6.91 average, as well as the second overall best average for the second Gear Vendors Overdrive guitar, and Alex Taylor grabbed third in class with a 7.09 average, as well as the Quickest Chevrolet.
The Diehl brothers, David and Nick, came into 2025 determined to prove they could invade the 6-second range in the Super Street class, something that had never been done before in drag and drive competition. They struggled through Sick Week, but continued racing and testing since then, and rolled into Sick Summer prepared.
With Nick on the tune up and David behind the wheel, they opened the week with a 6.92 at 205 mph! The next three time slips stayed between 6.964 and 6.979, finishing the week with a 6.96 average and becoming the first car in Super Street to clock a 6-second pass in competition (and finish the week).
They would also become the first to have a 6-second average in the Super Street class, the first to have an all 6-second week in class, and the first Super Street car to earn a Top Three average guitar from Gear Vendors Overdrive. It also set a new class record, over three tenths of-a-second quicker than the existing 7.29 record coming into Sick Summer.
Lamar Swindoll Jr., who has been laying down some of the quickest nitrous runs on a small tire, claimed the second spot in Super Street with a 7.60 average from his ’72 Chevy Camaro, and the unique twin-blown ‘68 Camaro of David Morahan averaged 9.10 for third.
The Street Race / Limited Street-style classes with a limit of 8.50-seconds have seen increased levels of competition in recent years, and Sick Summer is no different. Last year, the Street Race 275 class had the top four competitors separated by eight thousandths of-a-second after three days of racing, and the 2025 edition of Sick Summer would see the top three in both Sick Street Race and Street Race 275 classes separated by mere thousandths of-a-second rolling into the final day.
Sick Street Race would have Brian Acton, Randy Belehar and Cameron Alley all clocking 8.51-second passes on Day One, and that trio rolled into the final day at Byron Dragway with just four thousandths of-a-second separating them.
Alley opened with a pair of 8.514 passes, and that would be enough to finalize an 8.524 average, holding off Acton’s 8.527 average and the 8.529 average of Belehar for the win, his first in Sick Summer competition after back-to-back second-place finishes.
On the Street Race 275 side of things, Mike McMahon, Jeremy Ortiz, and Dean Anderson returned to Byron on Day Five with six thousandths of-a-second separating the top three spots. McMahon and Ortiz opened with 8.51 passes, with McMahon’s run two thousandths of-a-second better.
None of the top three would improve on those opening 8.51 shots, and the final results would be nearly as close as the Sick Street Race. McMahon scored the top spot with an 8.530 average, earning his first Sick The Mag helmet on his second drag and drive appearance.
Ortiz would be just .0012 thousandths of-a-second behind in second, and Anderson scored his second top three appearance in as many years with an 8.538 average.
The Unlimited class starting the week with defending champ Timothy Blythe battling the new car of Nick Cryer in a 7-second slugfest. But by Day Five, both cars were out with problems, Blythe due to a crash at Tri-State Raceway, and Cryer with engine problems after returning to Byron.
That left Aussie Mark Arblaster the opportunity to pick up the title with his 1980 Chevrolet Malibu.
The Heavy Metal class was in command of drag and drive veteran Clark Rosenstengel until Day Four, when transmission troubles moved the twin-turbo ’70 Chevelle of Jesse Nelson to the front.
The final day found Nelson clocking his third 7.7-second pass of the week, giving him a 7.81 average and the class win. Craig Douglas put his Sassy Grassy Green ’70 Dodge Dart in second, and the 2002 Camaro of Greg Edwards in third.
Many pegged the Mustang convertible of Devin Vanderhoof driven by Josh Davis as the favorite for the Modified class win. But when the car had problems after Day One that forced withdrawal, the revamped ’65 Mustang of Dan and Chris Hirsch took command for the remainder of the event, averaging 8.62 for the win. Mike Cole grabbed the second spot with his ’96 Dodge Avenger.
After suffering issues that caused an early exit on this year’s Sick Week, Michael Swindoll rebounded well at Sick Summer, clocking a best single run of 8.44 at 161 mph, and an 8.56 average for the top spot in the Pro Street class. Tim Sharp and his ’88 Dodge pick-up took home second with an 8.82 average, while Mark Kranz landed third.
The second-largest class at Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks was the Stick Shift class, and defending champ ‘Banger’ Bob Gruber returned for the chance to defend his title. Noted single-digit rides of Blayne and Tom Stark, Damon Elff, and Dan Watts tried to dethrone Gruber, but the supercharged ’94 Mustang hung on for a 9.10 average to get Gruber his second Sick The Mag orange helmet.
Watts scored his best Sick Summer average in three appearances with a 9.21, good enough for second. Blayne Stark scored his second-straight Sick Summer top three, along with a personal best 9.66 at 140 mph run in the ’55 Chevrolet wagon, in route to a 9.84 average in third.
Another former Sick Summer class winner would repeat in the Naturally Aspirated class, as Ken Cuttle Jr. would put his beautiful ’70 Chevrolet Chevelle atop the field with a 9.64 average. Corey Pant slid his ’74 Plymouth Duster in second with a 10.03 average, and Mike Silver wrapped up the top three with a 10.27 average from his ’66 Chevy II.
The ‘El Toro’ 1990 Mustang came into Sick Summer the defending champ, and it delivered a first time drag and drive participant a class win. Luis DeLeon of FuelTech teamed up with ‘Snot Rocket’ pilot Brett LaSala for a 4.89 average and the win. Tanner Stover landed second with his ’68 Chevelle thanks to a 5.06 average, and Derrick Drake scooped up third with a 5.53 average.
Taking a page from the Cleetus McFarland Cheap Car Challenge, past drag and drive participant Calvin Nelson put together a 1980 Pontiac Sunbird with a turbocharged Vortec 4200 engine for less than ten thousand dollars. Nelson’s efforts would net him a 9.07 average, and the Sick Week Freaks title, with Rob Courtney’s 9.28 average in second and Dustin West’s 2001 Chevrolet diesel pick-up in third with a 10.65 average.
The Gassers vs. Hot Rods vs. Beetles category had Gassers in the top three spots, with the Ford-powered ’41 Willys of Rick Rymarz on top with a 10.13 average. Darwin Peterson’s cool blue ’55 Chevy earned the second spot with a 10.28 average, and Jay Noble’s wheelstanding ’63 Nova claimed third with a 10.67 average.
Just seven thousandths of-a-second separated the top three in the Pro DYO (Dial-Your-Own) class, and all of the Big 3 brands were represented. Rocco Derrigo and his 2011 Corvette earned the third spots with a .044 of-a-second variance amongst four time slips, while Blake Mushen’s 2021 Charger was three thousandths of-a-second better for the second spot.
Ken Zachman led after three days of racing, and kept his 2003 Mustang at the front of the pack with an .037 of-a-second variance amongst his four days of time slips, earning him the win.
The largest class of the event, DYO (Dial-Your-Own), was brutal on competition leading up to the final day. Proving you can win with just about any vehicle if it is consistent, Robert Hill scored the top spot with his 2020 Ford F-150 pick-up, varying just .019 of-a-second variance between his four turned-in four time slips.
Brian Atwood was just two thousandths of-a-second between Hill in second, and a .026 thousandths difference got Lance Scott the third-place spot.
The Bulls Eye Challenge offers competitors the goal of trying to hit a different two-digit number against the last two numbers on a time slip each and every day, without going under it. For example, if the Bulls Eye number is ‘23’ for the day, a 15.25 (three hundredths over the number) is better than a 12.22 (one hundredth under the number).
‘23’ would be the Bulls Eye number on Day One, and hitting that number with a 2 on his 12.232 pass would be Steve Monte with his 1990 Ford Mustang hatchback.
Day Two would see ‘52’ as the Bulls Eye target, and the wheelstanding ’88 LTD station wagon of Jim Shipley did the best with an 11.547, just .027 of-a-second off the mark.
After a rainout of Day Three, a Bulls Eye of ‘73’ would be the mark for Day Four. The classic ’62 Chevrolet Impala of Tanner Windau snagged the top spot, thanks to a 12.744 pass.
The final day had ‘16’ as the Bulls Eye goal, and Tom Cumbey would lock it down early, as his 12.162 was a mere .002 of-a-second off the mark for the Day Five Bulls Eye Challenge trophy.
For a complete PDF of all competitors and standings, visit our Rules / Results page by CLICKING HERE!
We will have more on Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, including extensive photography, in the Summer print issue of Sick The Magazine.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com