Sixt Sense – Jeff Sixt to Debut This ‘63 Studebaker Gasser on Its First Drag and Drive Event at Edelbrock Sick Smokies in October 2025!
With over 70 Gassers currently signed registered for Edelbrock Sick Smokies coming up October 12th through the 19th, 2025, a good chunk of them have cool back stories, even if it will be the competitor’s first drag and drive event.
This ’63 Studebaker Lark carries a good bit of racing history, and owner Jeff Sixt does have a good bit of drag and drive experience. Sick Smokies will mark the first event Sixt and the car he calls ‘Stu Debaker’ will embark on the adventure of an event that involves street drives and drag racing, and he is excited about it.
There’s one more chance to join Sick The Mag on a drag and drive for 2025 - Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock, on October 12-19th, 2025! We’re doing seven days cruising the South, including Tail Of The Dragon, and four great drag strips! Discounted advanced spectator tickets, as well as Sick Ward / Sick Spit Show & Shine entries are available - CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE about Sick Smokies!!
If Jeff Sixt’s name seems familiar, he has participated in several drag and drive events, including four times at Hot Rod Drag Week, and the last two years of the Motion Raceworks Sick Summer. Now, he’s ready to try out his newest ride, which just hit the road for the first time in August 2025.
The Studebaker was purchased by Sixt in early 2024 as a rolling chassis, and he already had a vision for it. “I immediately saw a gasser theme with it,” Sixt said. Already sporting a 10-point roll cage and a 9-inch rear end, Sixt had a solid basis to start with.
Although the car didn’t see action as a gasser in the past, there are some interesting stats Sixt discovered in its history, starting in the mid-1990s. “A guy in Witicha Falls, Texas bought it from behind a muffler shop as a roller,” said Sixt. “It already had the tilt front end and a roll bar in it. He pulled the body, and set it on a ‘79 G-body chassis, and made a metal dash for it.”
After the owner’s daughter drove it in her high school days, the Studebaker would be sold to a guy that bracket raced it. The car got the 10-point roll cage in it sometime in the early 2000s (there was an 8.5-second cert sticker from 2002 on it).
Although the racing history Sixt discovered was based in Texas, he has yet to discover the connection that brought the car to Illinois, where Sixt saw it and made the deal. “I haven't found out how it got up here yet,” said Sixt.
Turning to a pair of his previous cars that had completed drag and drive events for the driveline, Sixt employed the 385 cubic inch small block from his ’74 Chevrolet Nova, and the Turbo 350 3-speed automatic from his ’75 Chevy Camaro.
Although he has taken his time getting the Studebaker together, Sixt won’t be rolling into Edelbrock Sick Smokies without some testing and shake down time. “I'm finding things daily that need attention,” Sixt said. “It's been on the road since the beginning of August.”
Sixt believes using the driveline choices he did will result in more commonly available parts than a typical Studebaker would employ. That gives him a little bit of reassurance, as not only will the car be making its first drag and drive appearance, but Sixt will have a first-time co-pilot as well.
“(My goals are) to be able to drive it 500 miles to the first track, do the event, and drive it home,” he said. “And, hope my girlfriend still likes me. It's her first drag and drive trip.”
Can Jeff Sixt and his newest build, the ‘Stu Debaker’, survive Edelbrock Sick Smokies? Come see over 200 competitors, including 70-plus gassers, try to tame five tracks, and hundreds of street miles, October 12-19th. CLICK HERE for more details on Edelbrock Sick Smokies!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Jeff Sixt.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com