Jeremy Ortiz Hopes Win Streak with His Turbocharged LS-Swapped 240 Will Continue at Sick On the Green and Sick Summer
There’s something to be said about striving to do your best, and coming up just a little shy of the top spot. It can make you dig deeper, work harder, and strive for the top spot a little bit more.
Most competitors might be happy with a pair of top three finishes at Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, but Jeremy Ortiz plans to roll in prepared better than ever.
Sick The Magazine’s second smaller event - Sick On The Green - blasts into Kentucky’s Beech Bend Raceway Park THIS WEEK - May 29th-31st. We’re bringing 9 classes to the party, including the popular Lil Gangsta’s class with two separate chances to win, the Tremec Stick Shift class, and our Sick Street Car Challenge class with $32,000 up for grabs! For more details on Sick On The Green, including advance tickets, and over $60K in payouts, CLICK HERE!
At his first Sick Summer in 2023, Ortiz put together an 8.63 average to finish second in the popular Street Race 275 class. He improved by a full tenth of-a-second to an 8.53 average in 2024, but Ortiz still ended up in the second spot.
That 2024 second-place finish was to Chris Merry, who clocked a perfect 8.500 run on the same day Ortiz did, day three at Tri-State Raceway. At the end of the week, the difference between Merry and Ortiz on their averages was a scant .0008 of-a-second!
Since that time, Ortiz has captured multiple wins at various events and tracks. His most recent victories came in Extreme Radials at Muncie Dragway, then Ortiz followed it up at Street Car Braggin Rights (SCBR), where he scored the SCBR Shootout Wild class accolades.
Now, with his Nissan 240 sporting a single turbo LS swap seemingly on rails, Ortiz turns his focus to this week’s Sick On The Green event at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Then two weeks later, he will return to Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks in hopes of securing a Street Race 275 class victory.
“The win at SCBR was certainly my biggest win based on the car count, how fast the cars were and of course the payout,” said Ortiz. To just qualify required an 8.91 or quicker pass to make the top 64 spots, and an 8.08 at 170 MPH qualifying shot put Oritz in the second-quickest field.
“I always think I at least have a chance,” said Ortiz. “But to be honest, heading down I was just hoping to qualify. The blind qualifying aspect was something totally different new…. Once I knew the index (limit) was set at 7.83 I knew we had work to do because I was never faster than 7.99 on this combo at that point. Every round I took seriously; I had to be one my game.”
Now he’ll dive into something new at Beech Bend Raceway Park. “Continuing to Sick On The Green, I’ve just gone over all my data, got the car looked over and made sure it and myself are ready. Going to step into something new with the ‘Lil Gangsta’s class.”
Ortiz may even double down and run the Street Race 8.60 Index class as well. “I don’t think I’ll do the Sick Street Car Challenge class,” said Ortiz. “Sick Summer will be my challenge.”
Can his different events, and recent victories, help pave the way to victory? “The car is dialed in better, and I have a few different things to try,” Ortiz said. “I hope our past experiences lead to victory this time, after falling so close twice now.”
With all four of our major Sick The Mag events sold out, Sick On The Green is one of your last chances to compete in a drag and drive in 2025. Can your street car vie for a share of over $30K in prize money? CLICK HERE to find out more about our upcoming Sick On The Green event, May 29th through the 31st, 2025 at Beech Bend Raceway Park.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Jeremy Ortiz and KWS Images.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com