Morris, Schroeder and Taylor Keep Class Leads Despite Engine Woes, Diehl, Swindoll, Hess and Crane Retain Their Leads Intact, as Motion Raceworks Sick Summer Heads for the Final Day at Byron Dragway!
Pushing machines and man (as well as woman) to their limits on the drag strip can sometimes result in broken parts and shattered dreams. But in the case of drag and drive, it’s finding the balance between a quick time slip and being able to drive to the next track.
For three of the top five runners at Motion Raceworks Sick Summer, that was the case at the fourth stop at Great Lakes Dragaway. After a rain out at Tri-State on Wednesday, the fans once again poured into Great Lakes Dragaway, and they got to witness all the action, and carnage, before competitors licked their wounds and prepped for the final drive back to Byron, Illinois.
The final day of Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks is TODAY, June 19th, 2026. Don’t miss your chance to join us with hundreds of enthusiasts!! For more information, CLICK HERE to visit the Sick Summer event page!
Incoming Unlimited and overall leader David Schroder and the nitrous-fed Schroeder-Ens Corvette would lead the news with the quickest pass of the day at 6.21, but a 200-mph speed and some top end flames signaled there might be trouble ahead.
Upon inspection, the cylinder head and a couple pistons got some extra heat, but Schroeder and John Ens thrashed to get it back together before riding off in the nighttime air towards a pair of checkpoints and a chance to put a nitrous car on top of the standings on the final day.
Alex Taylor also suffered some damage on her lone run at Great Lakes Dragaway, as the ’55 Chevy torched the cylinder head and nipped a piston. Alex and father Dennis got the engine torn apart, the cylinder head got welded back up at a local shop, and the duo got it patched back together and headed off to Illinois still at the top of the Unlimited Iron class standings.
Steve Morris, searching for his second class win this year, put the ‘Boostmaster’ station wagon down the track to the tune of a 6.79 at 199 mph, but like Schroeder and Taylor, it cost him in the engine bay.
He had the wagon apart after that single shot, and was still thrashing when Taylor and Schroeder got on the road late on Thursday night.
The top three weren’t the only ones trying to zip tie and duct tape their rides back together for a trip to Byron. After an 8.58 pass in the popular Street Race 275 class, Mike Chenoweth discovered his second gear band was toast in the 727 transmission.
Luckily, a replacement was located, and they got on the road in the darkness at 1 am, arriving at their hotel with time for a few hours of sleep.
The wheelstanding DIVCO milk truck of the Cryer family has been putting on a show all week with Mark Cryer at the controls. But the milk turned sour at Great Lakes when the truck slammed back to earth, damaging the windshield and giving a front shock its walking papers.
The Cryer family has vowed the popular truck will be fixed in time to be back at Byron Dragway for the final day of action on Friday.
Defending Super Street champion David Diehl continues to lead the way in Modified with a 6.73 average, while Lamar Swindoll Jr. is spraying his way to the front of Pro Street on his small tire ’66 Chevrolet Nova.
Bryan Crane continues to lead a large field of gear jammers in the Stick Shift class, while Josh Norris and Tony Martino are captains of the Naturally Aspirated and Naturally Aspirated Small Block classes.
Frank Webb is looking for a second Sick The Mag orange helmet, this time in Rowdy Radial, and his ’78 Fairmont is making some strong laps in order to secure that prize. Sick Freaks has the Grand National of Ryan Palmer at the helm, and Darwin Petersen has taken over the top spot in Gassers / Hot Rods / Beetles.
The 8.50-second limited Sick Street Race and Street Race 275 classes have tightened up, and seen a leader change in each. Eric Bjerketvedt needed a last ditch 8.521 pass to do it, but he’s leapfrogged Brian Acton by less than two thousandths of-a-second to hold the Sick Street Race lead with one day remaining.
Jeremy Ortiz in now in the top spot in Street Race 275, but Kameron McConchie and Chris Merry are less than two hundredths of-a-second back. Can 2026 be the year that Ortiz breaks through for his first Sick Summer helmet after four tries?
The Pro DYO (Dial Your Own) and DYO classes are also tight. Rick Russell commands the Pro DYO class with a twelve thousandths of-a-second spread in his ’78 Lil Red Express Dodge pick-up, and Nick Traiforos is at the top of the DYO class with just a single hundredth separating three runs in his 2020 Ford Mustang.
The 2026 edition of Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks comes to a close on Friday, June 19th, with Day Five action on tap at Byron Dragway! Who will roll through the gates to say I survived, and who will be holding the coveted Sick The Mag orange helmets at the awards ceremony?
Come out at watch the action live at Byron Dragway starting at 11 am central time, and we’ll be streaming the final day of racing action on FRDM+ live as well – 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