Classic Muscle, Modern Mayhem – Rajveer Ahuja Preps for Quick Runs, and Trailer Burnouts, at Sick On The Green and Motion Raceworks Sick Summer!
Although it wasn’t his first drag and drive, the Sick Death Week event in October of 2023 ratcheted the legacy of Rajveer Ahuja to the next level.
Making thousands of road miles to be a part of most events he participates in, Ahuja will return to the states for a double dose of drag and drive action when he hits Sick On The Green, followed two weeks later with Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks.
Sick On The Green is NEXT WEEK - May 29th through the 31st, 2025 at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Kentucky! Come see some amazing racing action - with nine classes contested - including the Sick Street Car Challenge with $32,000 up for grabs!! Entries, advance spectator tickets and spots in our Sick Spit Show & Shine are now available; CLICK HERE for more details on Sick On The Green!
Known to most people as ‘Rovic’ or ‘trailer burnout king’, Ahuja first joined the Sick The Mag landscape at the 2022 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive. A 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass stands out in the field, and it’s not the only ’67 Cutlass Ahuja owns.
“Starting back to my first drag and drive, the ‘67 Olds had the whole power train out of my other 67 cutlass that I’ve had since the ‘90s,” said Ahuja. A 468 cubic inch Oldsmobile engine with a nice helping of nitrous, backed with a Turbo 400 3-speed transmission and a Gear Vendors Overdrive. A stock GM 12-bolt rear end with 3.31 gears finishes it off.
That first Sick event appearance netted a 10.94 average, but Ahuja wasn’t satisfied with it. So, by Hot Rod Drag Week later the same year, the 468 engine was given its walking papers. In its place went a 496 cubic inch version from Bill Trovato Racing (BTR), and that dropped his average to a 10.46.
For 2023, Ahuja wanted to up the ante a little more. So, the Oldsmobile got a bigger camshaft, as well as a bigger Edelbrock Victor intake and a Dale Cubic CFM 960 cfm carburetor. The intake change necessitated a hood change, as Ahuja added a Glasstek hood with a Buick GSX-style hood scoop to clear the new induction system.
The changes pushed things to just over 600 horsepower on the dyno, and that meant less nitrous would be used. “After 650 horsepower on a stock Olds block and crank, you are looking for trouble possibly,” said Ahuja. “Being I drive the car to all the events, expect the salty wintertime, I need this thing to last.”
The changes dropped Ahuja’s elapsed times to a 10.16 average at Sick Week 2023, and he duplicated that average four months later at the first Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes. It would be the next Sick The Mag event we’d see Ahuja at, Deah Week in October, where we learned about his obsession with trailer burnouts, which led to a cover on the Winter 2024 print issue of Sick The Magazine.
We also found out on the final day of Death Week that Ahuja likes to make runs, making 26 runs in one day, a mark that stands to this day as the most runs made in one day. “I had a new motor in the works,” said Ahuja. “So, if that one had an issue, it was the end of the year, and I could focus on the new one.”
In the time between Death Week and Sick Week of 2024, Ahuja completed the move from a roll bar to a full roll cage legal to 8.50-second times. Along with his NHRA license, he could now legally run single-digit times, which he got in the Pro Dial-Your-Own (DYO) class, finishing second for the week with a .065 of-a-second spread on his 9.75 average.
His sixth-straight Sick The Mag drag and drive event appearance would be the home run for the Ahuja, as Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks found the Cutlass averaging 9.92 for the week. But with just a .044 of-a-second spread amongst five days of time slips, Ahuja would get the Pro DYO champion helmet. A short time later, he was also crowned the ‘Sickest of the Sick’ by Keith Turk.
“Sick Summer is such a great time and so different then Sick Week, it’s hard to explain the differences,” Ahuja said. “The people, the terrain, the tracks, maybe it's the smell in the air. But it's a whole different type of event from Sick Week or any other drag and drive that I have competed in.
“To win Pro DYO is a huge accomplishment, as the competition is very tough. It means a lot that I won, I'm honored, and proud I accomplished it, and I wear the orange helmet proudly in support of Sick the Mag. It’s the coolest trophy ever.
“As for being nominated for Sickest of the Sick, that was a 100% total surprise to me. Even when Keith Turk called my name, I was like, ‘why is he calling me? What did I do now?’ I was really in shock and speechless.
“I think it’s one of the greatest honors to be even considered for such an award (as Sickest of the Sick), and really everything I did for them to pick me is something I just do naturally. Not to win an award, but to have fun on and off the track with 300 of my buddies that are all hanging out together for a week.”
Sick Summer also witnessed Ahuja working with one of Sick The Mag’s sponsors for 2024, Driven Racing Oil. Bill Alexander of Driven mentioned that working directly with competitors, including Ahuja, would provide real world feedback on how oils hold up under some of the harshest conditions. This data helps Driven to define the best oil for end users.
Ahuja finished off the year by competing in the Edelbrock Sick 66 event last October, scoring his second-straight top ten finish at a Sick The Mag ‘one-off’ event, as well as the ‘Quickest Olds’ award thanks to his 6.32 average.
The 2025 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive found Ahuja’s Oldsmobile rolling into Georgia with another big change, a new engine! Based on a Rocket block packing a Bryant billet steel crankshaft, and topped with a pair of Gen 3 Edelbrock cylinder heads ported by Bill Trovato that employ a full set of T&D custom rockers to actuate Morel .937 lifters. The same Edelbrock Victor intake was used but massaged by Brett Miller to work with a Holley Dominator carburetor by CFM Carbs.
With the new mill in place under the scooped hood, Ahuja had the ability to run high 9-second passes without the nitrous, and a best of 9.50 at 142 mph at Sick Week with a 125-horsepower shot of nitrous engaged. Ahuja kept his Sick Week track record at 100% by completing his fourth-straight Sick Week, where he scored a top three finish in Pro DYO, and his quickest average yet, a 9.57.
Now, Ahuja will take a step outside his normal drag and drive event in preparation for the upcoming Sick On The Green, May 29th through the 31st, at Beech Bend Raceway Park. “When Tom (Bailey) announced 2-day events, I was totally excited for them,” said Ahuja. “Even though I enjoy 5-10 day drag and drives, with the absence of the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) and not being able to go to the events as crew guy for Bill Trovato, I wanted to still participate in something like that.
“Having the option for a couple 2-3 day events was perfect for me to be able to race, test and still smell track glue, while hanging out on the start line, watching and helping out when I can. I’m planning on the Sick Street Race Challenge, maybe Street Race 8.60 and Lil Gangsta’s for practice time tuning the new Olds motor.
“Being able to enjoy the car, and the best part (of a drag and drive event) is meeting like-minded crazy people and getting to hang out with them,” Ahuja admitted. “It is like a big family reunion. I mostly enjoy catching up and hanging out with new and old friends, besides the mandatory tacos and burnouts. That’s what drag and drive is really all about.”
Rajveer Ahuja is coming to Bowling Green to claim his share of the $32,000 up for grabs in our Sick Street Car Challenge class; will he be the Quickest Oldsmobile, as well as Most Consistent, a title he’s captured with our Pro DYO class?
With all four of our major Sick The Mag events sold out, Sick On The Green is your last chance 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 and 1320 Video.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com