We Have Liftoff – Rocket City Dragway Hosts One of The Quickest Days of Eighth-Mile Drag and Drive Competition, as Edelbrock Sick Smokies Completes Day One of Competition
The concept of a drag and drive is an easy one – to survive the tracks AND the street drives, in order to successfully complete the event. But the competition side has been heating up over the last few years as well, as more new cars are being built to quicken the pace in certain classes and/or events.
The Edelbrock Sick Smokies marks the first time a drag and drive event has made a serious push for a large contingent of Gassers, and that call to action was answered by more than 40 entries. Combined with nearly 200 additional entries teched outside the Gassers, Edelbrock Sick Smokies marks the largest ‘one off’ Sick The Magazine drag and drive event in our three-year history.
Don't miss your chance to join us THIS WEEK - Edelbrock Sick Smokies - October 12-19, 2025! CLICK HERE for our event page with track dates, our travel route, checkpoints and more!
That large field features some quick rides, and Nick Cryer would lead the way. His ’33 Ford coupe, holding a twin-turbo LS combination between the frame rails, clocked an impressive 4.69 at 156 mph for the top spot after one day.
There are not as many flying the nitrous flag in drag and drive competition these days, but Lamar Swindoll Jr. has bucked the turbo trend well. His small tire, stock suspension ’72 Chevrolet Camaro lit the scoreboards with a 5.10 at 141 mph shot to sit second in the standings.
After a massive double wheelie in testing, Jarrod Aspegren figured out the surface with all four wheels during Monday’s racing action, collecting a pair of 5.2-second time slips, the best being a 5.27 at 141 mph, to end up third in the standings after one day of work.
When you hear the name Royce Payton, some will immediately think of his supercharged, big tire Ford Mustang. But Payton showed up to Rocket City Dragway in a clean ’67 Camaro with no blower scoop out of the engine bay, choosing the turbocharged route to aid the big block Chevrolet engine. Payton delivered a 5.31 at 142 mph for the fourth spot in Alabama.
Dean Anderson and Jennifer White have been regulars on Sick events since our first Motion Raceworks Sick Summer gathering in 2023. Their gray single turbo Malibu tamed the Rocket City course on a 275-sized drag radial, and got a 5.35 at 134 mph for a coveted ‘one and done’ to get them on the road to Nashville early.
Sixteen rides clocked a 5-second pass on Day One of competition, and one of them was long hauler Rajveer Ahuja. The Yukon-based ’67 Oldsmobile came into Alabama on a steady diet of pump gas and tacos, and Rajveer added the nitrous to the Oldsmobile powerplant to grab his first 5-second run in competition, a 5.999 at 115 mph, on Day One at Rocket City Dragway.
The Gassers contingent proved to be a popular attraction for competitors and spectators alike, and Edelbrock Sick Smokies split them into three Gasser classes.
Leading the Gasser group is Mike Finnegan and his popular ‘Blasphemi’ ’55 Chevrolet. The supercharged HEMI-powered ride has been a handful at times over his thirteen-year ownership, but Rocket City Dragway delivered a double-dose of good news for Finnegan on Day One. Finnegan wheeled Blasphemi to a 5.41 at 130 mph, his quickest and fastest eighth-mile pass ever, and that ‘one and one’ run gave him a solid lead in the A/Gasser class.
Another familiar ride leads the B/Gasser contingent, as Matt Donovan put the ‘Garbage That Barfed’ ’38 Chevrolet at the top of the list with a 6.27 at 113 mph shot.
The Edelbrock Sick Smokies event added a third Gasser class to the list, the new ‘Outlaw Gasser’ option, keeping the classic Gasser look with a wider array of engine combinations. Randy Quay’s ’57 Chevrolet ‘Bad and Bougie’, sporting a single turbo LS combination, clocked a 6.28 at 108 mph, to lead the Outlaw Gasser class after one day of work.
Once the racing was complete, it would be a scenic drive from the dragstrip and nearby cotton fields of Alabama, to the music-filled streets of Nashville. Over 230 competitors, and north of 275 Sick Ward enthusiasts, took in the sights and sounds of a trio of checkpoints.
Cruising through the downtown area of Nashville caught many a club-goer’s attention with a line of rides, some loud enough to drown out the music. When the Edelbrock Sick Smokies tour hit their final stop for the day at the Scoreboard Bar and Grille, the moment was celebrated with a few burnouts to cap off an eventful Monday.
Tuesday, October 14th, will find the Edelbrock Sick Smokies tour rolling into Music City Raceway for Day Two of racing action! Gates open for competitors and Sick Spit Show and Shine at 8 am, while the spectator side and Sick Ward gates open at 9 am. Racing action is set to start at 10 am, and should conclude around 2 pm.
Spectator tickets are available in advance by CLICKING HERE, or they can also be purchased at the gate.
For more details on the Edelbrock Sick Smokies event, held October 12th-19th - CLICK HERE for more details!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com