Just How Quick Are The Quickest Street Cars – Sick The Magazine Breaks Down the Top Ten Single Runs in Drag and Drive History
There plenty of ways to start an argument on social media, and one of the easiest questions to start with is “what is a street car?” Get the popcorn and set aside some time, as some believe air conditioning, cruise control and lack of a roll cage are requirements.
Not far behind the “what makes it a street car” question is “what is a fast / quick street car?” Granted fast and quick are different measurements, and for this story, we’ll focus on the elapsed time “quick” side.
Following the performances we’ve seen on the jam-packed 2025 schedule of drag and drive events, one could be forgiven for looking back at past year results and wonder just how quickly the cars and drivers have advanced.
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In researching the topic of just how quick the performances of drag and drive are, we tackled the research on two levels: averages and single runs. Check out our story on the Top Ten Averages by CLICKING HERE!
Per the commonly accepted practice of the drag and drive community, single runs that are listed here are from a competitor that has completed the event. Testing runs, or runs made where the competitor doesn’t finish the event, do not count.
1. Tom Bailey – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 5.998 at 250.46 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2019
Several drivers have said they can / will run a 5-second pass, but only one has ever been recorded on a drag and drive event where the competitor completed the event. Tom Bailey did the deed, on the final day at the 2019 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week.
It wasn’t a ‘one and done’ pass either, as Tom’s best pass up to day five was a 6.180 at 239.57 mph. So Bailey, along with engine builder and co-pilot Steve Morris, tried to wring all their could out of the twin-turbo SME combination.
Finally, it came down to Bailey being the final pass of day five, and the duo hit the right note for the scoreboards at Virginia Motorsports Park to light up with the 5.999 at 250.46 mph pass, marking not only the first 5-second pass, but also the first 250 mph run.
2. Tom Bailey – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 6.032 at 249.76 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2022
The second entry on the Top Ten Quickest Runs for Tom Bailey gave us the impression that a record-setting week was about to happen on Hot Rod Drag Week 2022. Three years after Bailey became the first to the 5-second range, he opened Drag Week 2022 with a solid 6.03 at 249 mph pass at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
Sadly, Bailey fell on hard times after that, struggling with a pair of 6.8-second runs at the Indianapolis, Indiana and Cordova, Illinois stops, but hung on to snag his fifth Hot Rod Drag Week overall win.
3. Brett LaSala – 2011 Ford Mustang – 6.079 at 236.80 mph – Sick Week 2025
The 5-second discussion ramped up a good bit at the 2025 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, because there were multiple cars that on paper had a chance of joining Tom Bailey in the 5-second club.
One of them was Brett LaSala, and although he returned to Sick Week a defending champ in the Modified class, he was wheeling a ‘new’ 2011 Ford Mustang built by fellow Sick Week winner Matt Moore and the team at Moore Race Chassis.
Employing a modern Fast Forward Racing Engines Coyote powerplant with twin Precision Turbo & Engine turbos, LaSala put together some of the quickest runs on drag radials ever during Sick Week. That included a 6.079 at 236.80 mph on the final day, leading to a 6.241 average, the quickest ever on radials.
LaSala tried to make one more hit as darkness descended on South Georgia Motorsports Park on that final day, but the 6.07 run would stand as the quickest, when LaSala’s follow up was aborted by a boost cut.
Since then, LaSala has invaded the 3.80-range while competing in heads-up Limited Drag Radial competition. Can the small cubic inch Coyote crack into the fives in 2026 drag and drive competition?
4. Jeff Lutz – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 6.106 at 243.51 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2016
A man who has several wins across multiple platforms, Jeff Lutz still has a big place in his heart for drag and drive competition. After being unable to compete in it for a while, Lutz returned to the scene in 2024 at Sick Week, and nearly picked up right where he left off with a class win.
After becoming a familiar face in a 1957 Chevrolet, Lutz switched things up by bringing out a radical 1969 Chevrolet Camaro dubbed ‘Mad Max’ that featured Pro Mod styling, and had previously scored a championship on the National Muscle Car Association.
Despite the critics who didn’t think it would survive the street, Lutz proved it could survive, and the twin-turbo big block machine would set records too. In route to his second win at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2016 with a 6.191 average, Lutz also pounded out a 6.106 at 243.51 mph on day three.
Considering the 6.10 pass came three years before the first 5-second run, it opened a lot of eyes, and stirred the pot, of what some people considered a street car, and what a street car could do.
5. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 6.114 at 247.57 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2025
The new king in the drag and drive world for quickest average with a 6.175 at 247.08 mph, Ned Dunphy and his 2013 Dodge Viper also put together one of the best weeks of individual runs.
One year ago, Dunphy gave the impression he’d challenge for the drag and drive overall average record on Hot Rod Drag Week 2024, but bowed out on day three with issues. In 2025, Dunphy delivered a group of five runs separated by less than nine hundredths of-a-second.
His quickest pass came on day two at Numidia Dragway, where the Proline built, SMX-based engine spun the twin turbos to blast to a 6.114 at 247.57 mph pass, his first and only run of the day.
6. Jeff Lutz – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 6.147 at 240.89 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2016
The sixth quickest run in drag and drive history belongs to Jeff Lutz, and came on day four of Hot Rod Drag Week in 2016. At the historic Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indiana, Lutz recorded his second-quickest run of the week, a 6.147 at 240.89 mph.
7. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 6.166 at 245.81 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2025
Ned Dunphy followed his best run of Hot Rod Drag Week, a 6.114 at 247.57 mph, with his second-best one on day three of the 2025 edition of Drag Week.
Although the weather report gave the impression that Hot Rod Drag Week’s visit to Maple Grove Raceway would be a wet one, they managed to complete the full day of racing. But with weather threatening, competitors were limited to just one run before the ‘All Run’ session.
After some issues in the burnout box, Dunphy pushed back, spent a few minutes going over things, and then for the second day in-a-row, he delivered a ‘one and done’ 6.166 at 245.81 pass.
8. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 6.178 at 247.38 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2025
Ned Dunphy’s third, and final, entry on the list is the result of his opening day time slip at Hot Rod Drag Week 2025.
Dunphy’s 2013 Viper delivered a 6.178 at 247.38 mph opening shot, perking up the interest of ‘could this be the year the average record of Jeff Lutz is seriously challenged?’
9. Tom Bailey – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 6.180 at 239.57 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2019
Tom Bailey gave both the fans, and the rest of the Hot Rod Drag Week field, a signal that he was aiming for quick runs throughout the week of the 2019 event. The 6.180 at 239.57 mph pass came at the now-defunct Atco Dragway in Atco, New Jersey on day three.
10. Jeff Lutz – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 6.195 at 240.29 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2016
Jeff Lutz had a lot of eyes when he debuted the ‘Mad Max’ ’69 Camaro for street-legal competition, and Lutz ensured people wouldn’t just be talking about the car’s appearance when the 2016 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week got underway.
In route to a 6.19 average that would stand as the quickest in drag and drive for nine years, Lutz opened his week with a 6.195 at 240.29 mph blast at National Trail Raceway in Ohio. Four days later, he capped his week with a 6.256 at 235.19 mph pass, securing his place in history.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Jeff Lutz and 1320 Video.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com