One year ago, at M1 Concourse in Michigan, Morgan Evans rolled into Roadkill Nights the one that most didn’t expect to win. After all, the Florida driver came in with one of the heavier entries, an ’87 Dodge D150 pick-up, and just a handful of runs from a mid-week test session.

But Morgan defied the odds, and took her Hurricane-swapped pick-up truck to the final round victory. It kicked the door open of Morgan wanting to race more, and now, Morgan and fiancé Jason Kastner prepare for a return to Roadkill Nights, as well as spending a week in Michigan on Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil.

Although not as heavily produced as its Chevrolet counterpart the Camaro in the early years, the Pontiac Firebird had some intriguing options, including the 250 cubic inch 6 cylinder engine with a 4 barrel carburetor in 1967 through 1969. And although this Firebird didn’t come into Derrick Sanders life as a 6-cylinder version, he will enter his first drag-and-drive event with it carrying the same numbers of cylinders.

After building the Firebird into a clean cruiser over a couple decades, Derrick’s dad passed in 2016, leaving the Firebird to him. “I let the car sit basically the entire time since he passed, until this past summer. I told my wife I wanted to do something with the car so we could enjoy it as a family, and not just let it sit in the corner of the shop.”

“My first drag-and-drive experience was in 2021, and I was instantly hooked.” That set the wheels in motion for a car of his own to participate, and he almost hit his goals last year at Sick Summer. “My goals were to try and win both the fastest 6 cylinder and over all class winner. We got close, but we needed more for 2024.”