On almost every drag and drive event we cover, there’s at least one vehicle with interesting stats, a cool back story, or some cool modifications that draws you in.

It stands as a good reminder that being interested in the car hobby is a blast, and that’s before we get to the racing and cruising together part!

The Ford Lightning pick-up truck that is the subject of this article, owned by Jason Long, has served numerous purposes over a two-plus decade ownership, and will serve as the key to his first drag and drive event appearance at the Edelbrock Sick Smokies next month.

A new event to the drag and drive community in 2025, the Street Car Challenge encompassed four days and a trio of race tracks in Alabama: Baileyton Dragstrip, Holiday Raceway and Jake’s Dragstrip.

Although weather made things difficult on a couple days, only two competitors failed to complete the event, and class champions were crowned at Baileyton Dragstrip on Sunday, July 20th.

We’ve had an amazing response to our second ‘one-off’ event of 2025, Edelbrock Sick Smokies, being held October 12th through October 19th, 2025. It should be an amazing week of great racing and scenic drives, including the largest Gasser drag and drive showings ever!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 19th is your final chance to submit an ‘Expression of Interest’ form. Submitted ‘Expression of Interest’ forms get the jump on general registration to snag one of the coveted competitor spots by one hour (9 am versus 10 am).

Entries for the Summit Racing Equipment Sick Ward Presented by PEAK Performance are also available – we detail all the information in this story!