Getting a chance to drive a car that has set class records for several drivers, at seven different locations, can hit a prospective driver with high levels of excitement.

But it can also come with pressure, wanting to deliver a solid performance on the given opportunity.

Two drivers that have participated in numerous drag and drive events for over a decade got the chance to trade the streets and the quarter-mile drag strip for Utah and the Bonneville Salt Flats this year.

Could Tom Bailey and Dave Schroeder make the most of the opportunity, with both drivers possibly earning a class record, as well as joining the 200 MPH club?

Tom Bailey and David Schroeder have been over 200 miles per hour multiple times in drag and drive competition. Yesterday, Tom joined the 200 MPH club during a record run in Keith and Tonya Turk’s 1980 Chevrolet Camaro at Bonneville Speedweek.

After making his license runs, and an engine swap, David Schroeder of Schroeder-Ens Racing will make his first record attempt in the Turk’s Camaro today

Ask most automotive enthusiasts, and they’ll have an event, place or some kind of performance goal they’d like to hit. One of the locations that is on a lot of bucket lists is the Bonneville Salt Flats, a 12-miles long and 5-miles wide salt pan in Northwestern Utah.

Racing has taken place for well over a century at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and since 1948, the Speedweek event gathers together hundreds of enthusiasts to see who can navigate the salt to set class records, and possibly join the 200 MPH club. In 2025, a pair of drag and drive competitors that have eclipsed 200 mph on a drag strip, will look to add the Bonneville Salt Flats to their resume.

After being away from the drag and drive game for a little over seven years, Jeff Lutz made his return at the 2024 edition of Sick Week.

That appearance ended one day short of a complete event, but it sparked Jeff’s interest in the drag and drive game once again, and Jeff will bring the iconic ’69 Camaro known as ‘Mad Max’ to the Sick At The Rock Presented by Motion Raceworks event, at Rockingham Dragway, to participate in the new Sick Street Car Challenge class!

“My son got a hold of me about the event, and said ‘we need to go do this event,’” said Jeff. “I asked him what he was taking, and he said ‘I’m riding with you.’”

Can the father and son combo outlast the Sick Street Car Challenge field?

Although the chances of seeing superchargers and turbochargers versus nitrous on drag and drive rides, there are still some bottle-fed rides that are holding their own.

One happens to be the 1972 Camaro of Lamar Swindoll Jr., and after completing four Sick drag and drive events in just over a year, Lamar is setting his sights on Sick At The Rock Presented by Motion Raceworks.

“After years of drag racing, I was ready for something different,” said Lamar. Drag and drive allows my wife and I to enjoy driving our hot rod on the open roads with our family members who join with their cars, hang out with other racers and their families, do a little site seeing and I still get to race my car down track. It's just a whole lot of fun!”

With a solid first outing at Sick Week in 2025, Lamar will make his next appearance with the Camaro in the new Sick Street Car Challenge class at the upcoming Sick At The Rock event. “I think it’s a great idea to have an event like this at least once a year for the guy that can’t attend a week long event,” said Lamar. “I think the shorter drive will be a great time for first timers to try out a drag and drive event.”

After watching drag and drive on YouTube for years, I thought I might have a good baseline on what to expect when I attended my first event, Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, in 2022. I was so wrong, but in the right way.

We’ve all heard the stories about competitors helping each other to get to that final day, that final pass, to FINISH. I’m lucky enough to talk about these stories, on the mic and on the web. And they happen in the super competitive world of heads-up racing too.

Just a few days ago, I attended the Lights Out 16 event at South Georgia Motorsports Park. One of the events that helped push drag radial racing into the spotlight more, I hadn’t been to it in a few years due to schedules.

But after only a few minutes after passing through the gate, I ran into Doug Cook of Motion Raceworks. Doug didn’t make it even a minute into the conversation before he told me about ‘Stevie Fast’ Jackson, and his last 24 hours that resulted in a win just by getting to the first round of competition.

It’s down to the wire; the final day of our biggest vehicle giveaway, a rare 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Indy Pace Car, is TODAY, Saturday, February 15th, 2025!

You have until today at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time before this classic Camaro giveaway ends, and a new owner get the keys in the following weeks. You could not only win it, but also a cool $5,000 in cash!

This ’69 Camaro is our eighth vehicle to give away since we started with the first giveaway in early 2023. It was on display during our recent Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, and the car was the inspiration for the newest look for Tom Bailey’s 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, the ‘Sick Seconds 2.0.”

“After owning this classic for over 20 years, I felt it was time for one of our Sick supporters to enjoy it,” said Tom. “It’s a great car, and although I’ll miss it, it’s good to know that someone will get to enjoy it.”

We’re on the final week before our current vehicle giveaway, the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Indy Pace Car, comes to an end on Saturday, February 15th, 2025 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time. You could not only win it, but also a cool $5,000 in cash!!

The Camaro is our eighth ride we’re giving away since the Sick-themed (and wrapped) Chevrolet Tahoe kick started our giveaway spree in early 2023. The Camaro was on display during our recent Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

“After owning this classic for over 20 years, I felt it was time for one of our Sick supporters to enjoy it,” said Tom Bailey. “It’s a great car, and it provided the new look for ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ to carry into 2025.”

For a little over two years, Cooper Bogetti has been bringing a wide variety of guests on his ‘Bogetti Studios’ YouTube channel podcast. Cooper’s blend of car and racing guests on his podcasts, combined with racing updates between his two YouTube channels, has garnered a solid base of subscribers.

Now, Cooper will jump back into the drag-and-drive game after taking a year off, and at this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, he’ll doing it with a ride that’s never seen drag-and-drive action before; a 2JZ-powered Camaro that recently saw seven-second passes during the Christmas Tree Drags!

“That means that in the next two-ish weeks, we’re going to have to get this here vehicle, that sees basically zero street miles, into streetable condition.” Can Cooper make the necessary changes to the Camaro, survive over 900 miles, and still clock solid times to be competitive in whatever class he chooses to participate in?

One of the most unique rides to grace the drag-and-drive scene, and later, the small tire and no-prep game, Mikael Borggren and his Volvo station wagon had made their mark. Unfortunately, the storied Volvo was destroyed during a no-prep event in October 2024, leaving many to question how and if Mikael would make a comeback.

Just a week before the calendar turned to 2025, Borggren picked up his replacement ride, a third-generation Chevrolet Camaro in New York. “I’m going to start sorting it out both on a no-prep and a radial first. Then I might come for a guitar on a small tire.”

Although he got his start with cars that can cover street and strip duty, Cleetus McFarland made the decision in spring 2024 to have Cameron Johnson Race Cars in Lakeland, Florida construct a ’69 Chevrolet Camaro for 5-second blasts on the quarter-mile. Despite the car having minimum testing, Cleetus and crew debuted the car in competition at the World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway (MDIR) and clocked a best of 5.89 at 246 mph.

At the conclusion of the event, Cleetus revealed the car needed some changes and updates. In the process of trying to get the car finished in time to qualify to be eligible for the World Cup Finals, the CJRC crew thrashed on the Camaro, but they discovered some areas that needed help. After returning to Florida from Maryland, Cleetus sent the car to CJRC for those changes, as well as getting engine back to Pro Line Racing for a refresh and inspection.

And then a dyno session was discussed…

After nearly four years away from the seat of a NHRA Funny Car, ‘Fast’ Jack Beckman got the chance to jump back behind the wheel in 2024. When John Force crashed during a round one victory at Virginia Motorsports Park in June, he needed a substitute driver, and Beckman got that chance just over a month later. Now, Beckman will return as a full-time driver in a Funny Car for 2025.

“I had an eight race interview, and it went well,” said Beckman after being announced as the driver for 2025. The former NHRA national Super Comp and Funny Car champion will get a chance to pursue his own championship in 2025, and has one of the best in the business cheering him on. “I’m looking forward to cheering on Jack Beckman this season, as I continue my recovery,” said John Force.

Hot Rod Magazine’s Fastest Street Car Shootout in 1992 was the first event to point the spotlight at dual purposes cars that could survive the street, as well as lay down impressive numbers on the track. Over a decade later, drag-and-drive got its start at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2005, taking a page from that iconic 1992 event and expanding on it.

Looking back at history can give us a clearer picture of what the future may hold, and that ideal plays into the most recent update on Tom Bailey’s ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ ’69 Camaro, as Bailey will debut it with the fresh look at this week’s Performance & Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis, Indiana in the Gear Vendors Overdrive booth.

We’ve only got six days left before our current vehicle giveaway, the 1952 Nash wagon, which comes to an end on Sunday, December 15th 2024. Packing a fresh 396 cubic inch small block Chevy, with an extra 150 horsepower of nitrous onboard, the Nash could be your ticket to 9-second time slips!

But, in the spirit of the holiday season, we can’t wait any longer to show off our next giveaway car, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Indy Pace Car! And for the next six days, you can double your chances to win one of our cars!

As the drag-and-drive community and event schedule grows, there have been several articles and inquiries into the origin of the first drag-and-drive, Hot Rod Magazine’s Drag Week in 2005.

Hot Rod also played host to the Fastest Street Car Shootout, held in Memphis, Tennessee, where several drivers etched their names as the first competitors in a street-legal car shootout. One of them was Rick Dyer, and sadly, we’ve gotten word that the Michigan resident has passed away.

The newest build for the Cleetus McFarland camp started at Cameron Johnson Race Cars in May this year, as a new ‘69 Camaro takes aim at the 5-second zone.

Yesterday, the latest build out of CJRC hit the track at Bradenton Motorsports Park to get Cleetus ready for World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway this week.

From tragic tales can come truly amazing moments. It was June 23rd when John Force suffered a horrific crash during a round one victory at the NHRA event at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Just over three months later, Force’s Cornwell Tools Camaro funny car claimed an emotional victory at the NHRA national event at World Wide Technology Raceway.

With a history of running competitive heads-up radial racing, Lamar Swindoll Jr. is used to the pressure that can come with producing repeatable performance and getting to the finish line on time. After producing mid 8-second elapsed times on both Sick Week and Sick Summer, Lamar decided it was time to turn up the wick for next month’s Edelbrock Sick 66.

‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ is a phrase that’s been used to tie together racing and car sales, and the promotion has worked well over several decades. Included in that idea are the big three and the use of drag racing ‘stock-appearing’ rides to sell their showroom counterparts.

That idea has been enjoying its latest wave with National Hot Rod Association Factory Stock Showdown and Factory X class, but recent rules infractions have the rumor mill swirling on future participation in the class.

With the 20th running of Hot Rod Drag Week less than three weeks away, Tom Bailey had plans to send the SMX engine from the 'Sick Seconds 2.0' Camaro to Steve Morris Engines to get inspected and freshened up.

The fix for ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ chassis is a question mark; would the engine get a clean bill of health?