Sick The Magazine started in mid-2021 with the first print magazine dedicated to the drag and drive community, and although most featured an event would follow at some point, Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022 caught some by surprise.

Since then, we’ve added Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks as an annual event starting in 2023, and a one-off event each year as well.

2025 marked the opportunity for Sick The Magazine to showcase our home state of Michigan, and Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil was held over the last seven days.

After Mother Nature spoiled our plans for racing at Mid-Michigan Motorplex on Tuesday, August 12th, Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil made its way north through Michigan to Kaleva and Northern Michigan Dragway.

Although we were greeted by some fog to start the morning, some great racing action took place. We witnessed some shuffling in the top ten, including a new leader, some personal bests, as well as some competitors making their case for not only a category title, but also the Pure Michigan Award.

After a solid first day of competition on the Sick Michigan Miles drag and drive event, and the drive from Milan to Stanton, Michigan complete, we caught rumblings of Mother Nature looking to rain on the activities on Day Two, August 12th, at Mid-Michigan Motorplex.

Despite the best efforts of the Ledford family to give us a solid surface, rain hit the track just minutes before we were about to call competitors to the staging lanes.

So, instead cars and trucks were changed back to street mode, before visiting a trio of checkpoints over 191 miles to prep for Day Three at Northern Michigan Dragway.

With Day One of the Sick Michigan Miles drag and drive event leading into a week-long exploration of Michigan and four different tracks, some woke on Monday morning, August 11th with high hopes, and maybe even calm nerves.

Then, there are those that barely got their rides buttoned up in time to roll through the Darana Dragway gate, lacking sleep, test time, and possibly a functioning credit card due to all the last-minute parts ordering.

No matter which way a competitor got to Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, Day One started with our traditional drivers meeting, before the Darana Dragway crew let the enthusiasts loose on a freshly-prepped surface to see who would gain the quick time slips and early momentum for the event.

After attending several drag and drive events, Evan Uerkwitz and Frank Webb have been burning the midnight oil in an effort to get their 7-second rides ready in time for next week’s Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil.

Although both rides have clocked several 7-second passes on the quarter-mile format, and been in the running for class wins, will either of them overcome recent changes and contend for the overall title at Sick Michigan Miles?

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.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) has been the subject of multiple news stories in 2025, as the series has come back with national events that include professional classes, as well as a return to their sportsman classes too.

The IHRA also got a lot of attention for the purchasing of several race tracks, including Milan Dragway, which hosts the second of five IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series events for 2025 this weekend under its new name, Darana Dragway.

Darana Dragway will also be the host track for next month's Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, August 10-17th!

Following a successful first year in 2024, the Drop The Hammer event would gain a second showing in the drag and drive world for the 2025 season.

The first event of 2025 would start at Mid Michigan Motorplex, with competitors completing day one at a track that celebrates 70 years of drag racing this year, before hopping on the streets of Michigan to drive from Stanton to Lapeer, Michigan for day two of racing action.

For the final day, participants would return to Stanton, Michigan, completing just over 270 street miles, and the chance to lay claim to a top three finish in the four classes.

The 72nd annual Detroit Autorama in Michigan showcased hundreds of rides, including the ‘Great 8’ finalists for the coveted Ridler award. And although a lot of focus was on those beautiful rides, as well as the Ridler award winning ‘55 Chevrolet Nomad of Tom and Christy Bresnahan, there were a lot more awards given out, including the popular Drag and Drive category.

Drag and drive rides have to prove themselves on the track and the street, but the Detroit Autorama gave them a chance to do it under the lights at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan for a chance to claim an award. The familiar ’63 DIVCO Milk Truck of Nick Cryer, which was part of the Sick The Magazine display, scored the third-place finish in the category.

The recently completed Oldsmobile Cutlass of Steven Haefner would take a display spot in the Summit Racing Equipment booth, and by the end of the three-day show, Haefner collected a pair of awards, taking home first place in the Drag and Drive category, as well as Street Best Engine.

For the 72nd time, Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan has been filled to capacity with hundreds of rides for the 3-day Detroit AutoRama.

One of the largest indoor car shows, news has just dropped on the ‘Great 8’ selection, a necessity for those eight finalists in their hopes to earn the coveted Ridler Award.

First presented in 1964, the Ridler Award is one of the highest awards to be captured in the custom and hot rod car community. It is awarded annually, and to even earn one of those coveted ‘Great 8’ slots, the vehicles must fall under under strict “never been shown before” guidelines.

The Great 8 finalists at the Detroit AutoRama have been announced – who will win the prestigious Ridler Award?

The 72nd Annual Detroit AutoRama in Michigan has showcased everything from race cars to street bikes, and for the 2025 edition of this massive indoor show, Sick The Magazine is displaying twelve of some cool and quick rides proven in drag and drive events.

But one of the main attractions at the Detroit AutoRama is the dozens of rides hoping for a ‘Great 8’ selection, and ultimately, the Ridler Award.

Since it was first presented at the Detroit AutoRama in 1964, the Ridler Award is one of the highest awards to be captured in the custom and hot rod car community. It is awarded annually from a group of vehicles selected as the ‘Great 8’ and these vehicles must fall under under strict “never been shown before” guidelines.

With Sick The Magazine getting our area set-up on Thursday, we had a chance to walk the show and check out some of the amazing rides. Below are some of the ones that caught our eye as possible ‘Great 8’ selection and could be the next Ridler Award winner.

For over 70 years, the Detroit AutoRama in Michigan has showcased tens of thousands of amazing rides, including hot rods, muscle cars, truck and motorcycles. One of the big attractions of the AutoRama is The Ridler Award, but for 2025, Sick The Magazine will bring a twelve pack of some cool and quick rides to our display at the AutoRama.

“It’s been on the greatest indoor shows for several decades,” said Tom Bailey. “We’ve enjoyed it for several years as enthusiasts, and we felt like showcasing a good number of drag and drive rides as part of our Sick The Magazine this year.”

The center of the display will be Sick The Magazine’s International ‘Chode’ truck and our merchandise trailer, where our full line-up of items will be available. This will be surrounded by a variety of rides from the drag and drive community.

After the success of the Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022, Tom Bailey came up with the idea of keeping a consistent drag and drive event each year, as well as a unique one.

Following in the footsteps of our Edelbrock Sick 66 event in 2024, Sick the Magazine will host a pair of ‘one-off’ events in 2025, the first being in our home state with Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, August 10th through the 17th, 2025!

“When the idea was first proposed, I started thinking about how nice the areas around northern Michigan are,” said Tom Bailey of Sick The Mag. “The more Luke Nieuwhof (Sick The Mag editor) and I discussed it, it made sense that we could visit four great tracks, incorporate an August tradition for automotive enthusiasts, and do a 1,000 mile road trip in one week’s time.”

At Sick the Magazine, we’ve shown that we can cover lots of different places with drag-and-drive events. From our yearly events, like Sick Week that uses the same tracks, or our one-off events like the recently completed Sick 66 where we covered over 1,000 miles of Route 66 from Missouri to New Mexico, we’re not afraid of the adventure. And for 2025, we’re bringing that adventure to our home state with Sick Michigan Miles!

“When the idea was first proposed, I started thinking about how nice the areas around northern Michigan are,” said Tom Bailey of Sick The Mag. “The more Luke Nieuwhof and I discussed it, it made sense that we could visit four great tracks, incorporate an August tradition for automotive enthusiasts, and do a 1,000 mile road trip in one weeks time.”

With a rich history that dates back over six decades, it may surprise some that Milan Dragway has hit the ‘for sale’ market. The track has played host to a number of big events over its history, including stops on this year’s Hot Rod Drag Week and Heads Up Hustle drag-and-drive events.

But unlike most tracks with ‘for sale’ signs in the window, Perry Merlo and co-owner Harold Bullock have plans for an active 2025 season, whether a buyer comes along or not.

The explosion of drag-and-drive in the last few years has brought more major events to the table, and dozens of conversations where competitors talk about wanting to do more than one to two events a year, but lack of time prevents it from happening.  

When Pilot Transport joined the Sick the Magazine group, it brought a lot of conversations from competitors about using the carrier. One Sick Week competitor mentioned “saving a couple days going to an event and coming home would give me enough time to possibly do another event in 2025.”

Pontiac, Michigan has hosted the popular MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge event since 2015, and although a few locations have been used, the 2024 edition of the event brought the racing action to M1 Concourse for the first time in event history.

Early this morning, the Next-Gen Dodge Charger was revealed to the media, and Dodge’s new ride will be able to be seen by the public starting at 1 p.m. today. The fresh redesign of the iconic Dodge nameplate packs some cutting edge styling, as well as all-new drivelines.

We’re just 1 day away from the 3rd annual Sick Powerfest Presented by Dodge and M1 Concourse. But Sick Pizza and Sullivan’s Public House decided to start the party a bit early - co-hosting the Hops and Horsepower meet on Wednesday night, August 7th.

Roadkill Nights’ drag racing element will be moved from Woodward Ave to the straightaway of M1 Concourse’s road course in a major shift for the unique event.