With nearly eight months and two-thirds of the 2025 drag and drive schedule in the rear view mirror, some competitors are getting some testing in for the final stretch of the year, while others are making changes and looking towards 2026.

A couple of drag and drive competitors recently visited Muncie Dragway and left with class wins, while a pair of station wagons found new personal bests tuning up for a Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive appearance in 2026.

There’s something to be said about striving to do your best, and coming up just a little shy of the top spot. It can make you dig deeper, work harder, and strive for the top spot a little bit more.

Most competitors would likely be happy with a pair of top three finishes at Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, but Jeremy Ortiz plans to roll in prepared better than ever this year.

Since his first Sick Summer, Ortiz has captured multiple wins at various events and tracks. His most recent victories came in Extreme Radials at Muncie Dragway, then Ortiz followed it up at Street Car Braggin Rights (SCBR), where he scored the SCBR Shootout Wild class accolades.

Now, with his Nissan 240 sporting a single turbo LS swap seemingly on rails, Ortiz turns his focus to this week’s Sick On The Green event at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Then two weeks later, he will return to Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks in hopes of securing a Street Race 275 class victory.

“The Hole Shot Media Heads Up event idea was to get the weekend highway racers out to the track and in a safer environment. I went in just wanting to use it really for a test session to get ready for Sick Summer. I made a handful of changes to the car over the winter, and really hadn't been able to get some solid A-to-B passes in.”