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!

Since the first Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022, Tom Bailey and Luke Nieuwhof have made a point to highlight all points of a drag and drive event. The tracks are important, but the drives and checkpoints are also a big deal.

For next month’s Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, we will feature a checkpoint from a husband and wife that were Sick Ward participants at this year’s Sick Week.

“Michigan Miles is a great idea,” said Melissa VanTielen. “Our state has so many amazing nooks and crannies. I feel like having a checkpoint at our location would be my opportunity to give the sport a huge shout out and exposure.”

Sometimes, a good build gets a bit quicker than expected, and rather than continue on, an enthusiast may choose to take a step back to plot out the future use, and the changes necessary.

That was the case for Tom Kuepper, and although it caused his first Sick Summer event absence in three years, he’s honing in on quick times at the upcoming Sick Michigan Miles.

When it comes to survival of an engine, almost no component is as important as the motor oil protecting the internal components. In the harsh environment of drag-and-drive, one company has developed oil technology to the next level — Driven Racing Oil.

The Memphis, TN-based company developed its first formulations for NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing team in the early 2000s. Since then, they have broadened their blends into oils suitable for a range of applications, including street and strip vehicles.

Sick The Magazine is proud to announce that Driven Racing Oil will be the presenting sponsor of Sick Michigan Miles, being held from August 10-17, 2025 around the great state of Michigan. From the Mackinac Bridge to the Woodward Dream Cruise, it will be a gearhead’s ultimate adventure.

As a partner with Sick, Driven Racing Oil has seen their sales boom as more racers and gearheads find out about the quality of the product. Tom Bailey from Sick The Magazine said Driven Racing Oil was the perfect presenting sponsor for Sick Michigan Miles.

“Bring a friend to the track / car show / event” is a phrase a lot of us have heard to encourage getting others to attend a car enthusiast event. A growing number of people get their first look thanks to the efforts of a friend or co-worker.

Tom Bailey noticed these efforts, and launched the Sick The Magazine Affiliate Program in December, a way to reward Sick The Mag event participants for bringing out fellow enthusiasts. After the first three months of the program, it has paid out over $20,000 in rewards for affiliate commitments.

“We were told not to do this by some promoters,” said Bailey. “Because they don't want to share the gate with the attendees, but we do. So, we are going to do it anyway!

“I have been to events where when I look at the crowd, my shirts outnumber the event shirts, but I didn't get anything for bringing those folks through the gate. And that was okay, but it got me to thinking, so we are going to change that.”

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.”

After a 2024 season with a record number of drag-and-drive events, the 2025 season is just a couple weeks away from rumbling to life. Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive is the first of thirty drag-and-drive events we currently know of for 2024, and there is no doubt more will be added as the year progresses.

With long-standing events like Hot Rod Drag Week back for the 20th anniversary, and Rocky Mountain Race Week celebrating its tenth year, several events returned for another year, including Redwood Rally, Miles of Mayhem, One Guy’s Garage Drag Weekend, and Southeast Street N’ Yeet.

We also saw some new events on the extensive list in 2024, as Drop the Hammer, Olympic Drag-and-Drive, and Big Sky Race Week were just a couple that pushed the number of drag-and-drive events scheduled in 2024 to 40 total. A couple did get canceled or postponed due to weather or poor registration numbers.

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.”

Since the introduction of Junior Dragsters into the National Hot Rod Association in 1992, thousands of kids have gotten the chance to become competitors in the sport of drag racing. Competition at hundreds of tracks across North America, as well as larger national events just for junior dragsters, have proved a springboard for racing careers, world champions, and a second class, Junior Street, that’s been incorporated into select drag-and-drive events.

Junior Dragsters have been a big force behind not only a new wave of racers competing, but also the second, third and even fourth-generation of a family getting into the sport.

With the success of Junior Dragster, the NHRA introduced the Junior Street class to give thirteen-sixteen year old boys and girls a chance to compete in a street-legal car or truck with an adult co-driver as their teammate.