The Deuce Box Dominates – Aydan Bailey Uses Consistency and Fine Tuning to Earn First Drag and Drive Event Win at Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil!
A lot of the drag and drive community knows about Tom Bailey and his accomplishments in both the original ‘Sick Seconds’ ’69 Camaro, as well as the upgraded ’69 Camaro known as ‘Sick Seconds 2.0.’
But Tom’s son Aydan has been slowly ironing out his own ride, a 1957 Chevrolet station wagon that has competed in a handful of events since its debut at Sick Summer 2023. Just over two years after that first event, Aydan scored his first overall victory at the recent Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil.
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To fully understand the success of Aydan’s recent win in Michigan, let’s take a trip back to the first Sick The Mag drag and drive event, Sick Week 2022 Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
Aydan was competing in Sick Week’s Unlimited Iron class in the ’57 Chevy station wagon known as the ‘Shitbox of Doom’, originally built and competed in Hot Rod Drag Week by Richie Crampton and Johnnie Lindberg.
When Crampton was ready to sell the wagon in 2020, Tom and Aydan expressed interest. They acquired the car, and made the switch from a supercharged 6-second Hemi combination to a LS-based powerplant with twin turbochargers in the station wagon, backed by a Turbo 400 and a Gear Vendors Overdrive.
The wagon competed in several events, and after four of the five days on Sick Week 2022, Aydan returned to the home track, Bradenton Motorsports Park, to complete the event and secure a top five finish.
On a run that would’ve secured his week, the ’57 Chevrolet went on its side and crashed in a rollover accident on the final day of Sick Week 2022. Aydan emerged okay, but the wagon was determined to have serious damage, so the hunt was on for a replacement.
Tom and Ayden managed to find a ‘new’ ’57 Chevy wagon rolling chassis, sporting similar patina to the old one (slightly less paint, but remarkably close on color), and made the purchase to bring Aydan back to drag and drive once again.
Christened with the nickname ‘Deuce Box’, Ayden started pecking away at swapping everything from the first wagon to the new one. But with time in short supply and less than a week to go, Aydan teamed up with Joey Barry on a mad thrash to make Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks on its debut year, 2023.
After dealing with several snags and hurdles that slowed their timeline, the two managed to progress to the point where only the wiring was left as the final check mark to completion. The ’57 rolled to Cordova Dragway and through tech inspection, then Aydan and Joey made the final push to finish it off in time for a 21-second time slip on Day One.
Aydan continued to whittle down his scoreboard times, as well as the street miles, until Day Five when he successfully returned to Cordova Dragway and produced his best pass of the week, an 8.73 at 155 mph. This all happened on a minimum amount of sleep for both Aydan and Joey.
With a goal of getting the ’57 station wagon into the 7-second range, Aydan continued to chip away at the tune-up and suspension, including participating at a few eighth-mile racing events.
His next drag and drive event would be the Drop The Hammer in May of 2024, where Aydan clocked a best run of 5.13 at 136 mph, and an average of 5.22 to earn him a fourth place finish in the Unlimited class.
It would be over a year before we saw the ‘Deuce Box’ back in drag and drive action, when Aydan rolled into Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, with Tom occupying the co-pilot role for the first time with Aydan since Rocky Mountain Race Week 2021.
With a goal of attempting a ‘one-and-done’ each day without major changes track to track, Aydan clocked a pair of 5.30 runs on Day Zero to prepare for the week ahead, and posted an improved 5.24 at 133 mph on Day One at Darana Dragway in Milan.
After a rainout on Day Two at Mid Michigan Motorplex, Aydan and Tom motored north to Northern Michigan Dragway for Day Three, and another ‘one and done’ 5.26 at 127 mph pass. This moved Aydan to first in the standings, and they knocked out 200 miles on the street, including an epic shot on the Mackinac Bridge, before calling it a day in St. Ignace.
After rolling through more than 280 street miles on Day Four, Aydan and Tom arrived at Ubly Dragway for Day Five of the event, and the third day of racing. A 5.24 at 134 mph first pass kept the ‘one-and-done’ approach in play, and the Baileys got on the road south to complete their checkpoints, and a Saturday to enjoy Woodward Dream Cruise.
Back at Darana Dragway on Sunday, August 17th and Day Seven, Aydan produced his best pass of the event, a 5.21 at 130 mph, completing the event and giving him a 5.24 average. This not only topped the pack for the coveted Sick The Mag orange helmet, but also scored Ayden the ‘Quickest Chevrolet’ category win.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Hard Target Images, and 1320 Video.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com