Just How Quick Are The Quickest Street Cars – Sick The Magazine Breaks Down the Top Ten Single Runs of All Time, from 2005 to 2026
The definition of what a ‘street car’ is one of the most debated topics in the car community. And if you dare benchrace on social media, get the popcorn and set aside some time, as some believe air conditioning, cruise control and lack of a roll cage are requirements.
Not far behind the “what makes it a street car” question is the ever-popular “what is a fast / quick street car?” Granted fast and quick are different measurements, and for this story, we’ll focus on the ‘quick’ side of things, which focuses on the elapsed time, and list the Top Ten Quickest Single Runs of Drag and Drive.
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Before we get to the numbers, let’s look at the 21-year history of drag and drive. When Hot Rod Drag Week was first held in 2005, 40 cars made it through tech inspection, and 32 survived the one-way drive, the only time Hot Rod Drag Week has started and finished at a different track.
The inaugural winner was Carl Scott with an 8.581 average, but the quickest single pass was from Larry Larson, an 8.382 at 163.51 mph. Only three cars finished with an 8-second average.
The Unlimited class debuted the next year, where Eddie Miller lowered the quickest and fastest single run to an 8.260 at 164.01 mph, as well as the average to an 8.508 result.
One year later, Danny Terzich and Steve Roth rolled a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro into action at Drag Week in 2007, and the ProCharger-fed big block would be the first to produce a 7-second average on a drag-and-drive. The 7.80 average was done on the strength of 7-second passes at each and every stop, the best being a 7.642 at 167.20 mph, the new quickest single pass.
The six-second zone was broken for the first time in 2010, when Larry Larson’s final pass of the 2010 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week, a 6.956 at 209.10 mph, capped off his third overall win in-a-row.
Three years later, Tom Bailey would be the first to collect all 6-second time slips, and the first to hold a 6-second average, at a drag and drive event, averaging a 6.83 at Hot Rod Drag Week 2013 in the ‘Sick Seconds 1.0’ 1969 Camaro. Bailey also lowered the quickest single pass to a 6.709 at 214.53 mph.
Fast forward to the 2016 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week, when Jeff Lutz dropped the average mark to a new, eye-opening 6.191 average, and a quickest single run of 6.106 at 243.51 mph.
That low e.t. mark held for three years, and then the first 5-second run hit at Hot Rod Drag Week 2019. On the final day at Virginia Motorsports Park, Bailey clicked off a 5.998 at 250.46 mph.
Then last year, Ned Dunphy broke the nine year average record with a 6.175 at Hot Rod Drag Week. That performance, highlighted by a best single run of 6.114 at 247.57 mph, re-lit the primer on the questions: could someone join Bailey with a 5-second pass, and could a 5-second average be a reality?
Hot Rod Drag Week 2026 opened on fire, with Ned Dunphy clocking the first five-second run in drag and drive competition in seven years. Less than three minutes later, Larry Larson would also clock a 5-second run. However, Larson would not complete the week, so his 5-second run would not count as a possible record, or be part of this list.
Several drag and drive events have adopted the same rules on records at Hot Rod Drag Week, where a single pass will not count as a possible record if the competitor doesn’t complete the week. The reasoning behind: if a car posted a possible record on the first day of racing, but didn’t complete a single street mile, would it be considered a true drag and drive event record?
In researching the topic of just how quick the performances are, we tackled the research on two levels: the top ten quickest single runs, as well as the top ten quickest averages. We’ll tackle the single runs first, some background on each run, and cover the Top Ten Quickest Averages later this week.
1. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 5.974 at 249.16 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2026
After completing the 2025 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week with a 6.175 record average, the drag and drive world saw that Ned Dunphy would be a force to be reconned with. He landed on the 2025 edition of the quickest single run list three times, and he added his name two more times in 2026.
The 2013 Dodge Viper got some updates for 2026, and he tested a decent bit leading up to Hot Rod Drag Week. After opening the week with a 5-second pass, Dunphy returned to Route 66 Raceway on Friday to complete the week, and promptly put down another 5-second pass one thousandth of-a-second quicker than the one he clocked on the first day.
But Dunphy wasn’t done; he went back to the pits, cooled everything down, and spiced it up a bit. He returned to Route 66 Raceway’s track surface, and the Proline built, SMX-based engine, with twin Precision Turbo Next GEN XPR turbochargers clocked a 5.974 at 249.16 mph!
2. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 5.994 at 245.40 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2026
After all the talk about running a 5-second pass at a drag and drive event after Tom Bailey first did it in 2019, no one could deliver it during a drag and drive competition for several years.
On Day One of the 2026 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week, Ned Dunphy opened with a 6.04 pass, but knew it wasn’t what he wanted to leave Route 66 Raceway with. So, he returned for a second hit, and the scoreboard flashed a 5.994 at 245.40 mph.
That run not only gave Dunphy the temporary quickest run record (pending completing the event, which he did), but it marked the first time in seven years that someone clocked a 5-second run in competition.
3. Tom Bailey – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 5.998 at 250.46 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2019
Several drivers have said they would run a 5-second pass, but Tom Bailey would be the first to do the deed. It happened on the final day, day five, at the 2019 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week.
It wasn’t a ‘one and done’ pass either, as Tom’s best pass up to day five was a 6.180 at 239.57 mph. So, Bailey, along with engine builder and co-pilot Steve Morris, tried to wring all their could out of the twin-turbo SME combination.
Finally, it came down to Bailey being the final pass of day five, and the duo hit the right note for the scoreboards at Virginia Motorsports Park to light up with the 5.998 at 250.46 mph pass, marking not only the first 5-second pass, but also the first, and only, 250 mph run.
4. Tom Bailey – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 6.032 at 249.76 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2022
The second entry on the Top Ten Quickest Runs for Tom Bailey gave us the impression that a record-setting week was about to happen on Hot Rod Drag Week 2022. Three years after Bailey became the first to the 5-second range, he opened Drag Week 2022 with a solid 6.03 at 249 mph pass at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
Sadly, Bailey fell on hard times after that run, struggling with a pair of 6.8-second runs at the Indianapolis, Indiana and Cordova, Illinois stops, but hung on to snag his fifth Hot Rod Drag Week overall win.
5. Brett LaSala – 2011 Ford Mustang – 6.079 at 236.80 mph – Sick Week 2025
The 5-second discussion ramped up a good bit at the 2025 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, because there were multiple cars that on paper had a chance of joining Tom Bailey in the 5-second club.
One of them was Brett LaSala, and although he returned to Sick Week a defending champ in the Modified class, he was wheeling a ‘new’ 2011 Ford Mustang built by fellow Sick Week winner Matt Moore and the team at Moore Race Chassis.
Employing a modern Fast Forward Racing Engines Coyote powerplant with twin Precision Turbo & Engine turbos, LaSala put together some of the quickest runs on drag radials ever during Sick Week. That included a 6.079 at 236.80 mph on the final day, leading to a 6.241 average, the quickest ever on radials.
LaSala tried to make one more hit as darkness descended on South Georgia Motorsports Park on that final day, but the 6.07 run would stand as the quickest, when LaSala’s follow up was aborted by a boost cut.
Since then, LaSala has invaded the 3.80-range while competing in heads-up Limited Drag Radial competition, as well as entering stick shift competition just two weeks ago. Could he make a return to drag and drive in 2027, and be the first stick shift car to challenge for a 5-second run?
6. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 6.080 at 241.20 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2026
After opening Hot Rod Drag Week 2026 with a 5.994 pass, the next two tracks wouldn’t give up a five-second run to Ned Dunphy. Both runs would be the same on a 6.080 elapsed time, but we’ll use the higher mph run from Day Four as the tie-breaker.
Day Four at World Wide Technology Raceway would be a big challenge for competitors, as the temperatures were projected to hit the low 90-degree mark, a sizable increase from the 60-70 degree temperatures to start the week.
Because of this, Hot Rod Drag Week started the day with the quicker run groups, and with Dunphy knowing the temperatures would be much higher for his second shot, made the run he needed right out of the gate, a 6.080 at 241.20 mph. That put him on the road back to Route 66 Raceway a lot sooner, where he wrapped up a record-setting week.
7. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 6.080 at 238.89 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2026
After a Day Two rain out at Byron Dragway, the field of more than 300 competitors, including Ned Dunphy, moved to Cordova Dragway for Day Three. Dunphy’s first shot at the track wasn’t pretty, as the Viper moved around a lot, crossed the center line, and wouldn’t record a time.
That meant Dunphy had to cool, refuel and get the car ready for a second shot at the track, juts like he did on Day One. This time, he’d be rewarded with a much better run, a 6.080 at 238.89 mph, giving him the overall lead heading into Day Four of Hot Rod Drag Week.
8. David Schroeder – 2019 Chevrolet Corvette – 6.097 at 222.55 mph – Sick Summer 2026
Long regarded as the top contender for a nitrous combination in drag and drive competition, the team of Dave Schroeder and John Ens had a couple of Hot Rod Drag Week overall wins on their resume, plus a lot of 6-second individual runs.
Sick Summer marked a big moment for both Schroeder-Ens, as well as nitrous, when they opened the 2026 edition of Motion Raceworks Sick Summer with a jaw-dropping 6.097 at 222.55 mph on Day One.
They backed it up with a 6.219 at 200.31 mph on Day Four, and although they had some mechanical issues at Great Lakes Dragaway, they recovered to get the event complete with a 6.547 average. That marked not only a new personal best for them, but it also came with the Unlimited class win, the overall win, and a pair of Gear Vendors Overdrive guitars.
9. Jeff Lutz – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro – 6.106 at 243.51 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2016
A man who has several wins across multiple platforms, Jeff Lutz still has a big place in his heart for drag and drive competition. After being unable to compete in it for a while, Lutz returned to the scene in 2024 at Sick Week, and nearly picked up right where he left off with a class win.
After becoming a familiar face in a 1957 Chevrolet, Lutz switched things up by bringing out a radical 1969 Chevrolet Camaro dubbed ‘Mad Max’ that featured Pro Mod styling, and had previously scored a championship on the National Muscle Car Association.
Despite the critics who didn’t think it would survive the street, Lutz proved it could survive, and the twin-turbo big block machine would set records too. In route to his second win at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2016 with a 6.191 average, Lutz also pounded out a 6.106 at 243.51 mph on day three.
Considering the 6.10 pass came three years before the first 5-second run, it opened a lot of eyes, and stirred the pot, of what some people considered a street car, and what a street car could do. And, this run landed in the number four spot on last year’s Top Ten Quickest Single Runs of Drag and Drive.
10. Ned Dunphy – 2013 Dodge Viper – 6.114 at 247.57 mph – Hot Rod Drag Week 2025
The fifth and final entry for Ned Dunphy on the Top Ten Quickest Single Runs of Drag and Drive list is his best run from one year ago, which was the fifth quickest after the 2025 season. Considering how much that has moved on the list, as well as the bump spot moving from a 6.195 to a 6.114 is a big deal!
Ned Dunphy made his first appearance on Hot Rod Drag Week in 2023, and although he completed the week, his performance was far from record setting. One year later, Dunphy returned to Hot Rod Drag Week, and got a lot more attention with a 6.196 pass on Day One, and a 6.203 run on Day Two. But he was out of competition after Day Three.
2025 was the redemption year for Dunphy and his 2013 Dodge Viper, as he delivered a group of five runs separated by less than nine hundredths of-a-second. His quickest pass came on Day Two at Numidia Dragway, where Dunphy blasted to a 6.114 at 247.57 mph pass, his first and only run of the day.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com