Musical Chairs – Troy Steinke to Participate in First Drag and Drive at Sick Smokies Behind the Wheel of the Steinke Family’s ‘Honk If Parts Fall Off’ 4-Door Chevelle
You always remember your first time, and although Rick Steinke has done a lot of drag and drive events, he made sure to not miss the first time to do Route 66 at Sick The Mag’s Sick 66 event in 2024.
For 2025, the Steinke family will once again take Rick’s storied 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle 4-door known as ‘Honk If Parts Fall Off’ on a drag and drive, but this time it will be son Troy behind the wheel for Junior Street at the upcoming Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock Performance.
There’s one more chance to join Sick The Mag on a drag and drive for 2025 - Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock, on October 12-19th, 2025! We’re doing seven days cruising the South, including Tail Of The Dragon, and four great drag strips! Discounted advanced spectator tickets, as well as Sick Ward / Sick Spit Show & Shine entries are available - CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE about Sick Smokies!!
Rick and wife Jacki have not only been around the racing scene for a while, but both of them have competed and done quite well at it. So, it wasn’t a surprise when son Troy took an interest in the sport
Troy got a chance to start competing in the Junior Dragster category, which gives kids between the ages of 5 and 18 a chance to compete in scaled down purpose-built dragsters, normally separated by age group.
Troy has done well so far in the Junior Dragster, but the 2025 season gave him a chance to step into the street car friendly class, Junior Street. Rick found a clean 1990 model Chevrolet Corvette with just 70,000 miles on it, and deemed it the right ride for Troy.
“It was seemingly garage kept its whole life,” said Rick. “It runs 9.0s in the eighth-mile and doesn’t need any work.”
Rick and Jacki had a few chances to shake the car down before Troy slid behind the wheel this year, and Troy took to the Corvette like a duck to water, winning five races, claiming the track championship at Maple Grove Raceway, as well as a Wally race win, about three weeks ago.
Although he still has some racing on his plate, Troy is already looking ahead to his first drag and drive event where he will compete in as a driver, Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock Performance. And he will get to do it in Rick’s crew cab Chevelle, in only the second Sick The Mag event we’ve featured Junior Street as a class.
“My motivation to attend Sick Smokies is driving my dad's Chevelle on the track in a drag and drive event,” said Troy. Even though he’s excited about his time behind the wheel, Troy remains focused on a few goals. “My goals for Sick Smokies are to make it all the way through the week with no problems, maybe be the youngest driver to ever finish a drag and drive?”
For Rick, watching Troy come up in the sport of drag racing has been a rewarding experience. “We always enjoy drag and drives because of the cool places we get to see, and the memories we create,” said Rick. “To know Troy gets his first chance to do a drag and drive on Sick Smokies, with the tracks and cool routes we will do, we’re all excited about it.”
Will Troy Steinke join his parents Rick and Jacki as a winning drag and drive competitor? Come see over 200 competitors, and the largest gathering of street-legal Gassers, on the Sick The Mag Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock Performance event, October 12-19! CLICK HERE for more details!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Rick and Jacki Steinke.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com