Coming into the 2023 season, time slips in the low 5-second range would put you at the top of the sheet in Rocky Mountain Race Week’s Rowdy Radial class. That all changed on day four of the event at Pueblo Motorsports Park.  

“I've been racing since I was sixteen, and this style is by far the most fun and challenging. You feel a huge sense of accomplishment afterwards, no matter how you do.”

“With drag-and-drive, I don’t care if I’m competitive or not. I do it for the adventure. I don’t want a dedicated to anything car. This gives me the ability to go make passes and drive all around our beautiful country.”

The class is scheduled to compete for a NHRA championship later in the year, with Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge models all expected to compete.

There’s almost always a feel-good story, a thrash story that comes out right, and how someone manages to beat the odds and complete a drag-and-drive event.

Starting in 2015, Rocky Mountain Race Week has combined once of the more scenic routes in drag-and-drive events with challenging race conditions at some storied race tracks.

Not long after the verdict came down allowing the land Palm Beach International Raceway is on to be redeveloped to warehouses, rumors started circulating that plans for a new racing facility could be possible in Palm Beach County.

“I like seeing parts of the country most never see. It’s lots of different race tracks, and racing with the best 8.50 racers in the world. My best friends are from this.” - Tim Flanders of why he continues to participate in drag-and-drive events.

The 2023 season for drag-and-drive events is starting to heat up, as less than ten days after the completion of Sick Summer, three more drag-and-drive specific events have been completed, in three different countries!

“I grew up with my father driving his 1966 Chevelle to a circle track 30 miles away,” Larry said. “He would get the track, take out all the glass, headlights, taillights, change tires and race. After the race he would put it back together again, and drive it home. So, I guess maybe that is what appeals to me about drag-and-drives.”

After months of searching, a replacement ‘57 Chevy wagon was found, ironically in a similar color to its predecessor. The “Deuce Box” it would be christened, and the build was on.

The movie Dead Poets Society gives us the quote “Carpe diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” For some, seizing the day has come in the form of participation in a drag-and-drive event in 2023.

With a lot of LS-swaps, modern fuel injection, turbochargers and such becoming the norm, some of the street car shootout history and drag-and-drive legacy may seem to be fading away. This ‘69 Nova brings classic sheetmetal, as well as an old school big block, a carburetor and a nitrous system.

It all started with a classified ad for a 1957 Chevrolet wagon bracket car: “car cannot be driven long distances.” If you know Tom Bailey and the drag-and-drive mentality, that’s a challenge!

“My husband said ‘you can do it,’” Holly admitted when discussing what brought them to Sick Summer. “I planned to just have fun, and soak in the experience.”

After over 600 road miles, lots of track runs, some “weather” on the second day, and a ton of memories made, Sick Summer 2023 Presented by TBM Brakes returned to Cordova Dragway in Illinois to wrap up a great week in the Midwest!

With four days of corn fields, two-lane roads and trailer burnouts in the rear-view mirror, Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes returned to Cordova Dragway to crown class winners.

Considering the final checkpoint on day three was the Field of Dreams movie site, some competitors should have seen the curveball coming; Day four found class leads changing hands, consistent rides would struggle, and a few more rides would find the Did Not Finish list.