As an experienced and successful racer in classes where consistency is key, it was no surprise to see Bill Spangler capture the Dial-Your-Own (DYO) class victory in his 1980 Ford Fairmont known as ‘FUB’ at the first Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022.

But now, after a stint away from drag and drive, Bill is ready to make his return to the street and strip action. But the familiar big block Ford combination under the cowl hood has stepped aside for a modern powerplant and a power adder as well.

A familiar ride in the drag and drive community, Jamie Doller and his 1971 Chevrolet Camaro has participated in several events, capturing the class win in Rowdy Radial at the 2025 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

But despite having lots of 4-second eighth-mile and mid 7-second quarter-mile performances, Jamie was ready to start collecting quicker and faster time slips. And although he considered cutting up his classic Camaro for a more extensive roll cage to allow for quicker than 7.50-second time slips, he found an alternative, and the ideas are already brewing.

Drag and drive events can be a rewarding experience, as the chance to meet, race and cruise with hundreds of fellow enthusiasts has grown to nearly 50 opportunities each year for the last two seasons.

But the track and street can also find a vehicle’s weak spots, and this means a number of first timers could fail to complete the event. Tor Nupen suffered this fate at his first drag and drive event, the 2025 edition of Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

But he used it as motivation to better his 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle for a return appearance to Sick Week this year, with his son in the co-pilot seat.

Sleepers might get all the internet cool points, but there’s something to be said for looking fast. William Jordan’s Dodge Dart has an unmistakable stance that screams acceleration, and we’re here for it.

William arrived at Hot Rod Drag Week 2025 a newcomer to drag and drive, having been introduced to the sport as a spectator at Sick Week 2023 Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive. The event inspired him to build a car of his own, and Drag Week was in the perfect location this year for the New Yorker to make his debut.

After over a decade away from the drag racing game, Jason Wall decided it was time to get back into it. There’s a ton of options for a street and strip capable ride, and although Jason had recently piloted his wife’s Hellcat Charger on Hot Rod Drag Week, he had a different target.

“I always liked these Collector’s Edition C4’s when I was a kid,” said Jason about the silver Corvette he acquired. “That never changed,” and he debuted this 1996 Corvette at this year’s Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

After four decades and two different careers in the Navy, Scott Brown made the transition to his third career in Florida, a state with weather that encourages year-round outdoor activities.

Scott spent time enjoying that weather by riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle as recently as 2024. But later that year, he was ready for a change, and he’d embark on a fourteen month build to participate in his first drag and drive event at the 2026 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

All it takes is one experience to set a chain of events in motion for a new enthusiast to make an event or the car community a part of their life going forward.

In the case of Jeremy McMillian, the 2026 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive would be his third Sick Week appearance, but his first behind the wheel as a competitor, marking the next step in the drag and drive path he started down two decades earlier.

Sick Week has once again been nominated in USA Today’s 10Best Motorsports Race competition, and we need your help to ensure that the sport of drag and drive stays at the top!

The thrilling combination of the world’s fastest real street cars, road trip adventures, and grassroots camaraderie has made Sick Week a must-attend event on the American motorsports calendar.

There are a good number of naturally-aspirated rides at most drag and drive events, but when you look for Ford-powered rides, especially older models, that number drops a good amount.

There’s a smaller number of Ford-powered rides in the Naturally Aspirated category, and one of them is Andy Jaquess and his classic Mustang. After one visit to Sick Week in 2023, the Florida resident was hooked, and has made the annual drag and drive event a staple on his calendar.

After a ton of work to get a 1988 Fox Mustang ready for a Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive 2024 debut, Sean Kelley was able to complete his first drag and drive. He returned one year later with goals of a top three in class and improved performance, but a testing crash at South Georgia Motorsports Park ended his chances.

Just over one year later, Sean is ready for a return, but with a new horse to ride, a 1997 Mustang Cobra. And although he missed the chance to debut it at Sick Week, he’s working to get back to the season-opening event and prove a point.

Since 2022, Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive has signaled the start to the drag and drive season. We crown champions in seventeen classes, some of them captured by past winners, and even some new records can be set from the combination of great air and prepped race tracks.

It also establishes the starting point for how the season’s performance will play out, and with the stories and rumors leading up to the 2026 edition of Sick Week, some had theorized what the Top 100 single runs and averages could look like at the end of the week. But the results may shock you, as we crunch the numbers.

Bryant Goldstone has accomplished a lot over fifteen years in drag and drive event competition. From scoring his first victory at the 2012 edition of Hot Rod Drag Week with a ProCharger-boosted small tire 1970 Chevelle, to owning the Unlimited Iron class on both Hot Rod Drag Week and Sick The Mag events, Goldstone is a force wherever he chooses to compete.

Just over a year ago, we got the first glimpse of the next step for Goldstone, a former Pro Mod ’53 Chevrolet Corvette that Goldstone debuted at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show in December 2024. Will 2026 be the year where Goldstone adds to his winning ways in this new ride, and can he make history at next week’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive?

After participating in drag and drive events for over a decade, 3-time Sick The Mag event winner Mike Finnegan decides to go next level on his drag and drive trailer game, getting together with B&P Manufacturing for a truly unique build.

Now, just over a year later, Finnegan is paying it forward by putting that trailer up as a prize at this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive!

Getting more than its share of double takes, the ‘4 x 4 Crown Vic’ of Jon Moore has gotten the last laugh on several people, clocking single digit times as several drag and drive events since he acquired it.

Since his drag-and-drive debut at Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2023, where Moore clocked a 10.14 average, Moore has continued to step up his performance. Now, he looks to up his game again for the 2026 edition of Sick Week.

The first drag and drive event, Hot Rod Drag Week, was held in 2005. Although nearly 50 competitors embarked on this historic journey, only 32 survived, with Carl Scott’s 8.58 average capturing the overall title.

The top three finishers of the first Hot Rod Drag Week, Carl Scott, Phil Cooper and Larry Larson, completed the event with 8-second averages.

Since then, over three hundred more competitors have completed a major drag and drive event with an 8-second average, and we’re celebrating them in our third segment of recognizing drag and drive performances.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Billy ‘The Kid’ Hoskinson has been drag racing since before he possessed a driver license. He also mixed things up on the street as well, documenting not only his results, but others as well, on the popular ‘Street Racing Channel’ YouTube channel.

In the last few years, street racing has fallen off in certain areas, but Billy has evolved with the times, racing his well-known S-10, as well as a first-gen Camaro and third-gen Nova, in several no-prep events. He’s even tried his hand at drag and drive events, and will return to the scene of his first drag and drive, Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, with a new ride for 2026.

After a decade plus of racing multiple venues, including the popular Street Outlaws and No Prep Kings series, Jeff Lutz took an opportunity to get back to another chapter of street cars in his life in 2024, participating in his first drag and drive event in seven years at Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

In the two years since that return to first drag and drive, the iconic ’69 Camaro known as ‘Mad Max’ has lived up to its name, returning some solid runs, but also leaving Jeff frustrated at times.

As before, he finds himself busy with plenty of work and projects, but ready to start the season at Sick Week, with some goals to accomplish, in what could be his final ride.

At Sick The Magazine, we’re all about reporting the latest happenings, giving you detailed event coverage, and celebrating the people and their accomplishments in drag and drive.

But with drag and drive history crossing the two-decade mark since it officially started in 2005, we’re also about recognizing the performances that have gotten us to this point. Last week, we celebrated the twenty-two drivers that have achieved a 6-second average. Now we’re jumping into the 7-second range for averages.

Just over six months after Brett LaSala captured his first drag and drive victory at the 2024 edition of Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, news broke that his 2012 Mustang known as ‘Snot Rocket 2.0’ had been sold.

The Modified class winning average of 6.34 ranks amongst the top ten averages of all time, and it came as an overall victory for LaSala as well.

Anyone that thought the new ‘Snot Rocket 3.0’ might take a while to get ironed out, LaSala eliminated those doubts at Sick Week in 2025, clocking an improved 6.24 average for the week, and a 6.07 at 236 mph run on the final day, the second quickest run ever in the drag and drive community.

That would be just the start of a storied year for LaSala in 2025, and he’s gearing up for 2026 with plans for Sick Week again.

As the drag and drive community continues to expand and evolve, we can’t help but look at the results and wonder just how far we’ve come since the first Hot Rod Drag Week in 2005. It took ten years before there were two drag and drive events, and in 2025, over fifty events were scheduled!

At Sick The Magazine, we’re all about celebrating the people and their accomplishments in drag and drive, and we felt it was time to go to the next step in recognizing performances over the two-plus decades of drag and drive history. We'll recognize one of the 5 / 6 / 7 / 8-second sections each week leading up to Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, and we're starting with the quickest group: 6-second averages!

A lot of us likely dreamed of doing things with cars when we were kids. Whether it was with a family member, or participating with friends, some of us get a chance to carve a little time of each year to experience the fun, and extended family, that the car community can bring.

For Tom Gunner (a.k.a. Jimmy Dale), his 2025 season was a reflection of a lot of hard work to drive race cars as much as possible. His infectious smile was only matched by the enthusiasm he and good friend Michael Poland share in bringing the popular Lil Gangstas class to many an event.

His 2025 also included his first chance behind the wheel of a car during a drag and drive, when Mike Finnegan tossed him the keys to the popular Datsun 240 known as the ‘Rotsun’ for the Edelbrock Sick Smokies event. The impression it left confirmed to Jimmy Dale that he wanted to attend another Sick event in 2026, and he will do so at Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

Mike Finnegan has been around racing in multiple forms in his personal and professional life. In the drag and drive community, Finnegan has experienced a few different roles, from a pit reporter to competitor.

After experiencing various forms of success, mostly behind the wheel of his 1955 Chevrolet gasser known as ‘Blasphemi’, Finnegan is gearing up for the 2026 edition of Sick Week with a new vehicle build, a twin turbo 1961 Cadillac, and is determined to make it to the event.

After selling his well-known Fox Mustang convertible in the summer of 2025, Devin Vanderhoof set a timeline in motion to have a new car ready for the 2026 edition of Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

Dubbed ‘Reddi Whip’, the Mustang debuted in the Holley booth at the recent PRI Show in Indy, with the front clip removed so everyone could see the new twin turbo PAR Racing Engines mill. But with Sick Week 2026 just over six weeks away, Devin wasted no time after springing the Mustang from the show in Indy, to focusing on finding a track for testing.

Although the popular Street Race / Limited Street classes were not originally designed to be index-limited classes, the competition pushing performances to the edge of the 8.50-second roll cage limits has made them into some of the toughest classes to compete in.

It’s not unheard of to see car counts north of 30-50 competitors, and twice in Hot Rod Drag Week event history, a competitor has clocked all 8.50-second runs during the week. And although Eric Burroughs and his Monte Carlo are not strangers to the Sick Summer event, 2026 will mark the first time he’ll dive into the thick of the Street Race class competition at a Sick The Mag event.

After a decade of participating in drag and drive events, Sick The Magazine hosted our first event in 2022, Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive. 2026 will mark a five-year anniversary for the event, and since then we have added in the Motion Raceworks Sick Summer event, plus two to four more events each year.

We realize that an event is not just about the results and the awards, but “For The Adventure” as Tom Bailey, founder of Sick The Magazine, has stated since we started. That philosophy plays into not only how we approach each event, but also looks beyond the competition, including our Summit Racing Equipment Sick Ward Presented by PEAK Performance, and Sick Spit Show & Shine options.

There plenty of ways to start an argument on social media, and one of the easiest questions to start with is “what is a street car?” 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 “what is a fast / quick street car?” Granted fast and quick are different measurements, and for this story, we’ll focus on the elapsed time “quick” side.

Following the performances we’ve seen on the jam-packed 2025 schedule of drag and drive events, one could be forgiven for looking back at past year results and wonder just how quickly the cars and drivers have advanced.

A lot has happened in the twenty-one years of competition of drag-and-drive since Hot Rod Drag Week got the train rolling in 2005.

On that first year, Carl Scott averaged an 8.581 at 157.13 mph after five days and over 1,000 street miles, and the community has expanded, more events added, and the averages continue to improve over the next 2 decades.

Ned Dunphy’s winning average at the recently-completed Hot Rod Drag Week, a 6.175-second performance, takes the top spot from Jeff Lutz, who held it for nine years!

That got our minds chugging – just how quick are the best ten averages in drag and drive history?

The drag and drive community has grown significantly since the first Hot Rod Drag Week in 2005, and every year, dozens of first-time participants join the community.

Unfortunately, we have some members depart the drag and drive community earlier than expected, and we’ve recently learned that multi-time winner Randall Reed has passed.

Reed first jumped into the drag and drive with an appearance at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2017, competing in the popular Street Race Small Block Power Adder class. Over seven years, Reed competed in nearly a dozen drag and drive events, scoring multiple wins.

With nearly eight months and two-thirds of the 2025 drag and drive schedule in the rear view mirror, some competitors are getting some testing in for the final stretch of the year, while others are making changes and looking towards 2026.

A couple of drag and drive competitors recently visited Muncie Dragway and left with class wins, while a pair of station wagons found new personal bests tuning up for a Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive appearance in 2026.