Nearly two decades ago, Donald ‘Duck’ Long noticed that one of the biggest groups of heads-up racing, Outlaw Drag Radial, wasn’t being given the amount of attention he felt they deserved. So, he did something about it, and sixteen years after the ‘Lights Out’ event debuted at South Georgia Motorsports Park, it remains a destination race for racers and fans where the wild and unpredictable happens, as well as many a record are set.

Paolo Guist would be the lone car to dip into the 3.4-second range in the top tier Radial Versus The World (RVW) class during the first session, clocking a 3.498 at 213.60 MPH blast for the top qualifying spot. The impressive run was just twelve thousandths of-a-second off the world record of 3.486 at 213.83 MPH from ‘Stevie Fast’ Jackson, set last March at Alabama International Dragway. But Guist wasn’t done yet.

With the sun all but gone and track temperatures dropping quickly, the entire list of heads-up classes had completed their first session of qualifying. But the decision was made for one more round of RVW qualifying. Guist would be in the first pair of cars out of the staging lanes, lining up alongside a former Lights Out event winner, Ken Quartuccio.

The scoreboards would show history less than three and-a-half seconds later, and for more than one reason!

The drag and drive season is underway, and with Sick The Magazine’s Sick Week, Sick Summer, and Sick Michigan Miles events in place and sold out, we turn our attention to our fourth drag and drive of the 2025 season.

Our second ‘one-off’ event - Edelbrock Sick Smokies – will take a group of competitors, as well as Sick Ward participants, through Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee on an eighth-mile drag and drive adventure.

“Having a different drag and drive event each year gives the Sick The Magazine slogan ‘For The Adventure’ a different meaning,” said Tom Bailey of Sick The Mag. “I appreciate each and every participant, and for our Sick Week and Sick Summer events, they work great in their current form. Why would I change them?”

“But some participants want more. They want to travel different roads, see different tracks, to make the experience about the adventure, the memories, and say I was part of a one-time deal. We answered that call with Death Week in 2023 and continue it in 2025 with Sick Michigan Miles and Sick Smokies.”

Registration for this eighth-mile event opens Saturday, March 22nd, 2025, with Expression of Interest competitor spots going on sale at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. General registration will start at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Sick The Magazine - the print magazine dedicated to drag and drive, includes benefits like free live streaming of events, entries into vehicle giveaways, and more!

After a decade of participating in drag and drive events, Tom Bailey knew this increasing community needed more attention than they were seeing. “When you have a lot of people supporting a segment of the car hobby, well as each other on the events, I felt that that deserved more recognition.”

Tom dropped the news in a May 2021 YouTube video, signaling the launch of the first issue of Sick The Magazine, which would hit mailboxes in August as the Summer 2021 issue. “To try and fill a gap in what’s there (for event and participant coverage), especially to bring more credibility to a lot of the drag and drive events that are out there, we’re looking at creating a magazine.”

In just over three and a half years since, the print edition of Sick The Magazine has brought coverage of not just Sick’s events, but several others, to a growing subscriber base. We’ve also added in more benefits than just a great print magazine.

Following the success of Sick Week and Sick Summer, it was clear the tracks and timing for the duo of events would remain in place. But for Sick the Mag creator and enthusiast Tom Bailey, he knew the community wanted more; a stand-alone event that would be unique each and every year.

For 2025, those ‘one-off’ events - Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, and Edelbrock Sick Smokies - are poised to take the community to the next level!

“Having a different drag and drive event each year gives the Sick The Mag slogan ‘For The Adventure’ a different meaning,” said Tom. “I appreciate each and every participant, and for our Sick Week and Sick Summer events, they work great in their current form. Why would I change them?"

"But some participants want more. They want to travel different roads, see different tracks, to make the experience about the adventure, the memories, and say I was part of a one-time deal. We answered that call with Death Week in 2023 and continue it in 2025 with Sick Michigan Miles and Sick Smokies.”

Sick Insurance has launched, offering insurance that knows and understands what a drag-and-drive vehicle is, with reasonable annual rates and realistic valuations.

Although not the first time drag racing has seen a ‘cost-limited’ or ‘budget-build’ style of car / class, Cleetus McFarland brought the latest round of his popular ‘Cheap Car Challenge’ to the 2025 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

Although we’ve seen Cleetus, James Taal and Tye Braun compete in quicker and nicer rides in drag and drive events, this idea was met with enthusiasm from not only Cleetus and crew, but also the fans and FRDM+ stream viewers.

By the final day of Sick Week, all four cars survived the week, and Cleetus started that the cars will be back for our Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks event, held June 15th through June 20th, 2025.

The question is: could this style of build / class be the next big thing for a drag and drive event, or in general for drag racing?

It’s down to the wire; the final day of our biggest vehicle giveaway, a rare 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Indy Pace Car, is TODAY, Saturday, February 15th, 2025!

You have until today at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time before this classic Camaro giveaway ends, and a new owner get the keys in the following weeks. You could not only win it, but also a cool $5,000 in cash!

This ’69 Camaro is our eighth vehicle to give away since we started with the first giveaway in early 2023. It was on display during our recent Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, and the car was the inspiration for the newest look for Tom Bailey’s 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, the ‘Sick Seconds 2.0.”

“After owning this classic for over 20 years, I felt it was time for one of our Sick supporters to enjoy it,” said Tom. “It’s a great car, and although I’ll miss it, it’s good to know that someone will get to enjoy it.”

Although she comes from a family with a long history of not only racing, but also some quick Ford Mustangs, JoAnna Iacobelli Reid has never done a drag and drive event before 2023.

She changed that status by jumping into the second running of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, with husband Bryan joining her as co-pilot in her 8-second supercharged 2018 Mustang.

And although she’s traded her helmet to work at events recently, JoAnna and Bryan have plans to jump back into a competitor spot at this summer’s Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, right in the Reid’s home state.

Doing a drag and drive event in the home state of Sick the Magazine marks not only the first time a major event has been held solely in the state of Michigan, but also a first time for a couple additional classes.

Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, scheduled for August 10th through the 17th, 2025, will feature Junior Street and Motorcycle classes for the first time at a Sick the Mag event!

This event is one of many that was discussed for the popular ‘one-off’ event structure that Tom Bailey first tried at Death Week on the west coast in 2023. “The thing I’ve preached about a drag and drive event is about the adventure,” Tom said. “Your main goals should be surviving the week and creating some awesome memories.”

One big element about Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, is adding the Junior Street and Motorcycle classes into the program. “A bunch of enthusiasts have asked me about the possibility of adding those two classes to a Sick event,” said Tom. “After weighing our options, we’re excited about them being a part of Michigan Miles.”

We’re on the final week before our current vehicle giveaway, the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Indy Pace Car, comes to an end on Saturday, February 15th, 2025 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time. You could not only win it, but also a cool $5,000 in cash!!

The Camaro is our eighth ride we’re giving away since the Sick-themed (and wrapped) Chevrolet Tahoe kick started our giveaway spree in early 2023. The Camaro was on display during our recent Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

“After owning this classic for over 20 years, I felt it was time for one of our Sick supporters to enjoy it,” said Tom Bailey. “It’s a great car, and it provided the new look for ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ to carry into 2025.”

After the success of the Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022, Tom Bailey came up with the idea of keeping a consistent drag and drive event each year, as well as a unique one.

Following in the footsteps of our Edelbrock Sick 66 event in 2024, Sick the Magazine will host a pair of ‘one-off’ events in 2025, the first being in our home state with Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, August 10th through the 17th, 2025!

“When the idea was first proposed, I started thinking about how nice the areas around northern Michigan are,” said Tom Bailey of Sick The Mag. “The more Luke Nieuwhof (Sick The Mag editor) and I discussed it, it made sense that we could visit four great tracks, incorporate an August tradition for automotive enthusiasts, and do a 1,000 mile road trip in one week’s time.”

After a barn burner of a debut in 2024, the PRO Superstar Shootout returned to Bradenton Motorsports Park to give enthusiasts their first dose of nitromethane for the 2025 season.

Run as a 3-day event, fans were treated to 8-car qualified fields of Top Fuel and Funny Car, a 16-car field of Pro Stock, and a trio of sportsman classes: Stock, Super Stock, and Top Sportsman. Tom Bailey made a couple exhibition runs in the ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ Camaro.

With four qualifying sessions over two days for the 3 professional categories, as well as a trio of sportsman classes, just getting to eliminations was a victory.

Who scored victory to take home the six unique trophies and a bundle of money?

In a state that has seen several dozen tracks since the 1950s, Palm Beach International Raceway looked to have the staying power, even going through a complete revamp in 2008 to become an all-concrete track.

Fourteen years later, April of 2022, the track saw its last action, and the land was going to be repurposed for warehouses. And although the southeast Florida area has been devoid of an operational quarter-mile track since, there’s been a good bit of news that could return PBIR to its former glory.

The sale never went through due to a variety of factors, and the track has continued to sit vacant and unused. The owner at the time of the closure, IRG Sports and Entertainment, has since fallen into liquidation of their assets, and as of a few weeks ago, the 174-acre property was listed on the open market with a “call for price” listing. Could the track possibly be saved?

Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive proudly promotes itself as the Super Bowl of Drag-and-Drive, providing the best environment for the world’s quickest street-n-strip cars to strut their stuff.

When you sit straight up in bed at 7 a.m. thinking “crap; I’m late heading to the track.” But then realize it’s the day after Sick Week 2025 is complete. Facebook and social media timelines are starting to show stuff other than Sick Week updates from competitors and Sick Warders, photos from all the photographers, and you start to question reality and feel weird. Congrats, your ‘drag-and-drive hangover’ has started.

Luke Nieuwhof wrote about how we can fall into a little made-up world when doing a drag-and-drive, and I got to see both sides of it back in 2022 when I did my first Sick Week event. Being a typical male, I injured myself about a month before the event. The ensuing pain led me to do the drives on Sick Week from track to track alone, and I didn’t follow the specified route until the final day. I rolled back to my regular job on Monday, and the normal grind probably masked my ‘drag-and-drive-hangover.’ One year later, I got the full experience.

After five days of traveling through Georgia and Florida, Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive rolled into South Georgia Motorsports Park for the final day to see who had enough left in the tank to complete a nearly 850 mile trip, and their final pass, from five days of work.

We may have started with rain and cold temperatures on Day Zero that prevented any on track activity, but on Day Five, the all-concrete surface in southern Georgia was scorched with record times and shocking faces as competitors just kept getting quicker throughout the day.

Brett LaSala is just one step away from becoming a two-times Sick Week champion after setting a new drag-and-drive track record at Gainesville Raceway on Friday.

Orlando Speed World lived up to its name on day three of Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive, with world records and amid drama at the top of the field.

Thousands of fans filled Bradenton Motorsports Park to capacity for day two of Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive, where Brett LaSala blasted to a new world record for a radial tire drag-and-drive car.

The first day of Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive was a wild one, as the Super Bowl of drag-and-drive kicked off at South Georgia Motorsports Park.