A 4-Door Nova Became Darren Harden’s Return to Drag Racing, and the Ticket to His First Drag-and-Drive at This Year’s Sick Week
It’s not uncommon for someone to have a job and a hobby where the line between work and play becomes fuzzy. But on the flip side, some people need to have a hobby 180 degrees different from their daily grind.
For Darren Harden, it has worked both ways. Employed at a classic car shop, the ’73 Nova he wheels makes sense. But the racing aspect took a back seat for Darren for a while, until drag-and-drive brought him back to the fold.
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“I left drag racing in 2005 because of the culture,” said Darren. So what to do for a hobby? The same thing that occupies his free time for a second job: go-karts! “I also own and run a successful pro level kart racing team,” said Darren.
But despite a full tilt commitment to karts, drag racing brought Darren back to the fold, but this time in a different group. “Drag-and-drive brought me and my friends back in the sport,” he said. So with the fire lit, Darren needed a car.
A ’73 Chevrolet Nova being a 4 door model just meant extra room for Darren and his two best friends / college roommates to make the drag-and-drive commitment.
Sporting a LSA 5.3-liter powerplant, an overdrive 4L80E transmission, and Holley EFI to control it all, Darren felt confident to get through the week at his first drag-and-drive ever as a participant, this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
Selecting the unique Bullseye Challenge class, Darren bounced around trying to hit the different target numbers each and every day. Darren’s best run on day one was an 11.74 at 114 mph, a bit off the ‘23’ bullseye’ number. His 11.93 at 113 mph was a bit better against the bullseye number of ‘72’ but not good enough for a top three finish on the day.
Moving from Bradenton Motorsports Park to Gainesville Raceway was met with a 20-second time slip as Darren had issues. Moving to the northernmost track, South Georgia Motorsports Park, for Thursday’s action, Darren got closer with an 11.62 at 115 mph, but it would finish outside the top three against the ‘46’ target number.
So, it was back to Orlando ‘Sick’ World Dragway for day five, and Darren’s completion of his first drag-and-drive. He got a bonus when his best run of the week, an 11.50 at 116 mph, would snag him the third spot in the daily standings against the ‘39’ target.
With his first drag-and-drive event under his belt with a completion checkmark, Darren is looking at a Midwest Drags, and possibly Hot Rod Drag Week appearance in 2024 as well, the latter being a little closer to his home base of Indiana. “I’m used to long road trips and building reliable cars,” said Darren. “Enjoying my car with my friends at drag strips and road trips is what brought me back to racing, and I can’t wait for more drag-and-drive events.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of BME Photography and Darren Harden.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com