A Father and Son Team Will Return to Sick Summer With a F-150 That Traded Farm Duties For 9-Second Performances
After experiencing his first drag-and-drive by spectating at Great Lakes Dragaway during Hot Rod Drag Week at age 14, it’s fair to say Tom Kuepper’s life was forever changed. “Ever since then I've been wanting to do drag-and-drive,” said Tom. “I’ve loved it since that first time.”
Since obtaining his drive license at age 16 in 2019, Tom has enjoyed drag racing whenever he can, and this Ford F-150 pick-up has been part of that passion, that has now grown to participating in his first drag-and-drive, which Tom will do again in 2024.
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Picked up still sporting its original paint and in clean shape when Tom picked it up, the original pushrod 302 engine and AOD transmission were put up for sale shortly afterwards. The truck has housed a couple different small block Ford combinations, including a centrifugal supercharged 351 Windsor combination for a few years with a Turbo 400 3-speed automatic backing it up.
In 2021, Tom got the opportunity to participate in Roadkill Nights, wheeling his dad’s Ford Lightning pick-up. That gave him extra motivation to return in 2022 with his own truck, which he did and got to legally race on the streets of Michigan.
Just a few months later, Tom was ready to take the next steps with the truck. Those included more power, a switch in power adders, and upgrading the safety factor with a roll bar and 5-point harnesses. The 351 combination came out, and a 438 cubic inch Windsor-based powerplant came together.
Using a Dart block for the base, Tom added high port Trick Flow cylinder heads, but reused his Edelbrock intake and elbow to direct the fuel and air. The blower gave way to a twin turbocharger set-up, with Tom selecting 78/75-millimeters versions.
Signed up for his first drag-and-drive at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes, Tom got the new bullet completed with less than two weeks to go before Sick Summer. But it was enough time to strap the truck to a chassis dyno to get some tuning and numbers down, which came in at 602 rear-wheel-horse-power and 552 lb/ft of torque with the turbos only generating four pounds of boost.
Tom’s experience with Sick Summer in a word? Awesome! “I did Sick Summer with my dad, and it was one of the best times I've had,” he said. The truck completed the week with mostly high 10-second passes because Tom didn’t want to run too fast for the safety equipment.
His average would equate to a 10.77, but Tom did turn the truck up for a 10.13 at 133 mph pass on the final day. Since then, he’s gotten the truck to run a 9.52 at 139 mph pass, but normally keeps it turned down to the 10-second range due to the lack of a full roll cage.
After his first experience at a drag-and-drive proved successful, Tom is once again signed up for Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, and excited to do it. “It's close to home, and a very nice group of tracks,” said Tom of the vicinity of Sick Summer to his Neenah, Wisconsin. “My dad will once again be my co-pilot. He's helped me build the truck, and I think it's one of the best father-son trips we could ask for.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Tom Kuepper and Bill Elkins.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com