A Tale of Two Chevys – Their Final Thrash for Sick Summer
It’s the morning of June 3rd; just 24 hours to go before the start of Day Zero at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes at Cordova Dragway. Registration and tech inspection are on deck, and mandatory that all cars be in line by 1 p.m. to be eligible to compete.
Meanwhile in Michigan, the thrash to prepare a pair of 1957 Chevrolet station wagons to participate in Sick Summer is ongoing. The clock is ticking; Cordova Dragway in Illinois is over 400 miles away.
Artwork courtesy of Garrett Olsen.
The first of the two station wagons is a gasser chassis with a small block naturally-aspirated Chevrolet engine and 3-speed automatic, picked up by Sick the Magazine’s own EJ Naegeli.
The ad for the car stated something along the lines of “shouldn’t be driven long distances.” Sounds like a challenge! Luckily EJ agreed, and she drove to Virginia to pick up the ’57 Chevy.
Although the gasser Chevy wagon ran, and drove on and off the trailer, EJ and the Sick crew discovered there were necessary fixes and upgrades to be addressed to allow the wagon any chance of being a successful drag-and-drive ride.
The second ’57 Chevy is one that marks the comeback of Aydan Bailey. The original ’57 wagon of Aydan, the ‘Shitbox of Doom’, was seriously damaged in a rollover accident on the final day of Sick Week 2022. Since that time, Tom and Ayden Bailey had been looking for a new ’57 wagon to replace it, and an equally patina’d example got the nod.
Nicknamed the ‘Deuce Box’, Ayden teamed up with Joey Barry on his final thrash to make Sick Summer with this wagon, packing a twin-turbocharged SBE engine. After several snags that slowed their timeline, progress had been made until only wiring was left as the major hurdle to completion.
Fast forward to 1:45 pm on Saturday; the gasser ’57 has all items on its list completed, and has been started and driven to the trailer to be transported to Sick Summer.
Ayden and Joey are a little bit further behind, so the car is loaded for the trip to Cordova knowing a final thrash awaits the pair on Saturday night, possibly Sunday as well.
Can both rides get to day one of Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes? If so, how will they do, and can they survive the week?
Come out and witness all the action at four different tracks, starting today, Sunday June 4th. Tickets are available through the Foat here: Sick Summer - Spectator Tickets!
We will also be live streaming Monday through Friday’s on-track action on the Tom Bailey YouTube channel here: Tom Bailey - YouTube live stream of Sick Summer
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Derek Putnam; illustration courtesy of Garrett Olsen.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com