A Tale of Two Sick Summers – Aaron Gierke Battles to Complete His Second Sick Summer with a Nitrous-Gulping Stick Shift Ford Ranger
At the inaugural Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes, a healthy field of Stick Shift entries turned up to take part in a gear jamming week of fun.
One of them was Aaron Gierke, who not only completed the week with his 10-second Ford Ranger pick-up, he managed to incorporate a gender reveal for his daughter in a pass during the week!
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Limited to 10.00 and slower passes due to safety and licensing requirements, Aaron still had a great week, averaging a 10.73 for the week, with a best pass of 10.46 at only 103 mph, showing the truck was packing 9-second potential. “It was hard to hold back,” said Aaron. “But we got it taken care of in time for Hot Rod Drag Week.”
In addition to keeping crowds entertained with the violent launches and 1-2 bangshifts in the Ranger, Aaron managed to add a little something for his growing family.
A gender reveal was planned for the end of a run on day three at Great Lakes Dragaway, with the pink powder released from his parachute into the air, it was solidified he had a daughter on the way in the fall of 2023.
But before his daughter joined the team, Aaron set out to have another week of fun at Hot Rod Drag Week, his second one in-a-row. Aaron completed his second drag-and-drive event of 2023, and did so with a 9-second average, a 9.86, and clocked a best of 9.77 at 138 mph at Bristol on day three. He improved that to a 9.66 during the final day’s stick shift shootout.
It was also a big improvement from his 11.09 average the year previous, and giving him some motivation for the 2024 edition of Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks.
The Ranger got some updates for Sick Summer 2024, including a new engine, bigger wheel tubs to accommodate the increased slick size Aaron employed, plus some increases to the nitrous and a move to Holley EFI.
The changes showed promise, as Aaron rowed the gears to a 9.63 at 129 mph on the first day of competition of this year’s Sick Summer at Byron Dragway.
But the drop in mph came back as a warning sign something was wrong. In the pits, Aaron pulled the cylinder heads and found the tune up had chewed through a combustion chamber. Luckily with a welder on site, they got it patched up and back together in time to make it to Cordova for day two.
A check out run of 11.36 at 115 mph without the laughing gas engaged was accomplished at Cordova Dragway, and Aaron appeared to be on the right track.
But just after 9 pm that evening, the Ranger was on the side of the road with shaft rocker damage. Aaron employed four cylinder mode with some thrash fixes and made it to day three at Tri State Raceway, still needing parts to make a run. Unable to locate any in time, Aaron would drop out of competition.
Undeterred, he called Jesel direct and next day air shipped parts to get the Range back on the track by the end of the event. He also was helping fellow competitors with tools and parts, as well as nitrous throughout the week. And Aaron managed to clock an impressive 8.76 pass on a 400 horsepower shot of nitrous on the final day.
“These are just a few of the reasons why I enjoy drag-and-drive,” said Aaron. “The community helps each other. Granted it wasn’t my best week, but I got to go to the track, make runs and bang the gears with my daughter watching!”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, KWS Images, BME Photography, Aaron Gierke.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com