After a Successful 2022 Hot Rod Drag Week Debut, How Did This Turbocharged Malibu Fare on Sick Week?
Dean Anderson came home from the hospital in a 1955 Chevrolet, and from that moment, his love of cars was a fixture in his life. “I have loved cars my whole life,” said Dean. “I would always attend the World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova growing up, and I started racing as soon as I received my license.” After owning a 1968 Pontiac Firebird and a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass, Dean made the move less than two years ago to the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu you see here.
The aforementioned ’78 Cutlass delivered Dean to his first Hot Rod Drag Week in 2017, and then he returned again in 2021, averaging a 10.13 with a best pass of 9.36 at 147 mph. Dean decided to make a change in his program, selling the Cutlass and eyeing this Malibu as its replacement. “I bought it in 2021 as a roller after Drag Week,” said Dean. “The (Malibu) was a one owner car from Georgia, and was turned into a bracket car for a short time with a N/A small block.”
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Dean installed a gen-1 Small Block Chevrolet engine with a turbocharger for extra ponies in the Malibu, and backed it with a Powerglide transmission. “Drag Week 2022 was the debut for the Malibu,” he said. “We finished second in the Super Street Small Block Power Adder class with an 8.53 average.” It was an impressive debut for a new build, and Dean was already planning what event to do next, and that would be the 2023 Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
Entering the Pro Dial-Your-Own (DYO) class at Sick Week, Dean’s first pass at Orlando ‘Sick’ World Dragway was an 8.65. He followed that with an 8.646 pass at Bradenton Motorsports Park, then an 8.655 on day three at South Georgia Motorsports Park. But the day three drive from SGMP to Gainesville Raceway uncovered some problems.
“Day three was beautiful, and then the drive found us broken with a blown apart rocker,” said Jennifer White, who made the trek with Dean. They got side of the road assistance from fellow Sick Week participant Dave Terrizzi to get the Malibu to complete the drives. Once in Gainesville, local speed shop Rollins Automotive Speed and Custom jumped in to help. “Rollins called up Scorpion Racing Products, and they found us rockers and a shaft that we made work, and Rollins found us push rods,” Jennifer said. “We were able to pull 3 passes and turn in a slip.” That slip would be their slowest one of the week at 8.707, but kept them in the game.
On day five, Dean and Jennifer returned to Orlando and checked off the final pass with an 8.685, giving them a final average of 8.66 and a spread among passes of .061-seconds, placing the Malibu in the top five from over twenty entries.
Dean is already making upgrades since Sick Week, adding a Gear Vendors Overdrive, an air launch chute and a Scott Rod rear wing to the Malibu. “At the end of 2023, will be adding some more power in, and see if it can click off a 7-second pass,” said Dean. But first, he’s planning for another shot in the Pro DYO class at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Motion Raceworks and Jennifer White.