Daring to Be Different With A Station Wagon For Drag-And-Drive Duty
Stephen Mask spent his childhood years at the track, so it’s easy to assume he would get behind the wheel as well. “I grew up at Orlando Speed World Dragway watching my dad drag race,” said Stephen. But he decided to mix in the drag-and-drive events, and that played into the car he wanted to build, a 1994 Buick Roadmaster Wagon.
The wagon known as ‘Doris’ was purchased in 2010 to build specifically for drag-and-drive. “I built the car as a 6-speed wagon just to be really different, then I got hooked,” said Stephen.
Attending his first Hot Rod Drag Week in 2019, Stephen survived the week with a 14.08 average, but almost didn’t make it home. “The car was normally aspirated, and we had a trailer load of fuel, and rear end and eventually engine issues,” he said. “The week ended up with the engine locking up as we pulled into the driveway in Florida from Virginia.”
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Fast forward through Covid, and Stephen returned to Hot Rod Drag Week in 2021, but this time the wagon was sporting a 76-millimeter single turbo for a few extra ponies. “We ran a rather uneventful year with zero issues at Drag Week,” said Stephen, who got a 12.92 average with the stick shift ride on his second drag-and-drive experience.
When Sick Week debuted in 2022, Mask was ready to be a part of a drag-and-drive in his home state of Florida. “Being in my home state was awesome,” he said. “Also, not having to go far if I break the car!” Stephen blew up the ring and pinion twice on the journey, but made it through to complete his third drag-and-drive with a 12.20 average, along with a best pass of 11.68 at 122 mph at the Gainesville stop.
Making his third Hot Rod Drag Week appearance in 2022, Stephen ran into some issues. “I ran my first 10 in the car (a 10.98), but proceeded to money shift at Cordova Raceway and gacked the crank and main bearing too,” he admitted. “We had ‘some’ oil pressure and no noise, so we drained the oil, filled it up with 50 weight and drove over 2000 miles back home to Florida to tear the car down and prepare for Sick Week 2023.”
Returning to Sick Week for the 2023 edition, Stephen made a switch up in his combination, swapping out the manual for an automatic transmission. “With the automatic this year, I would like to get the car in the low 10s or maybe even high 9s,” said Stephen. He pulled off the first goal, clocking a best of 10.24 at 129 mph at Bradenton Motorsports Park on day two. A 9-second pass wasn’t in the cards, but Stephen got his first 10-second average, completing the week with a 10.94 average.
“The people are the best and the challenge is so addictive,” Stephen said on what keeps him coming to drag-and-drive events. That, and the memories he makes with his brother-in-law Tomas, his co-pilot since 2021. “We have a long-standing tradition of having Tomas' birthday during drag-and-drive events,” Stephen admits. “Every restaurant we go to he gets sung to, typically by the end of the week people are walking by and telling him happy birthday.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.