Following a Solid 2023 Season with a C5 Corvette, Jake Manzke Adds a Rowdy Mustang to his Drag-and-Drive Stable
After competing in index and bracket racing with a Kawasaki ZX14R motorcycle, Jake Manzke made the jump to a drag-and-drive event in 2023 at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes with his 1998 Chevrolet Corvette.
This C5 model sports a couple upgrades from its factory specs, with a LS3 engine in place of the original LS2, as well as a T56 manual transmission and 3.90 rear gear ratio, making for a fun ride on Sick Summer.
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Jake completed Sick Summer with a 12.37 average, but it didn’t come without a couple challenges. “Completing the event and not breaking, or having issues, is for sure the biggest challenge of a drag-and-drive,” Jake admitted. “I broke the T56 transmission, and lost 5th and 6th gear on day 3. But I was able to limp the car the last 2.5 days, using 1st-4th gears. I had to keep the speed around 50-55 mph, otherwise I had some temperature issues.”
Completing his first event gave Jake to push to jump into a second drag-and-drive at the Back to the Streets event later in the year, where he participated in the Stick Shift class, completed the event and snagged a second-place place result.
For 2024, Jake decided to start his drag-and-drive campaign a little earlier, bringing the C5 Corvette known as ‘Jortz’ to Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
Clocking a best single run of 11.88 at 122 mph on day four led to Jake getting an improved 12.09 average for completing Sick Week, along with a special passenger. “My 62-year-old mother came along as my co pilot,” said Jake. “She watched the Sick Summer live feed, and was asked on day 2 if she could come with me for an event.”
Now, with the Corvette completing a pair of drag-and-drives, we’d assume Jake would once again employ it for Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks. But Jake has a new different ride in mind, bringing a single turbo LS-swapped 2002 Ford Mustang known as ‘The Sloth” to the Midwest.
“I have done many, many no prep heads up races in my Mustang,” said Jake. “I have my best friend Max as co pilot / navigator, and couldn't ask for a better person to have with me.”
Jake plans to run the Mustang in the 235-tire Rowdy Radial class, and is looking forward to the return to Sick Summer. “The drives are amazing, the people are awesome, every hotel ends up being a car show, and the new tracks are really my favorite part,” said Jake.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of BME Photography and Jake Manzke.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com