For the Adventure – Russell Gerhardt Takes On Sick Week 2024 With Two Cars
“The Sick Ward people treated us right. If anyone is on the fence about doing it, I highly suggest you sign up.”
Interesting in attending Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks as a spectator or in Sick Ward? Purchase your tickets online HERE before April 30th, 2024 (including the Summit Racing Sick Ward Presented By PEAK Performance), and one lucky spectator will have the opportunity to drive away in this Pontiac Fiero!
This week’s “For the Adventure – Stories from the Road” features Russell Gerhardt and his story of his first drag-and-drive using two cars and a back-up plan at this year’s Sick Week:
After years of building, testing and breaking stuff, we were ready for Sick Week 2024. Just swapped over to E-85 fuel, had some test runs with 7-8 lbs. of boost in the old dinosaur FE Ford; In a 3610-pound Fairlane. It ran a 9.30.
The track said I couldn’t carry the computer in my passenger seat, so no more data logs that outing. Skip forward a few weeks and we pulled the car 1/2 way to Gainesville only to get rained out. Pulled the car 120 miles by to Bradenton test and tune, and rained out. Again to Gainesville; Yup rained out!!
We were headed to Sick Week in 2 weeks!! In between, the wife and I were going on vacation to the Caribbean. Got home Saturday at 11:30 p.m. Jumped in the motorhome and drove to Orlando. First in line at the gate, got to bed at 3:30 a.m. One of my friends texts me at 5:30 am as he was in line 20 cars behind me. Not much sleep that night.
Gates open just before 7:00 a.m., we find a spot, set up, get the car out for tech. Looking around, most people had trailers on their car. I asked a bunch of people if I needed to have the trailer for tech; all said yes. So we ran back to the motorhome, got the trailer and pulled it by hand to the car. Now that was about 75 yards away.
By then about 15 cars had driven around me. Hooked up the trailer drove up to tech, it started to pour rain, found out I had a small windshield leak. Asked the tech guys if we had to have the trailer; they said NO!! Oh we were mad! Passed tech. Now off to make a pass with some more boost.
Do my burnout, pull up to the line, and someone says I was leaking water. I didn’t know this at the time; all I see is the starter telling me to back up. He looks under my car, sees no water and pulled me back into the beams.
Little did I know them that my rear window leaked water into the trunk, and when I did my burnout, it found a hole and ran onto the track. When they backed me up, I went into my own water.
Well the lights came down, I let off the transbrake, and the car spins really bad. I let off the throttle, all that wheel speed now tries to hook, and the tires were hopping off the ground (we believe this where the damage started)! Roll back into the throttle after things calm down somewhere between the 60 foot and 330 foot cones (data log says 80-percent TPS).
Let back out if it, remember I needed data at higher boost, well it made a whopping 15 lbs. But did run 120+ mph in the eighth-mile. And the cool part is I was lined up next to Jeff Lutz; well staged next to him anyway. Got Jeff to sign my time slip.
At this time I didn’t know anything about the water, so we went back to our trailer and pulled the limit straps off the front end. As that was a change I had made 2 weeks before and had not tested.
I was trying to keep it from doing big wheel stands. Back to the starting line, and burnout goes fine. Pull in the beams, transbrake on, lights come down, let go of the brake, up in the air the car goes, then I hear a big bang, the front end slammed to the ground.
I immediately pulled to the right side of the track; good thing as it twisted the pinion gear in two. Now the driveshaft is on the ground with yoke and 1/2 the pinion, fluid pouring from the front seal of the 9-inch rear. Well, they push me back.
We wait for staging lanes to clear, and get a tow back to the trailer. Luckily, I had a spare third member in the trailer, so we begin the tear down. We found a cracked axle bearing, along with the pinion problem.
About 1:00 a.m. we get the rear back together, start the car and it has no gears. After talking to a few knowledgeable transmission guys, they figured I broke the rear sprag.
With no way to fix that, we went to the officials and asked what my options were. So we went into the Sick Ward. Loaded up the car into the trailer, drove the motorhome back to the house, got my wife’s car, and headed to Bradenton. The Sick Ward people treated us right. If anyone is on the fence about doing it, I highly suggest you sign up.
After getting home, I pulled the transmission out to find the input shaft had broken. We went through the transmission, and found no other problems. Did some fresh up stuff, and it is back in the car. Going to put a new rear in the car with a better third member and larger axles; I’ll be ready for next year!! Hope I get in!!
Tell us your story, and we might share it here on For the Adventure.
We’re looking for you to contribute to the Sickness with stories, articles, event coverage, and more! You don’t need writing experience, just a desire to share your stories. It can be about a build you’re doing in your garage or driveway, your experience on a drag-and-drive (from a participant or cruiser perspective), or even an article about your plans to participate in a drag-and-drive.
Interested? Send your submissions to info@sickthemagazine.com and check your e-mails and spam folders. We might select your story, and will send you a follow up before it gets used! We will publish one story each week on the Sick the Magazine website on Thursdays! We can’t read your stories until you submit them, so get on it!
Photos courtesy of Russell Gerhardt, 1320 Video and Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com