From Sick Week to Sick Summer, this GMC Pick-Up Brings the Party
An 800-dollar investment is all it took to get Adam Malleck the keys to this 1969 GMC C1500 pick-up truck, a gift to himself after high school was in the rear-view mirror.
“I bought it off a dirt road in Kansas in 2011 after I graduated high school,” said Adam. “Someone used medical tape to spell out “Party Wagon” on the glove box. Wish I knew the story behind that; I’m sure it’s a good one!”
This purchase wasn’t the beginning of the racing bug for Adam, as he’s been a fan of drag racing since he was a kid. But one year before he picked up the pick-up, Adam discovered a new sport to follow.
“I remember reading about Drag Week in like 2010 and just being enamored with the idea,” said Adam. “It’s just plain badass.”
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Once the pick-up was in his possession, Adam drove and enjoyed the “Party Wagon” as much as he could while making changes and upgrades where time and money would allow.
Finally in 2022, Adam made it to his first drag-and-drive event, Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
Adam chose to participate in the Bulls Eye Challenge class, where a different 2-digit number is given each day as the “bulls eye” for competitors to aim for on their elapsed time.
On day four at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Adam landed a perfect 13.48 on the ‘48’ “bulls eye” of the day to earn the win, while averaging a 13.61 for the week.
Just over a year later, Adam has added his second drag-and-drive to his resume, participating in the Cruise and Lose 7.5-second eighth-mile class. Now, he’s prepping for an appearance at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes.
“I recently moved from Florida to Iowa, so it just worked out,” said Adam. “I’ve never been to that area of the country either, so I’m excited to see that.”
The truck has seen some upgrades since Sick Week 2022, mostly the Blower Shop 192 blower on top of the 355 cubic inch small block Chevrolet engine.
“My co-pilot Cody Lewis and I built everything ourselves,” Adam admitted. “It should run mid 12-second times.
I feel very fortunate to do these. Dreams come true. The biggest challenge for me is all the prep work leading up to the event. Hotels, flights for Cody, packing tools and parts, last minute thrash to fix stuff on the truck, etc.
Almost every day Cody and I talk on the phone just so we can talk about how stoked we are for June!”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Adam Malleck and Motion Raceworks.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com