From the Tower: Top Five Moments From Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive
Nearly every event has moments that make you stop and reflect, no matter whether you’re a fellow competitor, a casual spectator or a member of the teams that help make the event happen.
With so much going on at a drag-and-drive event between navigating the drives between tracks, getting vehicles ready for the racing or the road, and even all the cool rides in the Sick Ward, it can be an overload for the senses.
So, in no particular order, I’ve picked out five moments that top my list from the 2024 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
Brett LaSala’s Record-Setting Radial Performance
After coming into Sick Week 2024 holding the current radial tire record for not only a single pass at 6.52, but also holding the best average at 6.74, Brett LaSala was a favorite to once again compete for the Modified class title.
He had made some upgrades that got the ‘Snot Rocket’ Mustang into the 6.3-second range in competition late last year, but Devin Vanderhoof and Josh Davis came in with some new upgrades to the white convertible Mustang as well, looking to challenge LaSala in the same class.
How it played out Monday couldn’t have been written better by a movie scriptwriter; Vanderhoof’s Mustang would inch towards the starting line in the first radial tire session, with LaSala in the water box in the same lane right behind them.
Davis clicked off a 6.41 at 212 miles per hour to become the new record holder. It would last less than two minutes.
LaSala would take his shot at the left lane, and belted out a 6.35 at 228 mph pass in the next pair to reclaim the record.
By the end of the week, LaSala lowered the single run mark even further to a 6.263 pass, and the average to an incredible 6.34.
Did you miss out on Sick Week? Then make plans to participate in our next event: Sick Summer, taking place June 9-14!
Matt Lamphier’s Drive to Complete Sick Week
After suffering a Did Not Finish in 2023, the 2022 Sick Week Outlaw 235 class winner returned to the starting point at Orlando ‘Sick’ World Dragway in Orlando, vowing to complete the week in 2024.
Married just three months earlier, Matt mentioned Sick Week 2024 was his and new wife Meg’s ‘honeymoon’ period, and once he got to day three, he looked to be a possible top three contender.
But just moments after a near-perfect 8.504 pass, the rods decided they wanted some breathing room and exited the block in the shutdown area.
After scrambling on options to continue the week, Matt managed to track down a stock complete 5.3-liter engine, and made the swap to roll out of Gainesville Raceway just before 4 a.m. Matt and Meg made both checkpoints before rolling into South Georgia Motorsports Park on no sleep.
He clicked off a 13.92 in Georgia, got a couple hours sleep in the pits, made the trek back to Orlando for an 11.19 pass and completed Sick Week 2024.
Stefan Gustafsson’s Corvette Retires as a Winner
With a new Pro Mod-style Camaro already in his possession, we wondered how long Stefan Gustafsson would continue to pilot the Corvette.
I got the answer after day two of competition; Sick Week 2024 would be the swan song for the Corvette.
Despite early troubles and not collecting his first 6-second pass until later in the afternoon at Bradenton Motorsports Park, Gustafsson would press on, collecting 6-second time slips at each of the remaining three stops, averaging a 6.74 and collecting the orange helmet and top three Gear Vendors Overdrive guitar on Friday night.
The Number of Cars That Saw New Personal Bests
When Tom Bailey came up with the idea of Sick Week in late 2021, it was billed as the “Super Bowl of Drag-and-Drive.” The best prepped tracks, the best atmospheric conditions, the best competition, the results people would talk about.
2024 was another banner year for that, when killer track prep combined with the quality of negative Density Altitude resulted in the sheer number of personal best elapsed times we witnessed.
First example: Jeff Smith, Rob Courtney and Bob Gruber came into 2024 with no 8-second time slips ever collected. They all left with at least one trip into the great 8s, and all three cars were stick shift rides.
Second example: we saw the seventh and eighth time in drag-and-drive history someone laid down a perfect 8.500 pass in an 8.50-limited category.
James Taal did it first in the Cleetus McFarland ‘Ruby’ Corvette on his way to a second-place finish in 275 Street Race, then Brian Acton followed a day later with a perfect 8.500 of his own, leading his way to winning the Sick Street Race class in the gray 1970 Chevy Nova.
The Naturally Aspirated Title Heats Up
James ‘Doc’ McEntire has been at the forefront of the category that only allows fuel and air for several years, and holds lots of hardware and records to prove it.
Last year as Sick Week, he used a 7.71 best pass to anchor a 7.83 average and collect another class title. But in the twelve months since then, the N/A book has seen a couple new names at the top of the sheet.
Ed Ensor was the first to put his name atop the naturally-aspirated sheet, using a 7.46 blast in route to winning Naturally Aspirated at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes with an impressive 7.53 average by week’s end.
For this year’s Naturally Aspirated class at Sick Week, McEntire would battle with Matt Sweet.
Although McEntire dropped out day two with converter problems, we would’ve liked to seen the battle with Sweet. But Sweet showed he was ready either way, as the Nova driver put together a solid a 7.73 average, thanks to five runs between 7.721 and 7.752.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Motion Raceworks.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com