Gear Vendors Overdrive Celebrates 20 Years with the Drag-and-Drive Community and Giving 3-4000 Horsepower Rides An Extra Gear
The drag-and-drive community started with one event, Hot Rod Drag Week, in 2005.
That event has grown into a movement with a large community of participants and fans, over 40 different events across multiple countries, and influenced thousands of car and truck builds to prove they can survive the street and the strip torture tests known by many as drag-and-drive. There are a only a select few that have seen it all since the beginning, and Rick Johnson with Gear Vendors Overdrive is one of those people.
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“I remember the phone call from David Freiburger,” said Johnson. “He said ‘I have this idea, and I think it would be right up your alley.’” At that point in time, Gear Vendors Overdrive was seeing usage in both on and off-road applications that needed an extra gear for manual and automatic transmissions. But just a few years later, things changed for Johnson at Hot Rod Drag Week 2007.
Danny Terzich and Steve Roth rolled a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro into action at Drag Week in 2007, and the ProCharger-fed big block would be the first to produce a 7-second average on a drag-and-drive, a 7.80 result, on the strength of 7-second passes at each and every stop. There was a Gear Vendors Overdrive in the transmission tunnel, and it was just the first one to should that the overdrive mattered.
“As more and more big horsepower cars came into Hot Rod Drag Week, some found out that surviving on the street was harder than they thought,” said Johnson. “Having people like Terzich and Roth showing that the unit worked made a huge difference for us.”
Fast forward to 2013, and Tom Bailey became the first racer to collect a 6-second time slip at every stop on Hot Rod Drag Week, averaging a 6.83 at the end of the week in the original ‘Sick Seconds’ 1969 Camaro. Two years later, Bailey debuted ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’, a Pro Mod-style ’69 Camaro, and his second Camaro with a Gear Vendors Overdrive onboard.
But before ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ would make 5-second history in 2019, fellow Pro Mod Camaro owner Jeff Lutz rolled into Hot Rod Drag Week. The eye-opening 6.19 average from Lutz still stands as the quickest average ever recorded, and his car also packed a Gear Vendors Overdrive.
“We’ve worked hard to create a product that will survive under harsh conditions and lots of power,” said Johnson. “Bryant Goldstone, David Schroeder and Alex Taylor are just a couple of the higher-horsepower cars that done well with a Gear Vendors Overdrive.”
For Johnson, it’s not just the support the racers and enthusiasts provide, as he likes to give back as well. The Gear Vendors Overdrive guitars have become a highly desired item for the top three finishers at select drag-and-drive events.
After competing for over a decade, Taylor scored her first one at this year’s Sick Summer event. She didn’t have to wait long to score her second one, as the top three averages at Hot Rod Drag Week 2024 all had Gear Vendors Overdrive units.
Gear Vendors Overdrive will once again display at the SEMA and PRI shows, and will feature rides from the drag-and-drive community.
“Who knew that call from Freiburger would make such an impact,” said Johnson. “Now with Sick the Magazine events as well, we can’t wait for the next level in 2025.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Gear Vendors Overdrive, Hotrods by Havliks, Danny Terzich.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com