Is There Room at the Top For More Than One Power Adder – Breaking Down the Edelbrock Sick 66 Top Ten

Unless rules dictate otherwise, it’s becoming more common to see turbochargers at the top of the drag-and-drive playing field. Now, granted there are plenty of supercharged and nitrous-assisted hot rods as well, and even a few quick naturally-aspirated combinations.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see a majority of the top ten spots on the recent Edelbrock Sick 66 going to turbo entries, but looking a little closer reveal some parity.


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After day one of Edelbrock Sick 66, a familiar name sat at the top of the leaderboard: Jason Rousseau. The single turbo LS-swapped ’80 Chevy Malibu came in as the winner of 2023’s Sick the Magazine’s Death Week, the lone event where we would not repeat the locations or route, and using the eighth-mile standard for all entries.

Although turbocharged rides grabbed 5 spots at that event last year, including the top three with 5-second averages and one diesel Nova, the supercharged and nitrous contingent was also represented in the top ten.

Fast forward a year, and after day one, nine of the top ten spots were held by turbocharger-assisted rides, with Rajveer Ahuja the only one flying the nitrous flag with a 6.17 pass.

By day two, the layout changed a little, as another nitrous ride decided to make some noise and enter the top ten. Lamar Swindoll Jr. laid down the quickest run of the day (and what turned out to be for the week), when he unleased a 5.32 at 129 MPH to enter the top ten at number eight.

As the event moved from track to track for day three, the top ten stayed lopsided, with Swindoll the only nitrous car in the top ten (although Ahuja was number eleven, waiting for a chance to jump back into the top ten). For the second-straight day, Swindoll produced the quickest run of the day, a 5.36 at 128 MPH, moving him to the top five.

In Texas, the nitrous competitors in the top ten added another name, as when Chris Padgett’s 1955 Chevy wagon dropped out, Ahuja moved up a slot. Swindoll also moved up a slot, now number three on the strength of a 5.63 run, the third quickest of the day.

The first of two tracks in New Mexico on day seven saw the turbocharged Mustang of Brooks Fleharty drop out, and that brought our first supercharged ride into the top ten, Greg Overman’s 2018 Camaro ZL1.

The count would stay that way after the final day, with turbocharged vehicles capturing seven of the top ten spots, including Jason Rousseau and Rick Steinke in the top two slots.

Lamar secured the number three spot, the highest finishing nitrous car, with a 5.67 average.

Josh Reich, Dustyn Caudle, Alexis Zarate, Rich Guido, and Ryan Hill claimed the next five spots for turbocharged entries. Ahuja sprayed his way to the ninth spot with his Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Overman kept his blown Camaro ZL1 in the tenth spot, the lone supercharged car in the top ten, with a 6.55 average.

So with two events that are ‘one-off’ and eighth-mile distance over two years, turbo cars have been the majority of the top ten finishers. So, what are the factors in choosing the power-adder to use?

Is a turbocharger just the major choice for quicker cars, or does it factor into a street car that sees a lot of street miles?

Voice your opinion on our social media!


Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.

If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com

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