Mickey Thompson Shows ‘Increased Traction’ in 2024 Thanks to Drag-and-Drive Event Interaction and Product Sales – What’s In Store for 2025?
As the drag-and-drive community continues to expand, the number of events has also increased. What used to be considered cutting edge for one or two cars at an event a decade ago can now be accomplished by dozens of competitors, and depending on the event, you can see several performances like these.
Sick the Magazine events like Sick Week and Sick Summer put more emphasis on track prep than others. Having companies like Mickey Thompson on hand for the events also makes a big difference.
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“2024 has been an exceptional year for Mickey Thompson,” said Jason Moulton, Director of Motorsports. “Our stock levels are back to where customers expect them, and the drag-and-drive scene continues to show growth. These events are among our favorites to go to.”
Mickey Thompson managed to attend five drag-and-drive events in 2024, including Sick Week, Sick Summer and Sick 66 with a trailer packed with tires, and technical help as well.
“Honestly, we feel like we’ve been part of the street and strip scene since we introduced our first sticky D.O.T.-legal tire in the 1970s,” said Jason. “So we feel like the drag-and-drive scene is a perfect fit with Mickey Thompson, both with our start to sticky street-legal tires and the beginning of drag-and-drive in 2005.
“The level of performance has definitely changed since 2005. Our ET Street S/S and ET Street R, our drag radial slicks, plus some of our bias-ply designs have either direct input from drag-and-drive, or they have been proven to work by thousands of drag-and-drive competitors.”
A lot of drag radials came from the demand of class racing, but the street cars, as well as drag-and-drive, has pushed those demands to the next level. “With the horsepower that is coming on a lot of late-model cars, that also fueled a demand for a tire with more traction,” said Jason. “But since a lot of these cars and trucks feature a brake package that won’t accept a 15-inch wheel and tire combination, we’ve been working on more part numbers for larger diameter rims.”
Mickey Thompson also approached the drag-and-drive events with a completely different set-up, going away from a traditional big rig to a pick-up truck and gooseneck trailer. “We found it helps with pit access and set-up time, as well as easier to get on the road each day from track to track,” said Jason.
Mickey Thompson already has some new products in the works, thanks to data from the drag-and-drive community, as well as attending events. What is it? Jason said we might get further details at the Performance and Racing Industry show this December!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Mickey Thompson and Megan Taylor.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com