Records Tumble at Sick Week’s Opening Day in Orlando

Day one of Sick Week 2024 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive saw the quickest passes in the event’s history as perfect racing conditions blessed Orlando Speed World.

The event began in unique fashion, with a wedding ceremony taking place on the start line after the drivers’ meeting. Houston McClain married Kate Folmar, with the pair joined in holy matrimony by Sick Week announcer and part-time wedding celebrant Derek Putnam.

From there it was time to launch into the racing. Sub-sea level air greeted over 330 competitors on site, while Orlando’s track staff worked their magic on the track surface.

Returning drag-and-drive legend and Street Outlaws character Jeff Lutz led the Overall and Unlimited standings with a 6.155/247mph on his first run of the day, shaking the tires hard through the first hundred feet of race track. Lutz decided to wait for the all-run session to have another two cracks at the track, but did not improve.

While those sorts of times are almost expected of Lutz, one of his Unlimited rival delivered a huge surprise as Sweden’s Magnus Frost blasted a personal best 6.288/238mph in the Opel Ascona. The car finished a bit dusty after running off the end of the braking area, but the team were able to get on the road to Bradenton.

Sick Week 2022 champion Stefan Gustafsson had a horror day, with his Corvette showing some evil handling. He had to settle for a 7.146 pass, setting the Swede a big challenge if he wants a second title.

Sick Summer champion Bryant Goldstone turned out a personal best 6.486/223mph in Unlimited Iron, allowing the drag-and-drive veteran to finally leave the track on a one-and-done pass. His was not the only PB in the class, with Alex Taylor throwing down a 6.791/214mph in her ’55 Chevy on one of the first pairs of the day.

The new Heavy Metal class suited Alan Whitaker’s Monte Carlo just perfectly and he went straight to the top with a 7.180/191mph, despite smoking a piston through the top end. The team had a lot of work to do in the pits afterward to get the SMX motor back into pristine condition. Tom Bailey picked up second place with an 8.198 pass that finally made his Dodge Durango the quickest in the world.

But for all these amazing runs, nothing compared to Brett LaSala in Modified. The bright green 2012 Ford Mustang known as Snot Rocket 2.0 unleashed a stunning 6.359/228mph in Modified, setting a new world record for a drag-and-drive car on radial tires. The run came immediately after Josh Davis drove Devin Vanderhoof’s Mustang to a 6.41 pass — which held the record for all of about three minutes. Unfortunately we won’t be seeing Devin’s car for the rest of the week as he had to head home for family reasons.

Garrett Mitchell spun the tires of the Mullet El Camino on its first run of the day, meaning he had to wait for the all-run session. There he uncorked a 6.731/220mph, only to go off the end of the braking area when only one chute came out. Fortunately the car was not damaged and Mitchell even managed to drive it out of the sand. Back in the pits, a transmission problem was discovered, with Mitchell putting the call out for (and finding) a TH400 to go into the car.

Glenn Hunter finally got down the track in his ’56 Chevy Belair, a 7.270/190mph flashing on to the readout boards to lead Pro Street. Kelly Harvey’s stunning Corvette is sitting second with a 7.595.

Australia’s Michael Ward leads Super Street, his Nova delivering a 7.455. A transmission line came off the car in the braking area, resulting in a clean up on both the track and the car.

Chad Fegley got into the sevens in Stick Shift with a 7.936 run to take number one position, while Rich Guido unleashed a tough 8.611 pass from his Pontiac GTO.

Matt Sweet waited until the end of the day to make a 7.729 pass in Naturally Aspirated, giving the Nova a narrow lead over James McEntire’s 7.768.

Matt Moore clinched the lead of Rowdy Radial with a 4.752 run from his mighty Mustang. Also going into the fours were Danny Humphreys in the supercharged Porsche (4.891) and Sheldon Root’s Pontiac Acadian (4.894).

Sick Week Freaks is looking like a close class with Damon Elff’s Supra leading thanks to an 8.711 pass, while Matt Donovan leads Gassers vs Hot Rods vs Beetles thanks to a 9.533.

In Street Race 275, a perfect 8.500 pass from James Taal in the ‘Ruby’ Corvette set off huge celebrations on the start line and naturally gave him top spot in the class, while an 8.514 from Robert Worcester leads Sick Street Race.

The amazing performances came rapid fire at the start of the day, but racing was drawn out to a night-time finish due to a large number of oil downs. The single wildest moment must surely go to Stephen Mask after this unexpected and enormous wheelstand from his Roadmaster. The landing crunch busted the oilpan, sending the wagon into a spin that Mask somehow managed to keep off the wall.

But for those who went one-and-done and got on the road, they were treated to a beautiful beach drive on the 228 mile route to Bradenton. Checkpoints for day one included Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral, Bizzarro’s Pizza on the A1A, and finally the Freedom Factory oval.

Day two of Sick Week 2024 will take place at Bradenton Motorsports Park on Tuesday, January 30. Racing starts from 9am. See you there!

Want to see more images from day one? Check out the gallery.

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