Small Tire Contender Sheldon Root Making Some Big Changes for 2024 Season – Will Start at Sick Week
The 2023 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive set the performance standard a lot of competitors would define their season by, and several others would try to defeat.
One class that stood out in its first year at Sick Week was the Rowdy Radial class, with rules based solely around a 235-sidewall designation drag radial (or 26-inch-tall x 8.5-inch width slick), run on the eighth-mile distance.
Several cars came into Sick Week with experience in the small tire format, with time slips in the 5-second range. But a couple would dip into the fours during Sick Week, and one was Sheldon Root and his 1962 Acadian.
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The Rowdy Radial class would be the latest chapter for this storied car, original purchased by Sheldon in 1993. “I dragged it out of the bush for $300, and it sat till 2008 when I started to build it,” said Sheldon.
As the owner of Motion Performance since 2002, doing most of the work on the car to get it completed was always in Sheldon’s plans, but Sheldon’s original class was just a bit different than Rowdy Radial.
“Radial tire racing wasn’t popular back then, and started building it as an Outlaw 10.5-inch tire car with a single turbo big block Chevrolet engine,” said Sheldon. He raced in locally in Canada, and also the Street Car Super National (SCSN) events in Las Vegas.
The Acadian was originally built as a 540 cubic inch big block Chevrolet engine, with a single 102-millimeter turbo, a Powerglide transmission, and a 25.2-spec chassis. But Sheldon had the itch to go faster. “Then we went to twin Precision 94-millimeter turbos, and ran it on AEM EFI with a custom coil near plug setup,” said Sheldon.
They hurt the engine in 2010, and the car caught fire, leading Sheldon to shelf the classic GM ride for five years.
When Sheldon decided to bring it back out again, a conversion from the big block to a single turbo LS powerplant was the new route, based on a budget 5.3-liter one of the existing 94-millimeter turbochargers. “It did okay, running 5.30’s in the eighth-mile,” Sheldon admitted.
After some time in this configuration, Sheldon built a 416 cubic inch LS-based engine for his efforts in 2023, starting at Sick Week. Sheldon used a best pass of 4.76 at 152 mph to compile an average of 4.81, nabbing the second spot in Rowdy Radial.
Sheldon followed his Sick Week results with a win at Brainerd International Raceway’s King Street event, running 7.20 passes on the quarter-mile distance. He also picked up a pair of wins at Cash Days events at his local track, made the 16-hour trip to Alberta, Canada to collect a No Prep 8 victory, and made semifinal round showings at the Alberta Street Car Shootout, as well as Cash at the Creek.
“I was planning to go to Devin’s (Southeast Street-N-Yeet) race, but was in the middle of switching from LS power back to a big block Chevrolet and just ran out of time,” said Sheldon.
Yes, you heard right, the Acadian will be packing more power in 2024. A 540 cubic inch big block, fed by twin Gen 1 Precision 94-millimeter turbos will sit in the engine bay, while a Turbo 400 transmission and Circle D Specialties converter will back it up. A dual fuel system will undoubtably help cut switch over time down between street and track.
“The only issues we have before Sick Week is no testing time, as it will be -25 degrees here and little hard to test the cooling system,” said Sheldon. “I have not decided on what class to run at Sick Week; it will either be Rowdy Radial or Pro Street.
I know they seem to be far apart classes, but really, it’s just a tire and suspension change. My car will be 3350 pounds or so, and Pro Street has a 3000-pound minimum.”
With all that in mind, Sheldon is once again looking forward to Sick Week, one of two drag-and-drive event he plans to attend next year. “I love the challenge of the drag-and-drive events,” he said. “I find them a test of your ability to build a car to survive and go fast at the same time.
I think the race is decided even before you leave for it. Your preparation, how you built it and your desire not to fail. I believe the cooling system is one of the most important systems to have working correctly. Having spare parts as well is a huge help, we had a welder and it was used more than a few times.” Sheldon’s drag-and-drive event plans for 2024 include Sick Week, then Miles of Mayhem and / or Street-N-Yeet in the fall.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Motion Raceworks and Sheldon Root.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com