Small Tire Super Street Competitors Aim for the Sixes at Sick Week 2025
Many will stress that the main focus of a drag-and-drive event is to complete the event, while having a good time and making memories. But we’d be lying if we didn’t talk about some of the incredible performances that are accomplished as well.
From the quickest cars in Unlimited, to the Rowdy Radial rides that clock 4.6-second times on an 8.5-inch tire, we celebrate those that push the envelope of performance, and the 6-second barrier in the small tire Super Street class could be broken for the first time at Sick Week 2025 Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
THE SUPER BOWL of drag-and-drive events - Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive - is just around the corner!! It combines winter temps with great tracks (and traction), to deliver some amazing performances and an exciting experience! Four tracks, two states, over 800 miles, and five days of beautiful views and quick runs! For more details and how to purchase advance spectator tickets or a Sick Ward entry, CLICK HERE!
In 2012, Hot Rod Drag Week added three new classes, Super Street Small Block Naturally Aspirated, Super Street Big Block Naturally Aspirated, and Super Street Power Adder to their offerings.
The class was described as: ‘Super Street is for small-tire cars with fewer restrictions than Street Race, but retaining stock concept rear suspension. Vehicles in Super Street must have modifications that prevent them from running in Street Race.’
The first year of the class, Rick Prospero put together an 8.06 average to win the Super Street Power Adder class, with a best single run of 7.93 at 180 mph. He dropped those numbers to a 7.91 single pass the next year and became the first competitor to average in the sevens with a 7.98 average in claiming his second-straight Super Street Power Adder class win.
Cal Hayward dropped that Super Street record a bit more in 2015, as his turbocharged Mustang clocked a 7.58 best single run, in route to a 7.61 average in his winning efforts.
Three years later, Hot Rod Drag Week had expanded the Super Street Power Adder class to a pair of them: Super Street Small Block Power Adder and Super Street Big Block Power Adder. The ’67 Nova wagon of Frank Saponaro reset the single lap record with a 7.499 that year, but Hayward’s average of 7.61 would remain untouched.
It would take until 2023 before the record was challenged, as Ryan Hargett reset not just the single run record at 7.17, but also Hayward’s longstanding average would be surpassed with Hargett’s 7.29 average from his twin-turbo 2011 Ford Mustang. Hargett’s performance sparked the question of ‘when would this stock-suspension class see the 6-second zone’ amongst many.
In 2024, a few got close to that 6-second mark, no one broke the half-dozen mark in drag-and-drive competition, and Hargett’s 7.29 average stayed intact. But looking at performances in both competition and testing says the 6-second timeslip could happen at the 2025 edition of Sick Week, and there’s more than just a couple that could pull it off.
David and Nick Diehl are no strangers to drag-and-drive, and their LS-swapped single turbo 2001 Mustang gets a lot of use. The brothers survived Sick Week, Sick Summer and Hot Rod Drag Week in 2024, scoring the Super Street Small Block Power Adder class win at Drag Week, with a best single run of 7.08, and an average of 7.44.
Just over a month later in testing, the Diehls clocked a 6.85 at just 170 mph lifting early, with a 4.36 at 165.87 mph to the eighth mile. Because the car did well for them this year, Nick said it deserved some upgrades. So, they stripped it to a bare shell, then gave it a complete re-wire, fresh paint job and freshened up the engine.
Will they have enough time to get it dialed in for Sick Week?
Right on par with the Diehls on odds is Doug Cook and his leaf spring-equipped ’72 Chevy Nova. Cook captured the Super Street title at Sick Summer, using a new record 7.04 at 206 mph pass on day one to get him to a 7.32 average for the week.
Work and family obligations kept Cook to just a few events after Sick Summer was in the books, but in testing the modern twin-turbo LT-engined Nova clocked a 6.90 at 209 mph blast in October 2024, with the short track numbers coming in at 4.57 at 168 mph at the eighth mile. The 1.265 60 foot time shows there’s more left in the tank, and Cook has been looking for more in testing recently at Bradenton Motorsports Park in preparation for Sick Week.
Michael Ward, the 2024 Sick Week Super Street class champion, is due back with his ’63 Chevrolet Nova again. Last year, the Aussie clocked a best of 7.14 on day four, leading to a 7.35 average for the week.
We saw the Nova in a few other events during the year, but Ward’s Sick Week numbers would be the best of the year. Can Ward shave the necessary digits off his time slip for a 6-second blast at Sick Week?
After years of being limited to 7.50-elasped times due to safety restrictions, Richard ‘RC’ Flint will roll into Sick Week 2025 with all the gear to pursue quicker e.t.s. Flint’s single turbo Honda S2000 has already shown promise on the upgrades, clocking a 7.28 during the recent Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship before a wheelie took him out in the semifinal round.
There are likely to be another couple competitors that might put up a challenge for the 6-second pass in 2025, including at least one new build that will debut later this year.
Don’t miss the start of drag-and-drive for 2025: Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive – January 27th through February 1st, 2025. Advance discount tickets are available now by CLICKING HERE - Kids 12 and under are free.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, KWS Images, Rick Prospero, Ryan Hargett, Richard RC Flint, David and Nick Diehl.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com