A five-second stage has been set for Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive, with a brutal assortment of street legal machines preparing for what may be the quickest and fastest drag-and-drive event in history.

Ever since Tom Bailey’s historic 5.99 run at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2019, drag-and-drive fans have been waiting for a repeat of the feat. It seemed for a period that interest in the Unlimited class and its road-going Pro Mods had waned, but an explosion of new rides has put high expectations on Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive (January 27 - February 1).

The combination of excellent VP Racing track preparation and sea-level weather conditions will provide the ideal environment for quick times at the event voted as USA Today's Best Motorsports Race for 2024 and Drag Illustrated's Event of the Year in 2023.

Although he got his start with cars that can cover street and strip duty, Cleetus McFarland made the decision in spring 2024 to have Cameron Johnson Race Cars in Lakeland, Florida construct a ’69 Chevrolet Camaro for 5-second blasts on the quarter-mile. Despite the car having minimum testing, Cleetus and crew debuted the car in competition at the World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway (MDIR) and clocked a best of 5.89 at 246 mph.

At the conclusion of the event, Cleetus revealed the car needed some changes and updates. In the process of trying to get the car finished in time to qualify to be eligible for the World Cup Finals, the CJRC crew thrashed on the Camaro, but they discovered some areas that needed help. After returning to Florida from Maryland, Cleetus sent the car to CJRC for those changes, as well as getting engine back to Pro Line Racing for a refresh and inspection.

And then a dyno session was discussed…

Although most go for the Coupe / Notch or hatchback model of the popular Fox Mustang, Devin Vanderhoof went for a rare Feature Edition convertible. And although some are happy with the triple white option exterior / interior / convertible top and low production numbers, Devin decided to forge a deeper connection.

This ’93 convertible kicked up plenty of attention in 2023, setting the small tire world on fire by lowering the Rowdy Radial average to a 4.64, with a best single pass of 4.595 at 167 mph on the tiny 26-inch-tall x 8.5-inch-wide radials accomplished by driver Jordan Tuck. That win would be the first of three on the year for Devin as a car owner, as Josh Davis added a Sick Summer victory and a Hot Rod Drag Week class win as well.

Now, after a 6-month period where the car got numerous updates and upgrades, Devin is ready to get testing and prepare for another solid season of drag-and-drive work.

As the drag-and-drive world continues to gain steam with more events and bigger performances, there are a small group of people that are doing their part to bring a little more attention to the community.

One of them is Bryant Goldstone, a competitor that has re-written the record book in the Ultimate Iron / Unlimited Iron classes with a 1973 AMC Javelin that’s become a staple at drag-and-drive events.

Today at the Performance and Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis, Bryant pulled the cover off his newest effort for drag-and-drive in 2025.

The newest build for the Cleetus McFarland camp started at Cameron Johnson Race Cars in May this year, as a new ‘69 Camaro takes aim at the 5-second zone.

Yesterday, the latest build out of CJRC hit the track at Bradenton Motorsports Park to get Cleetus ready for World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway this week.

The new build, a Pro Mod-style build known as ‘Eagle,’ is taking shape at Cameron Johnson Race Cars in Lakeland, Florida. Ironically, Cameron Johnson worked at Pro Fab Performance and built Leroy’s first exo-roll cage several years ago.

“Sick Seconds 2.0 got put on the back burner for us to get the Dodge Durango and everything else ready. Just too many projects, only one fab guy.”