As the drag-and-drive community and event schedule grows, there have been several articles and inquiries into the origin of the first drag-and-drive, Hot Rod Magazine’s Drag Week in 2005.

Hot Rod also played host to the Fastest Street Car Shootout, held in Memphis, Tennessee, where several drivers etched their names as the first competitors in a street-legal car shootout. One of them was Rick Dyer, and sadly, we’ve gotten word that the Michigan resident has passed away.

It’s been a common sight at Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, and Jordan Boudreaux’s Mustang has also made its mark in the event standings every year.

The turbocharged LS-swapped ride has earned a spot in the top three standings in the 275 Street Race class at the end of each Sick Week, but 2025 will bring a change for the Louisiana-based ride.

After putting together a Chevrolet Colorado a couple years back, Josh Reich made himself a little more well known in 2024. The single turbo pick-up scored a win and a top five finish from a pair of drag-and-drive events, and although some might have expected Reich to continue to refine the Colorado for 2025, he’s changing direction with a new build and new goals.

“My good friend Rodney Geist was building it for himself to show off his fabrication skills, and promote his business. Rod isn't a drag racer, or one to do a drag-and-drive, so we decided to partner up.”

Heralded each year for cool temperatures and killer track prep, which combined result in amazing runs and sold-out crowds, the World Cup Finals Import vs. Domestic event at Maryland International Raceway got underway yesterday. A total of eleven classes got their first look at the track in qualifying, and started the work towards possibly earnign a share of two-hundred thousand dollars in payout, plus the coveted World Cup Finals trophy.

After only a few people have entered the 7-second zone naturally aspirated in drag-and-drive events, ‘Fast Eddie’ Ensor definitely opened up the conversation at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes in 2023.

Completing the week with a 7.53 average, along with a best single pass of 7.46 at 184 mph, Ensor set the record for Naturally Aspirated classes, and 2024 shows he’s coming for more.

This colorful 1976 Chevrolet Nova has already secured a class victory at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2022, along with a pair of top three finishes at Sick Week in 2002 and 2023.

But for Drag Week in 2023, Jerry and Matt Sweet rolled to the starting line on day one packing a new engine combination north of 800 cubic inches, putting the Nova into the 7-second zone for the first time in competition. They didn't finish the week last year; will they complete the task this time around?

During this year’s Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, Frank Webb shot onto our radars on day two with a massive triple-wheelie from his 1978 Ford Fairmont.

It got Webb and the Ford a lot of attention, but it also resulted in a trip to the tower looking for a replacement Aeromotive mechanical fuel pump, when the wheelie claimed his pump. Would it be the second-straight DNF for the 7-second Ford?

For the second time in a month, multiple drag-and-drive names we recognize are making their mark at local tracks, big events, and even test-and-tune sessions to post personal best times.

After a successful drag-and-drive debut at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2023, Jack Brooks looked to continue his drag-and-drive adventure at this year’s Sick Week and Sick Summer. Neither panned out as he wanted, so it was back to the drawing board, and a bunch of changes, to plot his return to Hot Rod Drag Week.

What does one have to do with the other, and how does it sound like both rides might be even more fun than before? It all started when Jonathan Whitaker took his ‘93 Ford Mustang Cobra on this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

The two lists that determine early entry for the 2025 edition for Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks are the Top 100 Averages, and the Top Individual Runs.

The 8th stop on the Street Car Takeover event tour of 2024 was held at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Always a well-attended event in multiple classes, a couple of Sick Week competitors found themselves as the top rides in the popular Street Racer class.

The Diehl brothers and Chris Merry appeared to be ready for Sick Summer 2024, but they decided that a little tune-up was needed. So they popped into a Street Car Takeover event at US 131 Motorsports Park, held just one day before registration and tech day at Sick Summer.

“Just a reminder, if you’re building a combo and it isn’t an exact mirror of a known good one, get ready to work a lot.”

“I think it showed the maximum of what we can accomplish on this turbo. There might be a little left, but we hung it out pretty good.”

“The biggest challenge (with a drag-and-drive) is accepting the reality that you may not do as good as you wanted to, and refraining from making stupid tune up decisions so you can make a clean pass and get on the road.”

Recently, a pair of stick shift performances, one by a drag-and-drive competitor, as well as a Cadillac nearing the 6-second zone, got our attention from a test session in Michigan.

In February of 2024, after the latest round of upgrades and a visit to Nicolas Performance for a tune-up, Colby Davis posted a short dyno clip to his Instagram page showing 2156 rear-wheel-horse-power!

Ford definitely got some eyeballs with a 7.75 at 180 mph pass in their Super Cobra Jet 1800 at last weekend’s NHRA Winternationals; will it open people’s minds to the possibility of owning, driving and even racing electric cars in the future?

“I would like to run at least one 6-second pass at Hot Rod Drag Week, and finish in the top three in my class.”