The Real Diehl – Testing and Striving for Better Results Leads David Diehl and Chris Merry to a Win and Runner-Up at Street Car Takeover Just Hours Before Sick Summer Gets Underway
One year ago, we witnessed the emergence of the Diehl brothers at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes, with David driving and Nick tuning the orange 2001 model Ford Mustang to 7-second performances.
Unfortunately, the car was sidelined due to issues by day three, but Nick said “we will be back.” He just didn’t clarify that they would be back off of a pair of final round performances just before Sick Summer this year.
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Before we skip ahead to 2024, know that it didn’t take long for Nick and David to recover from Sick Summer last year. Just over a month later, the orange car rolled into the staging lanes at US 131 Motorsports Park for the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) event to participate in the Sick Shootout Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
There, Nick tuned David to a final round match up against Steve Morris and the ‘Boostmaster’ station wagon, to come up in the runner up spot.
The car made another appearance at the Hot Rod Drag Week event in September, and although David did not run the numbers that Nick probably would’ve liked to, they finished fourth in the Super Street Small Block Power Adder class, with a best run of 7.59 leading to an 8.80 average.
As the calendar year rolled into 2024, we saw the deal brothers make the tow to Florida to participate in Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, and this time they delivered their first all 7-second performance during a drag-and-drive event, compiling a 7.76 average and a best run of 7.58 to finish sixth in the Super Street class.
Nick vowed “we will be back for Sick Summer, and we aim to turn the wick up some more. We want the class record.”
While the brothers might have appeared to be focusing their efforts solely on the orange car, their blue 1994 Mustang did not get ignored in the process. That car finished third in the Street Race Small Block Power Adder class with an 8.55 average at Hot Rod Drag Week 2023, and although the blue Mustang did not go to Florida for Sick Week, it re-emerged with David behind the wheel for a no prep win at Edgewater sports Park in April this year.
Both cars appeared to be ready for Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, but the Diehl brothers and Chris 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.
The move proved to be a good call, as David would earn a victory for the orange car in the Street Racer Wild class, and Chris would collect the runner-up spot in the Street Racer Mild class.
Just hours later, the Diehl brothers’ Mustangs made the trip from Michigan to Illinois in time to compete in Sick Summer, and five days later, both cars completed the event. Although David and Nick battled some issues with the orange car, they finished second in the Super Street class, carded a new personal best of 7.17 on day two, and produced a 7.88 average.
Chris would put the blue Mustang in the top spot in the highly-competitive Street Race 275 class, collecting his first win with an 8.53 average, along with a perfect 8.500 run on day three.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Motion Raceworks, David and Nick Diehl.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com