Wife Swap - Holly Lester Takes the Wheel For the First Time at Sick Summer
When the participants at Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes were asked how many are first timers, roughly half the field raised their hands.
Holly Lester fits in the half that would be experiencing a drag-and-drive behind the wheel for the first time, but Sick Summer was not her first drag-and-drive event.
This 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass had been previously piloted by Josh Lester at Hot Rod Drag Week, but its first drag-and-drive of 2023 would have Holly suiting up for a stint in the driver seat.
“My husband said ‘you can do it,’” Holly admitted when discussing what brought them to Sick Summer. “I planned to just have fun, and soak in the experience.”
Sick The Mag keeps its web articles ad-free thanks to merch sales and magazine subscriptions. Thank you to all of you who wear our stuff and read our books!
Although some might think this Cutlass could be an ex-Pro Stock car, the Oldsmobile was purchased in 2003 as a used car with the front-wheel-drive still intact.
“Outside of a nearby chassis shop, we did all the work ourselves,” Holly’s husband Josh stated. The car retains a lot of the unique parts it left the factory with, while making changes to accommodate a rear-wheel-drive conversion.
The temptation of swapping to a Chevrolet engine seems to come up when pursuing quicker times in some GM brands, but keeping the car all Oldsmobile was never a question for the Lesters. “Josh has been all-Oldsmobile since he was little,” said Holly.
The Oldsmobile powerplant checks in at 461 cubic inches, with a large 102-millimeter turbocharger up front to provide the boost. The boosted mill passes the power through a Turbo 400 automatic to a 4-link suspended Fab 9-inch rear end packing 3.50 ratio gears.
To give Holly a chance to get used to the 8-second-capable Cutlass, Josh started her out on ten pounds of boost at the beginning of the week.
Holly opened with a 9.89 at 141 mph blast at Cordova Dragway, then followed with a 9.93 at 147 mph at Great Lakes Dragaway. The tricky track at Tri-State Raceway limited Holly to a best pass of 10.40, but on day five the candles were lit, and Holly turned in a 9.03 at 152 mph, her best pass of the week.
That resulted in a 9.89 average, giving Holly the title of Quickest Oldsmobile at Sick Summer, the cherry on top of a week of fun to celebrate not only her first drag-and-drive as a competitor, but also celebrating Holly and Josh’s anniversary.
“I was definitely not in this event not for an award, but more for the experience,” said Holly. “It was an amazing week; I loved every minute of it.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Josh and Holly Lester.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com