Wreck to Rebuild – Brent Sands Gets a Fresh Start on the Road to Recovery – Plans to Debut New Car at Sick Summer 2025
After experiencing his first drag-and-drive from the passenger seat of Andy Cook’s GTO on Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes last year, the hook was set for Brent Sands. “I’m excited about participating on my first one as a competitor,” he said. “I just want to finish, and hopefully have a 5-second average.”
His 1991 Camaro was doing just that, surviving the week during last month’s Sick Summer with all 5-second passes, despite some cooling issues on the road. But everything changed on day four at Great Lakes Dragaway.
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Averaging a 5.51 after three days put Brent fifth in Rowdy Radial class, a solid effort for the Camaro’s first major event.
Brent lined up with Eric Olson’s ’83 Ford Ranger on his first run at Great Lakes Dragaway, and as the two approached the finish line, things got scary. Eric’s truck moved right in his lane, went on its side, and shot into Brent’s lane just past the finish line.
“I didn’t expect the reason we couldn’t finish the week would be from this,” said Brent the day after the accident. “As I was coasting through the end of the track, the other driver lost control and nailed me. I didn’t even see it coming.
That was the sixteenth pass with the car, and I was starting to get things figured out. Such a bummer. Hundreds of hours of lost sleep just gone. The chassis is a loss but there are still a lot of good parts to transfer to a new car. I’m pretty sore, but it could have been far worse.”
Thankfully, both drivers were okay. Some might’ve thought Brent’s car could be fixed, but a closer examination showed the rocker and a-pillar had been moved over a good amount, plus the cage bars were bent.
“I’m already looking for other cars, and I’ll see what I can get put together for next year,” Brent said at the time. “At least this time I won’t have to engineer it all again and know what I need to do.
Just two weeks later, Brent was hauling home a new starting point, a clean red third-generation Camaro to get ready for an incoming supply of parts from his blue Camaro.
“I put the last roll cage in myself, but may have someone else do it this time,” said Brent. “I’m going to add more sensors, mini tub it, narrow the rear end, and some other things to make the street driving better. Would like to drop 300 pounds off the car, so that will be a challenge, but I think it’s possible.”
His goal: to be ready for the small tire battlefield of Rowdy Radial at Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks next year. “Took me close to three years to finish the last one, so it’s going to be hard to get this one done in a year,” said Brent. “At least I have most of the parts.”
What else will the future hold for this Camaro? “There is some small tire street car shootout races in the area I would like to try. Byron Dragway has a few throughout the year.
Otherwise, there is a group of guys that meet up with their cars every Saturday in the summer for lunch, and cruise in the quad cities.
I also like giving friends and family rides on the street. I have a long road ahead but hope to be back for Sick Summer next year.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, 1320 Video and Brent Sands.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com