This Father-Son Team Trade Junior Dragster and Drag Car Cockpits for a Week on The Road in a Sleeper Station Wagon at Sick Summer
Some competitors come into a drag-and-drive with little to no experience in competitive racing. Some even enter with no experience drag racing a vehicle at all, and we’ve heard successful stories from hundreds of them.
But on the flip side, there are more and more competitive racers that are seeing the allure of drag-and-drive, and making the jump into the street and strip proving format.
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For Erik Lawson, he’s been drag racing since the age of fifteen, and he still enjoys the quick blasts down the track in an 8-second Fox Mustang.
He’s even passed the drag racing addiction to his son Cooper, who regular enjoys seat time in his junior dragster.
But the Lawsons also enjoy racing with some street time mixed in, but instead of a uncomfortable and purpose built race car, they take a clean Buick station wagon on their drag-and-drive adventures.
The 1980 Buick is a plush cruiser from the factory, but was lacking in the power department. Erik solved that by swapping an LS under the flat hood, and adding a little extra spice to the mix with an 83-millimeter turbocharger. A 4L80 overdrive transmission and a Ford-sourced 8-8-inch rear end handle the abuse and keep the revs down on the road.
The clean two-tone appearance and the woodgrain paneling hide the 11-second performances from the wagon, and Erik has proved it is not only quicker than a first glance would reveal, it’s a consistent ride too. The wagon is a regular on the One Guy’s Garage Drag Weekend event, with an impressive performance in 2023.
Running in the Street Eliminator class, where consistency / the smallest difference between time slips is the goal. Erik managed put together a nearly perfect spread of .001-seconds amongst his time slips, earning him the win and a shot with his family to celebrate.
Recently, we witnessed the wagon on Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, where Erik and Cooper took on the Dial Your Own (DYO) class for the second year.
In 2023, Erik managed a top twenty spot in the packed DYO class with a difference / spread amongst his timeslips of .062 of-a-second, with a best pass of 11.671 at 123 mph for the week.
The Lawsons started the 2024 edition of Sick Summer with an 11.57 at 125 mph at Byron Dragway, then followed it with an 11.618 at 123 mph best after making three runs on day two at Cordova Dragway.
Day three at Tri-State Raceway would bring a big weather change, and more runs on the Buick to get the pass they wanted. “We started with a run of 11.73 at 123 mph, which was not close enough to our goal of 11.63,” said Cooper. After three more runs didn’t get them the time slip they wanted, they were running low on time.
“With only 10 minutes left before the lanes closed, I convinced dad to make one more pass,” said Cooper. “The water temperature was a cool 230 degrees, and finally, we achieved a good enough time of 11.64 at 123 mph.”
They hit the road and arrived at Great Lakes Dragaway for day four. “It was extremely hot, and everyone was running slower than usual, including us,” said Cooper. “The first run was three tenths too slow, so we couldn't turn in that time if we wanted a chance at the top 25.”
Two more runs didn’t return the desired result, but on the fourth attempt, Erik got an 11.633 at 121 mph. “We hit the checkpoints, saw some awesome burnouts, and even attempted one ourselves. And it actually worked out,” said Cooper, and the Lawsons were back to where they started, Byron Dragway for day five.
The final day once again had the Buick wagon making multiple passes, but on the fourth run, Erik netted an 11.612 at 123 mph, keeping his spread between runs at .061 of-a-second, and scooping up a second-straight top twenty spot in DYO, landing thirteenth. They also scored the ‘Quickest Buick’ award.
“The Buick might not be very fast on the track, but the car will take us anywhere,” said Erik. “Getting to drive your race car on the street, meet new people, drag race, and have fun is a blast.” Erik and Cooper plan to return to the One Guy’s Garage Drag Weekend event in September, their eighth time participating. Can Erik back up last year’s win?
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Cooper Lawson.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com