To come out with a product or service endorsed by a big name can get you attention, but to have people talk about your products without the endorsement is the ultimate goal. Doug Cook realized this vision when he started Motion Raceworks, and the commitment to continue making products that work better and last longer has expanded into three more companies as they headed into 2024.

After getting Motion Raceworks off the ground and successful, the TBM Brakes and Rife Sensors product lines came aboard the train a few years back. Fluidworks is the most recent company added to the Motion line up in 2023, and all four continue to pump out new products while listening to the market on what’s needed to be made.

The inaugural Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks in 2023 proved to be an immediate hit, with competitor spots selling out within a matter of minutes. Combine that with epic attractions / check points and the great routes, the fans that got to witness all the competitors and the Summit Racing Equipment Sick Ward presented by PEAK Performance participants visit four race tracks between Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.

As the drag-and-drive community continues to expand, the number of events has also increased. Sick the Magazine takes our events like Sick Week and Sick Summer a step further than others, putting more emphasis on track prep, and having companies like Mickey Thompson on hand. 

“2024 has been an exceptional year for Mickey Thompson,” said Jason Moulton, Director of Motorsports. “The drag-and-drive scene continues to show growth. These events are among our favorites to go to.”

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.

As an epic 2024 season of racing winds down, so does the drag-and-drive calendar. Only six events remain on the 2024 event listings, with Australia hosting a trio of them, and the other three remaining in the United States.

But that isn’t stopping some familiar names from getting out to other drag racing events and putting in work before much of North America gets too cold to continue racing, and we count the days until Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive starts on January 27th, 2025.

Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks has proved to be an amazing way to kick start your summer time fun with hundreds of fellow enthusiasts. The third installment of the event, scheduled to take place from June 15th through June 20th 2025, will again visit Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa for an amazing six days of drag-and-drive action.

Although the news of tracks opening and closing in 2024 has been favoring the re-opening / new tracks side of things, news broke today that California will lose another track at the end of this season. Irwindale Drag Strip and sister half-mile circle track Irwindale Speedway will close their gates at the end of 2024.

The newest build for the Cleetus McFarland camp started at Cameron Johnson Race Cars in May this year, as a new ‘69 Camaro takes aim at the 5-second zone.

Yesterday, the latest build out of CJRC hit the track at Bradenton Motorsports Park to get Cleetus ready for World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway this week.

Well known in the small tire and no-prep circles, the ‘Beater Bomb’ Ford Mustang has been winning on practically every surface for over a decade. Joey Hiykel’s Mustang is an eighth-mile rocket, and although he usually keeps things under wraps on engine combination and performances, he recently dropped a new record and revealed times.

Just one day after Doug Cook dropped the news that he owned a 6-second time slip, Sick the Mag heard that another Super Street class competitor had joined the 6-second club. David and Nick Diehl have been working towards getting the 2000 Ford Mustang into not only the 6-second zone, but also wanting to be the first in the sixes in the Super Street class at a drag-and-drive event. This week, they accomplished one of their goals.

After two-plus years away from the scene, Doug Cook and his storied 1972 Chevrolet Nova came into 2024 with some goals. By October, the Nova has already put in a bunch of street miles, delivered a chunk of solid runs on the track, and even won a Sick Summer class. But Doug and the crew aren’t done yet, but recently they checked off a big box during a test session.

Unless rules dictate otherwise, it’s becoming more common to see turbochargers at the top of the drag-and-drive playing field. Now, granted there are plenty of supercharged and nitrous-assisted hot rods as well, and even a few quick naturally-aspirated combinations. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see a majority of the top ten spots on the recent Edelbrock Sick 66 going to turbo entries, but looking a little closer reveal some parity.

After two years of hosting their own annual event, the Braggin Rights events once again hosted their ‘Street Car Braggin Rights’ (SCBR) at the Duck X Productions No Mercy event at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Combining street car requirements with radial prep and over ten thousand in payouts, SCBR Extreme and SCBR Elite classes got some notable names and impressive performances.

Just over a month ago, we revealed the new ‘Snot Rocket 3.0’ Ford Mustang of Brett LaSala. Fresh from a three-month build at Moore Race Chassis, after about a dozen test runs, LaSala took it to a 6.38 at 221 mph blast at the FL2K event north at Bradenton Motorsport Park in Florida.

Now, he’s taking the car to the next level, as he prepares for the World Cup Finals at Maryland International Raceway next month.

The drag-and-drive community always shows their true colors. We’re not competitors; we are a family. Granted, some are closer family than others, but we’re here for the adventure. And we want to see EVERY person cross that finish line.

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.

There are some events that have that ‘different’ factor; that ‘no one has ever done it before’ hits you, and makes you want to participate. Tomorrow, we start a ‘one-time only’ event – Edelbrock Sick 66, which will cover over 1,300 miles, visit more than 30 checkpoints, and witness racing action at six different tracks!

The 1987 Volvo wagon of Mikael Borggren became a staple on several drag-and-drive events, first cracking the 6-second mark at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2021. But he started to make his mark in the no-prep world in the last few years, and also captured a trio of Roadkill Nights Small Tire victories.

Whether it’s a 6-second Unlimited car defying the critics by surviving hundreds of miles on the street and five days of hard runs on race tracks, or a daily driver car that someone fixed up to attend their first drag-and-drive, each and every enthusiast has stories.

Putting that information in stories (print and online), as well as relaying them over the PA at tracks, is what keeps the interest in cars, racing and drag-and-drives growing.

But, is there such a thing as too much information? Should race track commenting merely focus on the vehicle and the performance?

Route 66 is legendary, and our second track that Sick the Magazine will visit for the Edelbrock Sick 66 event, Mo-Kan Dragway, will add a chapter to their legendary history when the drag-and-drive event stops in Asbury, bringing 300 of the quickest street-legal cars and trucks, as well as Sick Ward participants!