While some are able to hang on to their first car, others can’t for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s tough decisions that force the sale, or a willingness to move on to a different ride, a person’s first car will reflect on them. In the case of Tor Nupen, remembering his first car, combined with wanting to participate in a drag-and-drive, led him to this 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle.

“I’ve had cars since I was 16 years old,” said Tor. “My first car was a ‘69 big block Chevelle. I’ve mostly street raced. and did some small tire 10.5-inch tire racing at my local tracks. With raising kids, and having responsibilities the car was sold.”

Nor didn’t forget that Chevelle, and although he didn’t buy that one back, it had an effect on him, and the ’68 Chevelle he now owns. “I’ve wanted to do a Hot Rod Drag Week ever since David Freiburger started it. My biggest goal and challenge is to complete a drag-and-drive with a car that my sons and I built.”

“Freiburger here. It’s true; my television shows have been canceled.” The former editor-in-chief for Hot Rod magazine, as well as the creator of Hot Rod Drag Week and Pump Gas Drags, stated those words to open his most recent video. Freiburger tells his side of the story of the popular MotorTrend show Roadkill, which was recently canceled after thirteen seasons.

It’s not uncommon to see racers cross over into a drag-and-drive event from other forms of racing, including grudge racing, heads-up class and even bracket and index racing. Even some no-prep racers have made the jump to drag-and-drive.

But Allen Thompson will go a step further as he looks to rebuild his no-prep car to get it ready for next year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.

As the track that hosted not only the first National Hot Rod Association national event in 1955, but also been a part of Hot Rod Drag Week and Rocky Mountain Race Week, the Sunflower Rod and Custom Association (SRCA) Dragstrip has been void of any racing action for the last two years. Recently, a settlement was reached that might change the 2025 season hopes for the track in Great Bend, Kansas.

When the news first hit Sunday night about the popular show Roadkill being canceled, it immediately spread like wildfire about the future of MotorTrend.

Speculation about the magazine and brand, as well as sister shows Hot Rod Garage, Roadkill Garage, Roadworthy Rescues, and Faster with Newburn and Cotton, and even the events like Roadkill Nights and Hot Rod Drag Week were in question by many. Thanks to MotorTrend, we have some clarification on the future of shows and events.

It’s been a common sight at Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, and Jordan Boudreaux’s Mustang has also made its mark in the event standings every year.

The turbocharged LS-swapped ride has earned a spot in the top three standings in the 275 Street Race class at the end of each Sick Week, but 2025 will bring a change for the Louisiana-based ride.

“This is the show where we play with cars, and you point and laugh. We call it Roadkill.” Those words were stated by David Freiburger in Episode 1 of the popular MotorTrend show ‘Roadkill’ which hit YouTube in early 2012. 

Nearly thirteen years and thirteen seasons after that first show was recorded, Mike Finnegan broke the news on Reddit that ‘Roadkill’ will not record a fourteenth season.

When building a car for the street, there are several things that require a bit more attention versus a race car. The cooling system is definitely one of those, and with thousands of cars pushing well past the 1,000 horsepower mark now, cooling isn’t something to be cutting corners on.

“Drag-and-drive has been very important to us because it showcases the importance of a powerful and efficient cooling system. 2024 has been another high growth year. We have new products announced, including our oil coolers.” - John Pairaktaridis of Delta PAG.

Nitrous Oxide has been a part of the racing and street car landscape for nearly a half-a-century, and is one of the cheapest and easiest power adders to add to a vehicle.

Nitrous can also lay claim to the first power-adder to capture an overall drag-and-drive event title, as the first Hot Rod Drag Week was won by Carl Scott in a nitrous-fed Chevy II.

Nitrous Oxide Systems was born in the late 1970s, and is still a choice of many enthusiasts to add nitrous to their favorite ride. Here’s what they’re doing for the drag-and-drive market, as well as why it’s still a viable power-adder choice.

With several turbochargers on the market, there are a ton of choices on how to add boost to your ride. Precision Turbo is one of the names that’s been in the market for a while, and based on the results of the last few seasons of drag-and-drive events, they are making their mark.

Precision Turbo has been on some of the quickest and fastest rides in racing, and offer several different versions of turbochargers. From entry level and mirror-image turbos, to specific class legal designs for heads-up racing, Precision has several options to choose from.

It’s no secret that technology and better parts have made it to where upgraded cars and trucks are not only showing up at tracks around the globe, but also several factory stock rides are capable of delivering times and speeds that bring a need for upgraded safety equipment. Racequip has been providing that safety gear since 1975, and added a new chapter to their story with Sick the Magazine in 2022.

There are thousands of single-digit-capable drag-and-drive cars, and a lot more in the 10 and 11-second range on the quarter-mile standard. That means the need for better safety equipment exists, and Racequip offers a lot of options to keep drivers safe on the track and the street.

Getting Driven Racing Oil to join Sick the Mag for our 2024 event season was more than just a sponsorship; it was a chance for Driven to get feedback and possibly develop new oils.

“When we got together with Tom Bailey, it was because we saw the drag-and-drive segment exploding,” said Bill Alexander of Driven Racing Oil. “The demands of these rides can be different than any other market we’ve seen, and we wanted to get first-hand data and feedback from competitors to use in our analysis.”

When mentioning power adders, there are a ton of choices in today’s market. But when it comes to superchargers, one made quite the impression with turn-key systems for Ford engines back in the 1990s, and that was Vortech Engineering. Since that start of the business, they’ve added more power to a lot of rides, and now it’s becoming just as common to see Vortech units on 7-second and 8-second rides as the thousands of fun street cars and daily drivers on the road today.

After being in business for about a decade, Vortech purchased the owner’s former employer’s business, Paxton Superchargers, and added it to the Vortech portfolio. Today, Vortech’s expanded offerings with Paxton onboard means well over 100 different kits are available.

The explosion of drag-and-drive in the last few years has brought more major events to the table, and dozens of conversations where competitors talk about wanting to do more than one to two events a year, but lack of time prevents it from happening.  

When Pilot Transport joined the Sick the Magazine group, it brought a lot of conversations from competitors about using the carrier. One Sick Week competitor mentioned “saving a couple days going to an event and coming home would give me enough time to possibly do another event in 2025.”

Racers and automotive enthusiasts can be resourceful in more ways than one. If something isn’t available or built to tolerate a vehicle’s demands, there is normally another option. Even if that option is doing it yourself, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and that’s exactly how Isky Racing Cams got its start.

Now, over 70 years alter, ISKY Racing Cams continues to support enthusiasts, including in the drag-and-drive community.

When discussing the needs of drag-and-drive competitors, the need to fuel your ride properly is near the top of the list, as is the need for traction to get the best time slip possible. Tom Bailey put an emphasis on both these items when constructing the first Sick Week event in 2022, and VP Racing was on board right from the start.

“Tom recognized the need to take the drag-and-drive experience to the next level,” said Jason Rueckert of VP Racing. “We wanted to do our part to help that vision, and that started at Sick Week two years ago.”

The Summit Racing Equipment name brings decades of experience in the performance and racing landscape. But their introduction to the drag-and-drive community was through one of their valued employees. “I’ve always been a fan of drag-and-drive since the first year of Hot Rod Drag Week,” said Tommy Dupree of Summit Racing. “I went a few times when it was close to my home base.” That love for cars and trucks that could handle street and strip duty took the next step when Tommy encouraged Summit to get involved.  

Peak Auto is all about getting customers what they need to use their vehicles every day, and that same philosophy is brought them into the drag-and-drive world to see how products stand up to the torture tests competitors and Sick Ward participants put them through. “We’ve been involved in many forms of motorsports for decades,” said Peak’s Brian Bohlander. “One of the things that’s great about drag-and-drive is the ‘back-to-basics’ and grassroots feel of the sport, since hot rodders are building cars and trucks in their garages and then taking them out to enjoy them in multiple ways.”

The drag-and-drive community started with one event, Hot Rod Drag Week, in 2005. That event has grown into a movement with a large community of participants and fans, over 40 different events across multiple countries, and influenced thousands of car and truck builds to prove they can survive the street and the strip torture tests known by many as drag-and-drive.

There are a only a select few that have seen it all since the beginning, and Rick Johnson with Gear Vendors Overdrive is one of those people.

After putting together a Chevrolet Colorado a couple years back, Josh Reich made himself a little more well known in 2024. The single turbo pick-up scored a win and a top five finish from a pair of drag-and-drive events, and although some might have expected Reich to continue to refine the Colorado for 2025, he’s changing direction with a new build and new goals.

“My good friend Rodney Geist was building it for himself to show off his fabrication skills, and promote his business. Rod isn't a drag racer, or one to do a drag-and-drive, so we decided to partner up.”