After a solid year that started with a top five finish in the competitive 275 Street Race class at Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, Kevin Schweizer also participated in a couple events with the National Muscle Car Association and National Mustang Racers Association. Running the True Street class with his 1980 Mercury station wagon, Kevin picked up multiple victories, and for 2025, he’s ready to turn up the power.

Knowing the wagon has more potential on tap than the 8.50-second roll cage limit he used for most of the 2024 season, Kevin made the decision to upgrade the roll cage to 25.5-spec. This would make the wagon legal down to 7.50-second elapsed times, but Kevin wanted to retain room for four. “The rear seat isn’t that bad actually. My chassis guy even tacked welded the bar and tried it to make sure we had room.”

Although the drag-and-drive calendar can get a little thin on events in the fall, the popular Street-N-Yeet brings out a good contingent of competitors each November. At this year’s event, Nick Rinehart debuted a brand-new ride to the drag-and-drive world, a 1967 Chevrolet Nova, signaling his return to racing after sixteen years away from the sport.

For those that might recognize Nick’s name, it’s because one of his past racing exploits involved the National Muscle Car Association with a 1972 Nova in the early 2000s in heads-up competition. Now, he’s ready to drive into the drag-and-drive world.

“My goal from day one has always been to drag-and-drive this car, before it even had the popularity that it has today. I did class racing, and wanted to have a new challenge, and I think I’m up for it.”

As 2024 draws to a close, the count for new tracks and re-opened tracks, versus tracks that have been closed or shuttered, seems to have the scales tipped to the positive side. And although Florida got news not too long ago that a track will close in the spring of 2025, the new drag strip at Lead Foot City held a grand opening this past weekend.

As we originally reported in February 2024, Lead Foot City made the decision to expand their footprint in Brooksville, Florida to add to their existing compound and schedule that included drifting and several car themed events. Originally rumored to be considering asphalt and more of a no-prep / flag start track, things got ramped up quite a bit when the concrete trucks showed up instead!

Christmas traditions might include egg nog, listening to your favorite songs around a fire, and exchanging presents with family and friends. But instead of trimming the tree with ornaments, 32 racers trimmed their tree to fit on cars and trucks at the fifth annual Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship at Bradenton Motorsports Park.

The brainchild of Cleetus McFarland and good friend Victor Alvarez, owner of Bradenton Motorsports Park, the annual event draws some solid racing action, as well as thousands of spectators. The premise to be one of the accepted 32 competitors is simple: a traditional Christmas Tree is required on each vehicle, minimum six-foot tall, and can be real or fake. The tree must be attached to each vehicle, it must be lit, and it must remain attached the entire length of the run, or the competitor risks disqualification.

Although the number of companies with an on-site appearance at some events is dwindling, the drag-and-drive community is experiencing growth. Sick the Magazine’s events are a great example of this, with both established companies and newcomers display products, and providing options for competitors to finish their events.

One of the newest to the fray is Redhorse Performance, and they marked their arrival in an unusual way. The second day of Sick Summer 2023 fell victim to Mother Nature for the day, with action at Byron Dragway canceled. Redhorse arrived at the Historic Auto Attraction checkpoint, and proceeded to break in their new truck and trailer correctly with a tire-smoking burnout.

“We’ve heard about the trailer burnouts, but they didn’t tell us how much fun it is,” said Kevin Fitzgerald of Redhorse Performance.

At Sick the Magazine, we’ve shown that we can cover lots of different places with drag-and-drive events. From our yearly events, like Sick Week that uses the same tracks, or our one-off events like the recently completed Sick 66 where we covered over 1,000 miles of Route 66 from Missouri to New Mexico, we’re not afraid of the adventure. And for 2025, we’re bringing that adventure to our home state with Sick Michigan Miles!

“When the idea was first proposed, I started thinking about how nice the areas around northern Michigan are,” said Tom Bailey of Sick The Mag. “The more Luke Nieuwhof and I discussed it, it made sense that we could visit four great tracks, incorporate an August tradition for automotive enthusiasts, and do a 1,000 mile road trip in one weeks time.”

The product of drag-and-drive enthusiasts Devin and Laura Vanderhoof, the Southeast Street-N-Yeet is normally the final major event on the calendar each year.

Starting at Shadyside on November 6th with day zero parking and testing, the 7th brought tech inspection and the official start to keeping track of performances. Friday November 8th brought the unique ‘double-up’ of Southeast Street-N-Yeet by visiting South Carolina Motorplex in Neeses, South Carolina for morning / early afternoon action. That would be followed by the drive to the ‘House of Hook’, Carolina Dragway in Aiken, South Carolina for the second-half of racing into the evening.

Saturday would steer the tour back into North Carolina and Mooresville Dragway on November 9th, before returning to Shadyside Dragway to close out the event on Sunday with class winners, as well as a Heads-Up and Dial-Your-Own (DYO) Shootout.

After nearly four years away from the seat of a NHRA Funny Car, ‘Fast’ Jack Beckman got the chance to jump back behind the wheel in 2024. When John Force crashed during a round one victory at Virginia Motorsports Park in June, he needed a substitute driver, and Beckman got that chance just over a month later. Now, Beckman will return as a full-time driver in a Funny Car for 2025.

“I had an eight race interview, and it went well,” said Beckman after being announced as the driver for 2025. The former NHRA national Super Comp and Funny Car champion will get a chance to pursue his own championship in 2025, and has one of the best in the business cheering him on. “I’m looking forward to cheering on Jack Beckman this season, as I continue my recovery,” said John Force.

As we originally reported at the end of October of this year, the California-based Irwindale Dragstrip would shut its gates permanently. Along with sister half-mile circle track Irwindale Speedway, the tracks would be the latest casualty in a 2024 season that saw multiple tracks shut down or sold for re-development.

The Irwindale tracks first opened in 1999 for the Speedway, and 2001 for the Dragstrip. When the announcement came about the tracks’ future, the remaining events would become the final time for drag racing enthusiasts to make a trip down Irwindale’s eighth-mile saw a sharp increase in attendance. With the final dragstrip event scheduled for December 8th, over 200 tickets were sold for the last dragstrip event.

It’s not uncommon to hear stories from enthusiasts and racing competitors on drawing inspiration from their parents, their friends, and even fellow enthusiasts on why they choose to participate in car activities.

The inspiration for this fresh drag-and-drive build of Steve Haefner came from another Oldsmobile Cutlass, one that had attendees at the Performance and Racing Industry (PRI) show doing a double take.

“I can’t lie; VP Racing’s Jason Rueckert car is what made me choose the G-body, and specifically the Oldsmobile,” said Haefner. Although the general stance, color and twin-turbo power are very close, Haefner’s ride has a few noticeable differences, including a drag-and-drive focus.

As the drag-and-drive world continues to gain steam with more events and bigger performances, there are a small group of people that are doing their part to bring a little more attention to the community.

One of them is Bryant Goldstone, a competitor that has re-written the record book in the Ultimate Iron / Unlimited Iron classes with a 1973 AMC Javelin that’s become a staple at drag-and-drive events.

Today at the Performance and Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis, Bryant pulled the cover off his newest effort for drag-and-drive in 2025.

There are a lot of stock to mildly-modified rides in the drag-and-drive world, but thousands of cars and trucks demand more of the cooling system, more of the fueling system, and in turn, the electrical components associated to survive.

This is where XS Power Batteries comes in, as a reliable energy source in many forms, and they joined us on Sick Week in 2024. “I had talked to Tom about doing a drag-and-drive event last year,” said Remy Viator of XS Power Batteries. “I’m glad we could be a part of Sick Week in 2024.”

Although XS Power Batteries isn’t new to the game in the battery wars, they may not be as well known on the drag-and-drive side to some, but that is changing.

Hot Rod Magazine’s Fastest Street Car Shootout in 1992 was the first event to point the spotlight at dual purposes cars that could survive the street, as well as lay down impressive numbers on the track. Over a decade later, drag-and-drive got its start at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2005, taking a page from that iconic 1992 event and expanding on it.

Looking back at history can give us a clearer picture of what the future may hold, and that ideal plays into the most recent update on Tom Bailey’s ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ ’69 Camaro, as Bailey will debut it with the fresh look at this week’s Performance & Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis, Indiana in the Gear Vendors Overdrive booth.

The official route for Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive is now available for your pre-event pleasure.

Covering 845 miles throughout Georgia and Florida to reach the five race days, competitors will see the surf and the swamps as they prove their street cars in the real world.

We’ve only got six days left before our current vehicle giveaway, the 1952 Nash wagon, which comes to an end on Sunday, December 15th 2024. Packing a fresh 396 cubic inch small block Chevy, with an extra 150 horsepower of nitrous onboard, the Nash could be your ticket to 9-second time slips!

But, in the spirit of the holiday season, we can’t wait any longer to show off our next giveaway car, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Indy Pace Car! And for the next six days, you can double your chances to win one of our cars!

While a lot of North America is done racing for the 2024 season, Florida is one of a couple states that can boast racing year round. One of the big events that has a lot of history is the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park, and for the 53rd edition of the event, there were some shocking results this past weekend.

For the first time in 2024, the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals would signal the first event of a three race Drag Illustrated Winter Series Points Championship series. Of the twelve classes contested at the Snowbirds, Pro Mod caught the majority of the attention both leading up the event, as well as during. 64 drivers got invitations to participate, but just 32 would play for $50,000 to win in Sunday eliminations.

He may have gotten his start in drag-and-drive with a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, but the black and red AMC Javelin of Bryant Goldstone has become a well known ride. Based on its percentage of events completed, class wins, and records broken and set, Goldstone has set the bar for the Unlimited Iron class.

But this week will bring the reveal of a new ride for Goldstone in 2025, as he takes aim on quicker times, and the Unlimited class.

What could Goldstone’s new ride be? The Performance & Racing Industry show in Indy will give us the first look at the new ride in the XS Power booth.

Even though the 1986 model El Camino known as ‘Mullet’ has scored wins on both the drag-and-drive calendar, as well as a World Cup Finals victory in 2022, the last few years haven’t been as good. Competition has gotten faster, and although Tye and the Cleetus crew revamped the car with a new rear end and aftermarket 4-link set-up, it wasn’t the answer.

After tapping Cameron Johnson Race Cars in Lakeland, Florida to build a 5-second Pro 275-class ’69 Camaro recently, Cleetus took advantage of an open spot in their schedule to slide Mullet in for the next round of upgrades.

As the drag-and-drive community and event schedule grows, there have been several articles and inquiries into the origin of the first drag-and-drive, Hot Rod Magazine’s Drag Week in 2005.

Hot Rod also played host to the Fastest Street Car Shootout, held in Memphis, Tennessee, where several drivers etched their names as the first competitors in a street-legal car shootout. One of them was Rick Dyer, and sadly, we’ve gotten word that the Michigan resident has passed away.

Just over two months after ending their 2023 season, Battlefield Dragstrip changed that status to permanent closure for the 2024 season.

Despite thirty years of operation in Stonewall, Mississippi and recent upgrades, the track’s future looked bleak.

But recently, news broke that Battlefield Dragstrip will get its latest operator this month, as the track is scheduled to see action for the first time in nearly fifteen months on December 21st, 2024.