NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The battle to determine America’s quickest and fastest street legal cars will continue as Sick Week 2025 Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive returns to four NHRA member tracks; South Georgia Motorsports Park, Bradenton Motorsports Park, Orlando Speed World Dragway, and Gainesville Raceway. The annual drag and drive event, which also includes nearly 1,000 miles of street driving, will take place January 27 - February 1.

Sick Week 2025 kicks off at South Georgia Motorsports Park on Monday, January 27 with tech and testing followed by day one of competition on Tuesday, January 28. The event then moves to Bradenton Motorsports Park on Wednesday, January 29, and then to Orlando Speed World Dragway, on Thursday, January 30. Historic Gainesville Raceway, the home of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, will host the event on Friday, January 31 before returning to South Georgia Motorsports Park for the final day of competition on Saturday, February 1.

Each of the more than 300 Sick Week competitors must drive their race vehicles from track to track following a predetermined route that includes mandatory check points.

The highlight of this year’s event will be the battle to produce a five-second time slip, with a brutal assortment of street legal machines preparing for what may be the quickest and fastest drag and drive event in history.

Ever since Tom Bailey’s historic 5.99 run at Hot Rod Drag Week in 2019, drag-and-drive fans have been waiting to see a repeat. It seemed for a period that interest in the Unlimited class and its road-going Pro Mods had waned, but a recent explosion of new rides has put high expectations on Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive.

One look at the field expected for this year’s event shows why anticipation of a new world record is at fever pitch. Brett LaSala’s Snot Rocket 3.0 Mustang will be in drag-and-drive competition for the first time, having already been as quick as 6.04. Bryant Goldstone, who won practically everything there was to win in 2024, is expected to have his new Corvette on track. Goldstone’s new Chevy once set a world speed record for NHRA Pro Mod cars with driver Melanie Troxel.

Sweden’s Stefan Gustafsson will also have his Pro Mod Camaro build out for the first time. Street Outlaws star and drag-and-drive legend Jeff Lutz will be back with his Mad Max Camaro, as will Canadian Dave Schroeder. Add event founder Tom Bailey and it’s clear just how outrageous Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive should be.

LaSala’s Mustang is a fan-favorite thanks to its steel body and Coyote engine platform. He said his new 3.0 version is all about incremental improvements.

“There was nothing wrong with [2.0],” he said. “But as you try to go faster you reach limitations in different areas. It’s a lot of small changes, but with cars this fast, small changes create numbers.
We haven’t run into a limitation yet with this car [in testing]; it has been amazing. We will be continuing testing through December and January leading up to Sick Week and I believe it has the five-second number in there. Everything will have to be perfect on a run, because we are at max efficiency.”

As for Goldstone, he is in a race against time to ready the final details of his Corvette. While LaSala transferred his driveline to the new Mustang, Goldstone is working on a new setup — an SMX built by his co-pilot Brian Robbins.

“We did some homework, and to likely run five-second runs, we’ll need 55-60 pounds of boost,” said Goldstone. “The current [big-block Chevy] engine in the AMC wants to lift the cylinder heads if we go past 42 pounds, and although it’s been reliable, we need more for the next step. I still have some work to do on the car, and I’m not going to compromise. We’ll go with the car tested and ready or take the Javelin.”

And as for Bailey, between promoting new Sick events and publishing Sick The Magazine, he’s finally had time to give the Sick Seconds 2.0 Camaro a refresh including a 1969 Indy 500 Pace Car livery and some love on the chassis Bailey believes Sick Week 2025 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive is primed to be the greatest street car drag racing event of all time.

“There’s something in the air for this year, because there’s just so much potential everywhere you look,” Bailey said. “The conditions are there, the cars are there, so there’s no excuses. Someone is going to smack one out of the park this year, and I hope it’s me to be honest. We’ve got a car that has been 5.77 in drag-and-drive trim, we just need to do it in competition and survive the week.”