Hello everyone. If you read our last post, you would know that we are travelling along on Sick Week 2026. This is where I will post some photos from the action (hopefully) each day. Given the logistics of travelling between venues, it can be difficult to post pictures each day, but I will do my best to share the best of what I’ve captured.
I will start a new headline for each day, starting with Day 0. I am also sending photos from my phone to our social media manager, so please follow our Facebook or Instagram pages for faster uploads. Most of those will be unedited photos, but I will try to post edited photos from my good camera here when I arrive at the hotel at the end of each day, if I can.
Sick Week VIP Practice and Day 0 (Tech Day)
It was COOOOOOLD when we arrived on Friday, but it was even COOOOOOLDER on Saturday and Sunday, as a front moved across the country, bringing near record low temps to Gainesville Raceway. Friday and Saturday until midday saw strong test hits from competitors before temperatures plummeted.
We hung out on Sunday with some of our partners, including “The Muskrat” twin-turbo Big-Block Chevy Tesla, which is now the fastest Tesla on the planet after making an 8.16-second pass on Friday. Tom Bagguley arrived late on Saturday, fresh from the dyno, to see what the “NapShack” can do. And Clay Millican caught a ride down from Memphis with me after three failed attempts at catching a flight. He’ll be riding shotgun with Jeffrey Lutz Jr. in the CRC “Build for the Future” Pro Street C10 throughout the week, while helping Jeff Lutz on Mad Max, his yellow ’69 Camaro.
Here are some pics from those days!
Sick Week Day 1 – Gainesville Raceway
I have to be honest, it was a TOUGH day. It was very long, with several oil downs and general slowdowns for various reasons, so we arrived late at the hotel in Valdosta.
It was a difficult day for some of the heavy-hitters in the drag and drive world, too. Jeff Lutz and Bryant Goldstone are out in the Unlimited class. Josh Davis, with his 2018 Mustang GT500, has the top speed with a 6.134@220 MPH. There was a lot of carnage on Day 1, so let’s hope that is over now and we have smoother sailing through the end of the week!
The Muskrat also had a tough day after some really promising passes during the VIP test days. The guys chased an alternator issue – fixed that – then had two bolts back out on the crank sensor later on. They managed a 12.98 run, but they are looking for much more. And again, we hope for better things for everyone now that the temps are warming up! It’s on to South Georgia Motorsports Park near Valdosta, GA!
Without further ado, here are some pics from Day 1!!
Sick Week Day 2 – South Georgia Motorsports Park
South Georgia Motorsports Park brought the heat (literally and figuratively). The air temperature and track temperatures couldn’t have been any better, and most of the cars on track responded. The Swedes, with Stefan Gustafson at the wheel, pulled a 6.16 @ 233 mph to slightly close the gap on Josh Davis. Meanwhile, the gremlins from the night before lingered for Tom Bailey, who fell to Fourth with a best run of 6.72 @ 135. Nick Linrin leapfrogged Bailey into Third with a 6.38 @224.
Here are the photos from Day 2 at SGMP!
Sick Week Drive Day – SGMP to Bradenton
Even though there was no racing, the drive day was incredible, and probably the warmest day we’ll have during Sick Week. That meant windows down, rolling down the highways and byways along the west coast of Florida to the first checkpoint of the day at Cypress Inn Restaurant. We caught up with a few racers there and hung out for a few minutes before hitting the road to the second checkpoint at Leadfoot City!
Leadfoot City hails itself as America’s automotive theme park, and it lived up to the hype. It’s a huge complex with a short drag strip, a drift and autocross pad, a burnout pit, and indoor drift karts, along with lounges and bars. They even had a cruise-in with some of the local cars. Of course, they had a specific spot for trailer burnouts as Sick Week participants left the facility. It was a great time for everyone!
Here are some photos from the road and the action at Leadfoot City!
Sick Week Day 4- Bradenton Motorsports Park
Racing got a late start at Bradenton Motorsports Park due to rain and wind. Ultimately, only the C- and D-group cars were able to run. It was determined that the crosswinds were too high for the A and B group cars, as they may need to pull the parachutes. No one wants to pull a parachute with a 30 MPH crosswind!
So, by the time the racing was called, it was close to 3:00. With a 250-mile drive to Orlando with two checkpoints, it put me back at the hotel at midnight. I’ve finally been able to edit a few of the photos, so here ya go!!
Sick Week Day 5 – Orlando Speed World
Orlando Speed World lived up to its name! The weather front that plagued Bradenton, bringing rain and high winds, gave way to sunshine and warmer temperatures in Orlando. The Sick Prep team had the track set to ELEVEN, and the competitors capitalized on it. The result was some great photo opportunities, some personal-best passes, and a little bit of carnage on the track. Unfortunately, the overall leader, Josh Davis, exploded the transmission tailshaft, causing a fire inside the car. Luckily, his firesuit protected him, but he was out of the competition. Here is our Day 5 gallery from Sick Week!
The Final Day! – Gainesville Raceway
What a final day! It was a decent shag from Orlando for a bunch of teams who decided to stick around for the All-Run session with the great weather in Orlando. I left shortly before the All Run was called, and I still got into Gainesville quite late.
With a 10 a.m. call for cars in the staging lanes and a decent weather forecast, there wasn’t much sleep that night, but we were eager to see how the day would go. Things went well for most of the day until a timing system issue slowed operations to a crawl. The Sick Week crew rightly pivoted and began running cars on the one lane that operated consistently. Unfortunately, some oil-downs and car issues caused further delays. Eventually, the other lane was fixed by the time the All Run was called, but there were a ton of cars still left.
It took a while to conclude the evening, but hey, we weren’t complaining about a few extra hours of racing! By the time it was all over, everyone had at least one run, and any undecided classes had their second chances during the All Run, which was the right thing to do. The Sick Week crew worked through adversity all week long, and they did a great job making a fair competition out of an unfortunate situation.
Here is the final gallery of photos for the last day of competition from Gainesville Raceway.
Results – Unlimited
At the end of the week, the overall field shrank by approximately 85 cars through attrition. The cold weather helped competitors identify weaknesses in their setups, whether they wanted to or not. The Unlimited class took a big hit on Day 1, with Lutz and Goldstone falling out, and Bailey significantly hurting his engine (ultimately retiring after making two attempts on Day 2).
Josh Davis was the man to beat going into Orlando with 6.13 and 6.19 passes at Gainesville and SGMP, respectively. He looked hard to beat; his car seemed to be on a Sunday drive every time it went down the track. Unfortunately, the transmission tailshaft exited the chat on his pass in Orlando, causing a fire and cutting the field down to just six competitors.
With just one car left capable of running in the sixes (in Unlimited), Sweden’s Niklas Linrin just had to keep his ’67 Firebird together. He achieved just that, earning a third orange helmet for Sweden with an average speed of 206.50 MPH in 6.49 seconds.
Results – Unlimited Iron
Unlimited Iron was the most hotly contested class, with just .00775 separating Les Smith in his 2011 Camaro and Alex Taylor in her ’55 Chevy 210. Taylor had the fastest run of the group on Day 1 with a 6.558 pass, but couldn’t reproduce it again. She may have made the most passes out of anyone at Sick Week as she tried to unseat Smith from the top spot while overcoming a 7.458 timeslip on Day 2. When the dust settled, Smith’s 6.86075 @211.65 average topped Taylor’s 6.86850 @211.84, giving him the orange helmet. It was exciting to watch!
For a complete list of results from all the classes, visit Sick Week’s results page!
Next up for us is Speedfest in Bowling Green, Kentucky, at Beech Bend Raceway on May 28-30. Will we see you there?
