Peak Drag-and-Drive? We’re Not There Yet
I’m a relatively seasoned drag-and-drive competitor. I started doing this ten years ago, when I signed up for Hot Rod Drag Week without a clue how it would change my life for the better.
Having a drag racing background with street legal cars, the definition flipped in 2014 when I decided I would have a drag-and-drive car. Hot Rod Drag Week was THE event that existed at the time, and had existed since 2005, starting with 40 cars. David Freiburger took notes from One Lap of America and melded it with Pump Gas Drags to make something totally unique. It’s crazy to think that in 2005 they had to give the competitors disposable cameras to take their checkpoint photos because phone cameras hadn’t become a regular thing yet!
The staging lanes are full everywhere. Photo by Matt Reekie.
Fast forward 10 years into the future from my first soiree into drag-and-drive and there’s 40-some events out there now. Incredible growth by anyone’s measure. There’s week-long events with huge street miles and a slew of three-to-four day events intended on giving you an appetizer-sized drag-and-drive.
For some time now, people have been wondering when we’ll hit ‘peak drag-and-drive.’ When three events were announced for the same week in September 2024, eyes were rolled and promoters were tsk-tsked. Then what happened? Three week-long events, all at the same time, all sold out — and quickly.
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Hot Rod Drag Week, September 16-20 sold out 400 entries, competing in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
Redwood Rally, September 17-21 sold out 250 entries, competing in Oregon and Northern California.
Race Week (the Rocky Mountain Race Week 2.0 event), September 15-20 sold out 300 entries, competing in Texas and Louisiana.
Each of the above does utilize a wait list, and if you’d like the chance to compete, visit each website or their social media to see the process involved if you’re interested, by the way.
If you break down the numbers, 950 drag-and-drive competitor cars will be simultaneously competing in three vastly different areas of the country. If each car has a single co-pilot, 1900 gearheads will be burning up a combined estimate of one-million street miles in the week. Assuming everyone makes at least one pass at each track per day, 4750 individual passes will happen with street legal vehicles. What a time to be a drag-and-drive enthusiast!
At this point you have no reason not to jump on the drag-and-drive train! With these three events selling out in minutes on the same exact week, the demand is still extremely high. But with 40 variants out there, it’s time to pull your dusty old car out of the garage, shove your wife/husband/victim in the passenger seat and go burn some miles! No more excuses. See you at the next one!
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