LaSala Takes Historic Win at a Sick Week to Remember
Brett LaSala and the Snot Rocket Ford Mustang are officially the winners of Sick Week 2024 Presented By Gear Vendors Overdrive.
LaSala produced the quickest average in Sick Week history to win overall honors at 6.340 seconds, with a quickest time of 6.263 — which came from his final pass of the event.
The Coyote-engine, Modified-class Mustang has rapidly become one of the most impressive drag racing vehicles in the world — let alone street cars — since it burst onto the scene just a year ago. LaSala said that while the car has had some improvements from Sick Week 2023, the gains were mainly about building data and learning what the car wanted.
“It’s unbelievable,” LaSala said. “We knew the car was fast coming into the event, but one pass is one pass. To have the average in the 6.3 range and win overall against someone like Jeff Lutz is just amazing.
“Last year we had only been racing the car for about three months. We got better, the tune up got better and it’s making more power with new turbochargers. We have been slowly creeping up on horsepower because we don’t know the limits of the factory cast block.”
LaSala’s average was the third quickest overall in drag-and-drive history, behind Jeff Lutz’s 6.191 (Drag Week 2016) and Tom Bailey’s 6.299 (Drag Week 2019). It was by far and away the quickest average on a radial tire.
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Second overall belonged to Bryant Goldstone and his turbo big block AMC Javelin, who won the Unlimited Iron class. His 6.519 average was his quickest ever, coming along with a personal best 6.427 pass on day two.
Third overall went to Stefan Gustafsson, who fought for a 6.745 average after struggling with tire shake all week. Gustafsson was also the quickest car in the Unlimited class.
Sitting just outside the top three with the only other six-second average of the event was Alex Taylor, who turned in a 6.971. She started her week with a personal best 6.791/214mph but the ’55 Chevy put up a heck of a fight later in the event with driveshaft and fueling problems.
While LaSala was obviously the major player in the Modified field, his OG Snot Rocket Mustang — now belonging to Zach Meyers — scored second place with a 7.605 average, while Bob Hess finished third with a 7.696 average for an all-Mustang top three.
The new Heavy Metal class saw a genuinely heavy car win the event, as Jason Pickett put his 4000-pound Hearse into top spot with an 8.159 average. Jon Moore’s seriously impressive Crown Victoria (above) finished second with an 8.768 average.
Glenn Hunter finally enjoyed a week to be proud of in his ’56 Chevy, turning in his best ever drag-and-drive average at 7.274. Kelly Harvey’s beautiful Corvette finally finished Sick Week for a best-ever 7.766 average, while Alan Mougey’s tough Camaro Z28 bombed into third with a 7.935 average, which we believe is his quickest ever too.
Australia’s Michael Ward gave Super Street a big-time push with a 7.350 average to win, far and away his quickest ever (including a 7.146 run at SGMP). Day five did end in spectacular fashion however when the Nova threw the driveshaft out at mid track. Super Street was full of wild moments, as Kevin Smith almost spun his Camaro when it pushed a head gasket. He fortunately pulled off one of the most epic saves ever seen in drag racing, but was unable to return and lost second place. Brad Thiessen moved into second with a 7.565 average while John Dodson took third at 7.618.
Matt Sweet scored a well-earned Naturally Aspirated win with consistent 7.7 passes all week for a 7.737 average in his Nova. Guy Protano’s Camaro went to second at 8.654 while Jason Tabscott battled to third at an 8.913 average after barely making it to the lanes due to serious valve train issues on the way to the track for the final day.
Matt Moore couldn’t believe how quick he was going on 235 tires in Rowdy Radial, finishing with a 4.686 average in his Ford Mustang. Sheldon Root went toe-to-toe with Moore for most of the week, setting his average at 4.757.
Damon Elff won Sick Week Freaks with an 8.804 average in his Toyota Supra, while Rick Fletes used a 9.039 average for second. It was a bad day for Rob Courtney, who lost second place as he smashed axles all day long in his Honda Civic, which until then had an eight-second average. He managed to salvage third with a 9.183 average.
Gassers vs Hot Rods vs Beetles took a surprise turn when leader Steven Dalton had problems, which made the UK’s Richie Webb the winner on a 10.209 average with his turbo Beetle. Webb was the first ever Beetle winner of the class! Kevin Williams took second with his Ford Roadster and an average of 10.766.
Street Race 275 saw Randy Seaward deliver an 8.512 average, one of the quickest in 8.50-class history. James Taal finished second in the revived ‘Ruby’ Corvette out of the Cleetus McFarland stable.
Brian Acton won Sick Street Race with an 8.523 average, which included a perfect 8.500 on day two of the event. Alex Corella took second with an 8.575 average.
Gabriela Lujan left her first Sick Week with an orange helmet thanks to a Pro DYO spread of 0.021. Canada’s Rajveer Ahuja finished second with a 0.065 spread. In DYO, Joe Hajny took over the lead in the final day with a 0.041 spread in his ’71 Nova. Collin Moore took out the final Bulls Eye Challenge for the week in his ’94 Silverado.
The Spirit of Sick Week Award went to Sweden’s Magnus Frost for his efforts throughout the week to keep his Ascona running and his generosity in helping other racers. The Top Tourist Award went to Danny Grubaugh, who drove his 19-second AMC Gucci to almost every corner of Florida in search of things to see.
After racing, every Sick Week racer, crew member, Sick Warder and official enjoyed a Puerto Rican dinner followed by trophy presentations — a great way to cap off what was regarded as the best Sick Week yet. Truly blessed weather, big spectator counts and somewhat less carnage than last year made for an event to remember. See you at Sick Summer!
Check out some more photos from the final day below.
