The 72nd annual Detroit Autorama in Michigan showcased hundreds of rides, including the ‘Great 8’ finalists for the coveted Ridler award. And although a lot of focus was on those beautiful rides, as well as the Ridler award winning ‘55 Chevrolet Nomad of Tom and Christy Bresnahan, there were a lot more awards given out, including the popular Drag and Drive category.

Drag and drive rides have to prove themselves on the track and the street, but the Detroit Autorama gave them a chance to do it under the lights at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan for a chance to claim an award. The familiar ’63 DIVCO Milk Truck of Nick Cryer, which was part of the Sick The Magazine display, scored the third-place finish in the category.

The recently completed Oldsmobile Cutlass of Steven Haefner would take a display spot in the Summit Racing Equipment booth, and by the end of the three-day show, Haefner collected a pair of awards, taking home first place in the Drag and Drive category, as well as Street Best Engine.

For the 72nd time, Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan has been filled to capacity with hundreds of rides for the 3-day Detroit AutoRama.

One of the largest indoor car shows, news has just dropped on the ‘Great 8’ selection, a necessity for those eight finalists in their hopes to earn the coveted Ridler Award.

First presented in 1964, the Ridler Award is one of the highest awards to be captured in the custom and hot rod car community. It is awarded annually, and to even earn one of those coveted ‘Great 8’ slots, the vehicles must fall under under strict “never been shown before” guidelines.

The Great 8 finalists at the Detroit AutoRama have been announced – who will win the prestigious Ridler Award?

The 72nd Annual Detroit AutoRama in Michigan has showcased everything from race cars to street bikes, and for the 2025 edition of this massive indoor show, Sick The Magazine is displaying twelve of some cool and quick rides proven in drag and drive events.

But one of the main attractions at the Detroit AutoRama is the dozens of rides hoping for a ‘Great 8’ selection, and ultimately, the Ridler Award.

Since it was first presented at the Detroit AutoRama in 1964, the Ridler Award is one of the highest awards to be captured in the custom and hot rod car community. It is awarded annually from a group of vehicles selected as the ‘Great 8’ and these vehicles must fall under under strict “never been shown before” guidelines.

With Sick The Magazine getting our area set-up on Thursday, we had a chance to walk the show and check out some of the amazing rides. Below are some of the ones that caught our eye as possible ‘Great 8’ selection and could be the next Ridler Award winner.

For over 70 years, the Detroit AutoRama in Michigan has showcased tens of thousands of amazing rides, including hot rods, muscle cars, truck and motorcycles. One of the big attractions of the AutoRama is The Ridler Award, but for 2025, Sick The Magazine will bring a twelve pack of some cool and quick rides to our display at the AutoRama.

“It’s been on the greatest indoor shows for several decades,” said Tom Bailey. “We’ve enjoyed it for several years as enthusiasts, and we felt like showcasing a good number of drag and drive rides as part of our Sick The Magazine this year.”

The center of the display will be Sick The Magazine’s International ‘Chode’ truck and our merchandise trailer, where our full line-up of items will be available. This will be surrounded by a variety of rides from the drag and drive community.

After the success of the Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive in 2022, Tom Bailey came up with the idea of keeping a consistent drag and drive event each year, as well as a unique one.

Following in the footsteps of our Edelbrock Sick 66 event in 2024, Sick the Magazine will host a pair of ‘one-off’ events in 2025, the first being in our home state with Sick Michigan Miles Presented by Driven Racing Oil, August 10th through the 17th, 2025!

“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 (Sick The Mag editor) 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 week’s time.”

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.”

With a rich history that dates back over six decades, it may surprise some that Milan Dragway has hit the ‘for sale’ market. The track has played host to a number of big events over its history, including stops on this year’s Hot Rod Drag Week and Heads Up Hustle drag-and-drive events.

But unlike most tracks with ‘for sale’ signs in the window, Perry Merlo and co-owner Harold Bullock have plans for an active 2025 season, whether a buyer comes along or not.

The explosion of drag-and-drive in the last few years has brought more major events to the table, and dozens of conversations where competitors talk about wanting to do more than one to two events a year, but lack of time prevents it from happening.  

When Pilot Transport joined the Sick the Magazine group, it brought a lot of conversations from competitors about using the carrier. One Sick Week competitor mentioned “saving a couple days going to an event and coming home would give me enough time to possibly do another event in 2025.”

Pontiac, Michigan has hosted the popular MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge event since 2015, and although a few locations have been used, the 2024 edition of the event brought the racing action to M1 Concourse for the first time in event history.

Early this morning, the Next-Gen Dodge Charger was revealed to the media, and Dodge’s new ride will be able to be seen by the public starting at 1 p.m. today. The fresh redesign of the iconic Dodge nameplate packs some cutting edge styling, as well as all-new drivelines.

We’re just 1 day away from the 3rd annual Sick Powerfest Presented by Dodge and M1 Concourse. But Sick Pizza and Sullivan’s Public House decided to start the party a bit early - co-hosting the Hops and Horsepower meet on Wednesday night, August 7th.

Roadkill Nights’ drag racing element will be moved from Woodward Ave to the straightaway of M1 Concourse’s road course in a major shift for the unique event.

This ‘69 Chevrolet Camaro might be rare with its Australian heritage and right-hand-drive layout. But that doesn’t mean it won’t lay down a solid burnout!

Combining the best elements of street racing with the accuracy and safety of a closed race track, Roadkill Nights has brought a new meaning to the street racing world. In nine years, thousands of competitors have participated in legal ‘street racing’ in Michigan, and the 2024 edition this Saturday, August 10th, 2024 promises to bring more excitement to the streets!

The big burnouts associated with Sick Powerfest Presented by Dodge and M1 Concourse are legendary. Some of the best rides from the USA and Australia will be in attendance, including this ’69 delivery van from the Skids4Kids camp.

Combining the basics of a drag-and-drive event with a final day of eliminations to crown class winners, the Heads Up Hustle returned to Michigan for its second year. Milan Dragway and Mid Michigan host two days of qualifying runs and set an average for the final day, where eliminations are held and class winners are crowned.