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.

Several drag and drive events each year following the week-long format that Hot Rod Drag Week initiated in 2005. But we’ve seen a few events start to use the 2-3 day format, and Sick The Magazine’s will take that to the next level with our new Sick Street Car Challenge class at the Sick At The Rock event, April 10th - 12th, 2025 at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.

“We have been trying to incorporate this into an event for a few years now,” Tom Bailey said of the new class. “Everyone we have mentioned it to has been all about it. Well, here it is - the Sick Street Car Challenge class!”

Registration to this two-day drag and drive format is now open to 200 lucky competitors, for a chance to collect their share of $32,000 in payouts. You don’t necessarily need to be the quickest overall either, as we have 32 different categories to award $1,000 in, and we’ve come up with some good ones to give every competitor a shot at some money.

The Sick Street Car Challenge, based on a two-day drag and drive format (Friday April 11th and Saturday April 12th), will compete on an eighth-mile distance. Street legal machines will battle for $32,000 in prize money across over two-dozen categories, with the ability to stack more than one category for huge payouts!

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.

The inaugural Sick At The Rock event will bring a party atmosphere, and hundreds of America’s quickest real street cars, to Rockingham Dragway on April 10-12th, 2025.

The newest class to Sick At The Rock, the Sick Street Car Challenge, will battle it out alongside the wild Rockingham Big Dog Pro Mods, with classes inspired by the former National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) and National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA) series: Street Race 8.60, Small Tire Pro Stock, Nostalgia Super Stock – Nostalgia Muscle Car Combo, Coyote Stock and Open Comp.

Sick The Magazine is launching a brand-new class at Sick At The Rock: the Sick Street Car Challenge! It will employ a two-day drag and drive format (Friday April 11th and Saturday April 12th) and use an eighth-mile distance.

Street legal machines will be able to shoot for over $30,000 in prize money across over two-dozen categories, with the ability to stack more than one category for huge payouts!

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 three seasons of hosting successful drag and drive events, Sick The Magazine expanded into stand alone events in 2025 with Sick At The Rock and Sick On The Green. Both events will feature 15 different classes of racing, plus over $100,000 of guaranteed payout.

Tom Bailey looked at the news of the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) and National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA) closing their doors in October 2024, as well as his experience, and saw an opportunity to give back to the community. “With the announcement of the NMCA/NMRA, I couldn’t help but think that there were thousands of racers that had planned on racing that series in 2025,” said Tom.

The first of the two events, Sick At The Rock, takes place at the legendary Rockingham Dragway on April 10th-12th, 2025. Street machines and race cars will come together for an action-packed three days of racing and fun, with up to fifteen different classes of cars, including the 3,000+ horsepower Big Dog Pro Mods class!