Texas Two Step – Edelbrock Sick 66 Hits Amarillo Dragway – A Trio of Competitors Need Double Digit Runs to Stake Their Claim to a Spot in the Standings!
We officially past the halfway point of Edelbrock Sick 66 as the tour rolled into Amarillo Dragway in Texas on Tuesday.
A trio of track dates was joined by a near 300-mile drive day on day four (Monday, October 14th), and with just over 700 miles traveled by almost all the competitors, it was time to see who could continue to attack the track for some good numbers and a chance at the overall top spot.
A once in-a-lifetime drag-and-drive: Edelbrock Sick 66, is underway! Don’t miss your chance to join us for the fional two days - October 17th and 18th, 2024. It’s Route 66, over 30 checkpoints, 6 tracks, and an epic experience. CLICK HERE for general information, routes and tracks we will be at!!
The day started with the C group cars, designated for the vehicles that run between 6.40 and 7.35. Although Geoff Dugopolski’s Aztec Bronze ’66 Chevelle is still sporting all the chrome and a set of Billet Specialties Win Light wheels, it isn’t just a looker.
Geoff made sure the 1966 Chevrolet was a runner too, averaging a 6.51, along with a best pass of 6.45 at 105 mph from the second day of Sick 66. He ran a best of 6.59 at 104 mph at Amarillo.
The Amarillo Dragway track packs a lot of history, but it also brings much thinner air and higher Density Altitude (DA) numbers. We saw north of 6000 DA at points of the day, and it affected multiple entries.
One person happier than most to roll into Amarillo Dragway was Alexis Zarate, who calls it her home track. The ’69 Camaro had destroyed its fiberglass header panel during competition, and after swapping the shredded one for a metal replacement, Alexis made a pair of runs.
Her 5.77 at 125 mph second run would be the best, but it was also the worst. A parts call for an oil filter cutter revealed a lot of metal shavings in the oil, and Alexis will likely make a decision on swapping out the damaged 4.8-liter LS for a loaner engine.
We talked about how rough Route 66 was on the drive day on Monday, and although Christine Wiegand’s 1971 Pontiac Trans Am didn’t catch the oil pan, it did crack the transmission pan.
Christine and husband Erik managed to get the rare Trans Am patched up, and Christine laid down a 7.93 at 88 mph in the naturally-aspirated Pontiac at Amarillo.
Rick Steinke and Jason Rousseau once again tangled amongst themselves, as well as the time slips, to keep hold of their top two spots. Rick opened with a 5.83, followed by Jason’s 5.70. Because the thin air was sapping some power from both turbocharged machines, Rick and Jason cranked up the tunes for the second run.
Rick improved to a 5.53 at 131 mph, his best speed of the event, while Jason only ran 5.66 at 132 mph. Following a third run of 5.54 at 133 mph, Jason returned for a fourth shot, and produced a 5.43 at 133 mph that had co-pilot Zach throwing a fist in the air to celebrate.
One man celebrating just making it to Amarillo was Brooks Fleharty, who had to swap the head gaskets on his pushrod-powered Ford Mustang. After a faulty switch shut off the car on the burnout, he made a second attempt and the scoreboards showed a 6.08 at just 112 mph, well off his mid 5-second pace of the week. We’ll see if he can fix the turbocharged steed again for the drive to Albuquerque.
Lamar Swindoll has been fighting the good fight for nitrous cars, and with the tricky conditions at Amarillo, his first pass was a soft launched 5.65 at 125 mph. A second attempt was nearly instant tire spin, so Lamar made the switch to street mode and got ready for the 300-plus mile drive to New Mexico.
Tom Bailey and Steve Morris went pass for pass yet again in Texas, trying to outdo the other to stay ahead in the averages. Steve came in holding less than a two thousandths of-a-second margin, and after six runs, the giveaway Trailblazer produced a 7.409 at 106 mph.
Tom continued to thrash the Mopar Hurricrate-swapped Ramcharger pass after pass, and got nothing but frustration at the time booth. He either got a run quicker than 7.36 (not allowed per NHRA ruling for safety), or a run too slow that allowed Steve’s margin to get larger.
Lap after lap, Tom continued to come back to the lanes, until run number 23 with just minutes remaining before the 3 pm lane closure bell rang. The scoreboards flashed the magic number Tom needed, a 7.3990 at 94 mph, giving Tom a 7.39788 average, to jump ahead of Steve’s ultra-close 7.39925!!
After battling transmission and converter issues just two miles outside of Mo-Kan Dragway on Saturday, Robert Voss found himself behind the eight-ball once again with engine troubles after day three at Tulsa.
The big block was ripped apart and although hopes were slim, it looked like the 6-second Buick would survive to Texas. But alas, the gasket kit he got didn’t have the right oil pan gasket, and time ran out to get the car put back together. Robert is joining us for the rest of the tour as an interested spectator.
The drive from Amarillo Dragway in Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico takes a bit over 300 miles, and will bring us over the 1,000-mile mark for the event. We’re hitting Albuquerque Dragway today, and then on to Alien City Dragway in Roswell for the final two days of Edelbrock Sick 66.
You can find a full list of the checkpoints, as well as the route, by CLICKING HERE for the Edelbrock Sick 66 information page. See us on the route, come visit us at a checkpoint, or make plans to grab a seat at one of the two remaining tracks on Thursday for our next day of racing!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com