Christmas traditions might include egg nog, listening to your favorite songs around a fire, and exchanging presents with family and friends. But instead of trimming the tree with ornaments, 32 racers trimmed their tree to fit on cars and trucks at the fifth annual Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship at Bradenton Motorsports Park.

The brainchild of Cleetus McFarland and good friend Victor Alvarez, owner of Bradenton Motorsports Park, the annual event draws some solid racing action, as well as thousands of spectators. The premise to be one of the accepted 32 competitors is simple: a traditional Christmas Tree is required on each vehicle, minimum six-foot tall, and can be real or fake. The tree must be attached to each vehicle, it must be lit, and it must remain attached the entire length of the run, or the competitor risks disqualification.

The product of drag-and-drive enthusiasts Devin and Laura Vanderhoof, the Southeast Street-N-Yeet is normally the final major event on the calendar each year.

Starting at Shadyside on November 6th with day zero parking and testing, the 7th brought tech inspection and the official start to keeping track of performances. Friday November 8th brought the unique ‘double-up’ of Southeast Street-N-Yeet by visiting South Carolina Motorplex in Neeses, South Carolina for morning / early afternoon action. That would be followed by the drive to the ‘House of Hook’, Carolina Dragway in Aiken, South Carolina for the second-half of racing into the evening.

Saturday would steer the tour back into North Carolina and Mooresville Dragway on November 9th, before returning to Shadyside Dragway to close out the event on Sunday with class winners, as well as a Heads-Up and Dial-Your-Own (DYO) Shootout.

While a lot of North America is done racing for the 2024 season, Florida is one of a couple states that can boast racing year round. One of the big events that has a lot of history is the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park, and for the 53rd edition of the event, there were some shocking results this past weekend.

For the first time in 2024, the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals would signal the first event of a three race Drag Illustrated Winter Series Points Championship series. Of the twelve classes contested at the Snowbirds, Pro Mod caught the majority of the attention both leading up the event, as well as during. 64 drivers got invitations to participate, but just 32 would play for $50,000 to win in Sunday eliminations.

The World Cup Finals Import vs. Domestic event at Maryland International Raceway is a highly anticipated event each year. Maryland in November normally means cooler temperatures, and combined with Jason Miller’s track prep, normally results in personal bests and racing in front of packed grandstands.

After three days of intense qualifying in eleven class, round one of eliminations got underway on Saturday afternoon for the classes that featured 32-car qualified fields, and by Sunday night, all eleven champions were crowned.

Day five of Edelbrock Sick 66 meant we had officially crossed the halfway point of the eight day trip spanning five states and six tracks. After covering Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, Sick 66 had made its way into Texas after a drive day on the fourth day. Amarillo Dragway hosted racing on day five, and then the tour would roll into New Mexico for street miles on day five and six.

After three days in Missouri, Edelbrock Sick 66 hit the road on day two to Oklahoma for day three and racing at Tulsa Raceway Park, then a nearly 300 mile drive day to Texas for day five action. Route 66 provided some amazing sights, as well as some good memories to reflect back on.

With so many options for doing a drag-and-drive event in 2024, Edelbrock Sick 66 brought one major player to the table that no one else had done – run the majority of our street miles along Route 66.

The ‘mother road’ that first saw use in 1926 was the clinching factory that several competitors noted in determining what event to embark on for 2024.

When Sick the Magazine conducted their first one off drag-and-drive at last year’s Death Week, comments such as “the cars will get impounded on the West Coast, no one will survive 2000 miles,” and even “the times won’t be impressive” were made.

Jason Rousseau put his New York-based 1980 Chevrolet Malibu on top last year; could he do it again at Sick 66?

It’s officially been a week since we rolled 177 competitors through tech inspection, as well as a couple hours of testing and tuning, to start Edelbrock Sick 66.

We’re down to one day left, today, Friday, October 18th. But before that, 150 competitors rolled into Albuquerque Dragway as we prepared to witness racing action in the fourth state of the event, and visit the fifth state in the tour, in yesterday's racing action.

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.

We hit the halfway point on racing activities when Robert Voss made the final pass down Tulsa Raceway Park’s surface during day three of Edelbrock Sick 66. Racers had now traveled over 250 miles between three race tracks, and we set our course for Texas and Amarillo Dragway on the first of two drive days. Could everyone survive the first extended travel day and the original Route 66 for nearly 300 miles?

We’re nearing the halfway point of Edelbrock Sick 66, a drag-and-drive based around using as much of Route 66, a road that’s been use for nearly a hundred years. Some amazing checkpoints, as well as some tight racing in the three track visits, have marked this ‘one-time-only’ event. As we concluded day three’s racing activities and drive to Edmond, Oklahoma, some changes are afoot in the top ten, as well as facing the first serious driving day on Monday, October 14th. 

Day one of racing was complete, and Death Week champion Jason Rousseau inserted his name atop the standings. Fellow Death Week competitors Dustyn Caudle and Rich Guido also produced 5-second eighth-mile runs to grab a top ten spot, and roughly 170 participants hit the road for the reasonable drive to Mo-Kan Dragway and day two of Edelbrock Sick 66.

After a day of tech, registration and testing, it was time to get down to business at Ozark Raceway Park on Friday, October 11th for day one of Edelbrock Sick 66.

177 rides completed step one to enter competition at Ozark; who would emerge the leader, who could challenge that leader, and who would face the dreaded Did Not Finish (DNF) list after one day of abuse?

It's tech and testing day at Edelbrock Sick 66 - lot of checkmarks, testing and figuring out last minute details can make or break the last night of normalcy before the time slips count. The Sick 66 event, the first time a drag-and-drive will follow Route 66 as the majority of the drive, got underway yesterday at Ozark Raceway Park in Missouri.

Two years ago, the popular Bradenton Motorsports Park was hit with a massive amount of wind and rain from Hurricane Ian, and the resulting damage forced the popular FL2K event north to Gainesville Raceway in northern Florida, where it was completed.

This time around, Hurricane Helene skirted the area, but Bradenton Motorsport Park survived the weather to host their FL2K event over the weekend.

With the midpoint of the event in the rear view mirror, Redwood Rally continued north in a combination of coastal miles, as well as making tracks east within the state of Oregon.

Day four would bring the competitors a total of 211 miles to its northernmost point of the week, Woodburn Dragstrip, to see what classes would have leader shake-ups, and which would solidify their class title chances.

After getting its start in Medford, Oregon, the second annual Redwood Rally made its way west to the coast of California and Samoa Dragstrip for day two of the event.

For day three, competitors would hit the road north, and follow the Pacific coastline 215 miles back into Oregon and Coos Bay Speedway.

Who could hang on to class leads?

After three race track dates, the competitors at Rocky Mountain Race Week 2.0 stayed in Louisiana for a second day of racing action.

After making the trek from State Capitol Raceway in Port Allen to Monroe and Twin City Motorsports Park, participants would get their final chance to stake their claim for a class title. Then, it was merely surviving the trip back to Texas, to check the final box to determine class champions.

After a successful first day at Medford Dragstrip in Medford, Oregon, the second annual Redwood Rally made its way west and a little south to Samoa, California and Samoa Dragstrip.

After 200 miles of street driving and changing states, who could hold on to class leads on the second day of racing?