❱❱❱❱❱❱❱❱❱ SICK WEEK 2023
BAILEY
DESPITE EARLY TRANSMISSION TROUBLES IN HIS TWIN-TURBO SICK THE MAGAZINE ’ 69 CAMARO , SICK WEEK PROMOTER TOM BAILEY WAS HAVING A GOOD TIME ALL WEEK , PERSONIFYING THE EVENT ’ S TAGLINE — “ THE HARDEST VACATION YOU ’ LL EVER TAKE .”
LASALA
BRETT LASALA IN HIS TURBOCHARGED ’ 12 MUSTANG DOMINATED THE MODIFIED CLASS ALL WEEK LONG , LAYING DOWN PASSES WELL INTO THE 6-SECOND RANGE . HE ENDED THE WEEK WITH A 6.743 AVERAGE E . T . AND THE SECOND- HIGHEST AVERAGE SPEED ACROSS ALL CLASSES – 213.44 MPH .
Event promoter Tom Bailey was clear about his intentions to win his own event in the Unlimited class , and things looked good after day one at Orlando Speed World with a 6.249 to lead the pack , while Swedish racers Stefan Gustafsson and Michael Westberg trailed . Modified competitor Brett LaSala made headlines with a 6.524 from his Coyote-powered Ford Mustang , the quickest run ever seen on a radial tire at a drag-and-drive event . The 6-second battles continued through Unlimited Iron , where Bryant Goldstone and Steve Morris were both sitting on 6.74 runs . As racing wound down in the mid-afternoon , racers had to begin the
SWEDEN ’ S STEFAN GUSTAFSSON ROLLED INTO SICK WEEK 2023 AS THE DEFENDING OVERALL CHAMPION AND UNLIMITED CLASS CHAMPION IN HIS TURBOCHARGED ’ 89 CORVETTE . HIS 6.558 WAS THE SECOND-QUICKEST PASS OF THE OPENING DAY , AND HE HELD THE NO . 2 SPOT IN THE UNLIMITED RANKINGS THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK WITH A 6.598-SECOND FINAL AVERAGE .
GUSTAFSSON
PAST DI 30 UNDER 30 HONOREE JOANNA IACOBELLI MADE THE TRIP DOWN TO FLORIDA FROM MICHIGAN TO RUN HER ’ 18 MUSTANG IN THE SICK STREET RACE CATEGORY . MAKING HER DRAG-AND-DRIVE DEBUT , IACOBELLI RAN WELL INTO THE 8-SECOND RANGE ON FOUR OUT OF THE FIVE DAYS .
IACOBELLI
LEIVESTAD
THOUGH AMERICAN MUSCLE IS THE PREDOMINANT GENRE AT SICK WEEK , THE EVENT ALSO DREW NUMEROUS IMPORTS , LIKE BRENT LEIVESTAD ’ S PFI SPEED FRONT-WHEEL-DRIVE 2000 HONDA CIVIC IN THE SICK WEEK FREAKS CLASS .
drive to Bradenton Motorsports Park , some 150 miles away . The never-ending Orlando traffic tested the machines to the limit .
At Bradenton , Bailey ’ s week turned sour with transmission problems in his 5-second capable Camaro , seeing him pull out of the event . That moved Westberg ’ s LS-powered Chevy S10 into the lead thanks to a stunning 6.400 run . LaSala maintained in Modified , holding back fan favorite Cleetus McFarland , who strung together a pair of 6.7 runs over the first two days . Morris edged ahead of Goldstone in Unlimited Iron thanks to a 6.678 pass .
Unfortunately , the news did not stay good for Morris on the 300-mile drive to South Georgia Motorsports Park . Suspecting transmission damage , he found more severe driveline issues and had to park the ‘ Boostmaster ’ Buick Roadmaster wagon . For those racers who could stay rolling , they got to enjoy viewing one of the most impressive private car collections in Florida at National Parts Depot in Ocala , the day ’ s official checkpoint .
The attrition continued on day three , with Cleetus done for the week after engine troubles ( leaving thousands of viewers on the Motion Raceworks live stream devastated ), giving LaSala with a monstrous lead over second-placed Mikael Borggren . Goldstone was another racer to suffer transmission issues , elevating Alex Taylor into the lead of Unlimited Iron thanks to her streak of 6-second runs . Meanwhile , Westberg was gradually building his lead in Unlimited , with a strong 6.468 pass .
A more relaxed route on the back roads to Gainesville Raceway saw
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