One of the most extreme and visually spectacular drag racing events ever held took place across the American Southwest in late October with the first and only running of Sick The Magazine ’ s Death Week . This was an event that asked the question : what would be the greatest possible route to take for a drag-and-drive event ? Sick The Magazine publisher Tom Bailey and editor Luke Nieuwhof sketched out a map that included stops at not only three dragstrips , but also the Grand Canyon , Las Vegas , the Sequoia National Park , and the Pacific Coast Highway . They then put the call out to anyone brave enough to take part .
The result was 70 street-legal cars traveling over 2,000 miles on a nine-day road trip that pushed the boundaries of what is possible for
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high-horsepower machines .
Starting at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix , entrants had to hand in a time slip before setting out into the 100-degree temps of the Arizona desert on their way to the West Coast . Tom Bailey ’ s Durango led the way early after a 5.45-second time slip . Stopping at the vast Imperial sand dunes made for a surreal backdrop , as did a drive past the Mexico border wall .
After crossing the mountains into San Diego , the Death Weekers stopped in at Gear Vendors Overdrive before racing at Barona Drag Strip . Bailey extended his lead with a 5.41 pass . From there it was a cruise through the beach towns of Los Angeles , emerging at Santa Monica to continue driving alongside the Pacific Ocean . Racers were required to drop in at checkpoints that included Stearn ’ s Wharf in Santa Barbara
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and the Firestone brewery in Buellton . The latter location saw Bailey ’ s week in competition come to an end after cracking the Hemi block in his car , elevating Jason Rousseau to the lead in his Malibu .
Such was Death Week ’ s length , that the drive sections between tracks required multiple days to complete . Racers were taken via Morro Bay onwards to Fresno , the launching pad for Sequoia National Park . A 7,000-foot climb into the mountains was required , testing the engineering limits of everyone . Though this section of the route was optional , event leader Rousseau chose to take on the twists and turns , demonstrating the ability of his ride .
Remarkably , on the same day as driving among the giant sequoias , teams had to compete at Famoso Drag Strip in Bakersfield , California . Rous-
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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF SICK THE MAGAZINE |