Hot Rod Drag Week 2017 Album One

A legitimate (mostly legal) form of Brock Yates' Cannonball Run has been going on in some form or another since 1984. We've been sponsoring it for quite some time and admiring it for even longer. It's actually kind of surprising that no one thought to do a drag racing version of that event until Hot Rod Magazine morphed some of their previous street car shootouts into what is now known as Drag Week around 2005.

The event was an instant success and hundreds of cars now clamor for spots that typically sell out within a few minutes of going on sale each year. All of these cars are somehow street-legal from 23-second Honda Civics to 6-second Corvettes that could easily pass as an NHRA ProMod to a casual observer.

Regardless of the time they run, there is universal respect for this group of racers, because they really represent the one-percenters who actually go out there and do it, much like the competitors in OPTIMA's Search for the Ultimate Street Car Series- anyone can compete in these events, but only a select few get up the nerve or the car capable of doing it (or both).

We were really excited to hear the 2017 edition was making a stop at Great Lakes Dragaway in our home state of Wisconsin and we played hookey for the morning to check things out. Thick fogged delayed the start of racing, but gave us the opportunity to check out the pits. We saw a lot of LS swaps and a lot of OPTIMAs, which speaks to the consistency and reliability offered by both. If you'd like to learn more about Drag Week, check out the rules and have a look at our first gallery of images from this event, as well as a list of the winners, who made it through the week averaging some incredible times with no support vehicles to assist them. (see another gallery of images here)

Unlimited- David Schroeder 1966 Chevrolet Corvette 6.81 at 207.47 mph
Ultimate Iron- Joe Barry 1956 Chevrolet 210 7.11 at 197.72 mph
Pro Street Power Adder- Matthew Biasco 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger 7.81 at 182.89 mph
Pro Street Naturally Aspirated- James McEntire 1968 Chevrolet Camaro 8.03 at 167.25 mph
Modified Power Adder- Dan Saitz 1988 Ford Mustang 7.63 at 177.31 mph
Super Stock Big Block Power Adder- Nathan Chester 1993 Ford Mustang 7.86 at 177.45 mph
Super Stock Big Block Naturally Aspirated- Curt Johnson 1993 Ford Mustang 8.88 at 153.48 mph
Super Stock Small Block Power Adder- Cal Hayward 1991 Ford Mustang 7.75 at 181.27 mph
Super Stock Small Block Naturally Aspirated- Daniel Roberts 1980 Chevrolet Malibu 9.33 at 143.13 mph
Street Race Big Block Power Adder- James Karger 1979 Ford Mustang 8.54 at 159.48 mph
Street Race Big Block Naturally Aspirated- Scott Miller 1968 Mercury Cougar 9.25 at 144.96 mph
Street Race Small Block Power Adder- Jason Doisher 1984 Mercury Marquis 8.52 at 160.08 mph
Gasser A/Gas- Jarrad Scott 1962 Ford Ranchero 9.02 at 154.84 mph
Hot Rod- Tom Ciancitto 1937 Ford Pickup 9.77 at 143.75 mph
Street Machine Eliminator- Jared Ball 1995 Chevrolet S10 10.09 at 135.54 mph