Here's the deal: five tracks, five days, you must drive from track to track, the lowest average e.t. over five days wins. Almost no rules other than that.

It's called HOT ROD Magazine Drag Week, and we're doing it September 11-16 starting in Kansas City and ending in Martin, Michigan. Complete rules are in the June and July issues of the magazine. It's $125 to register at 877/413-6515. Send questions to hotrod@primedia.com.

DF

Awesome idea! 

But I'm not sure how you can police the rule against cheaters with trailers without an odometer check or a mandatory convoy from track to track.   I'm guessing that a few hard core racers will just tow in the darkness of night and hide their trailers away from the track.  At least they have to make local drives to the track sites.

I also suspect some will cheat by entering two vehicles--one utility vehicle filled with spares for the other "race" car (It's happened in One Lap competition to circumvent the "no support vehicles" rule).  Of course, some of those "turned up" diesel pickups can card some serious numbers these days. http://www.dhraonline.com/?GROUP=series&PAGE=dragindex

I'd still like to see the cars have to negotiate an ordinary parking lot speed bump at some point in the "One [Pass] of America" Drag Week. 

There's a mandatory driving route with checkpoints and spies.

One day there's a 330-mile drive. And you just want to see a speed bump?

DF

Sounds good!

Spies? Checkpoints? 

Sounds like a cross between "Twenty-Four" and an SCCA club rally!  Or the cheezy plot of some new "Cannonball" movie!  I can just see it now . . . . the State Police intercepting and distributing the "route map"  of the "Drag Weekers" in their morning briefing . . . .   "We've got to get those DRAG RACERS off our roads!"  

Good call on the competing "support vehicle" idea.   I think it was the factory Saturn team that did it with a station wagon in OLOA competition a few years back.  If someone shows up with a spare race engine, five bottles of N20 and a clutchless five-speed in the back of their "competition vehicle," I think we'll all know something's up!

Cannonball?

Dude, you've got to be more creative than that. This thing could be a huge reality show/film/mini-series-event . . . .

For example:

Roger Corman and David Freiburger present . . . .

HOT ROD ZOMBIES!

(alternative title: Matt and Steve Rebuild their Nitrous Mill at White Castle)

A group of sleep-deprived, nitrous-guzzling HOT RODDERS BLAZE across middle America in search of testosterone-crazed, wheelstanding action on the quarter mile!

Staring Vin Diesel as the evil genius and sandal-clad publishing mogul "David Freiburger" ("I live my life a hose-clamped tranny mount at a time"),  Jessica Simpson as "Miss Hot Rod," Burt Reynolds as the grouchy but loveable "track operator" (can you really do a car flick without BURT?), Brock Yates as the grouchy but  . . . well just grouchy "State Police Chief," Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller as "Matt and Steve" (Steve's the one with the huge glasses and greasy jumpsuit), Chevy Chase as "Jeff 'Camaro Craft' Smith" AND "Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr." (Hey, Peter Sellers could play more than one part in a film . . . .), John Force as the "Track Announcer," Funkmaster Flex as Brotherhood Raceway legend "Big Willie," and Paul Walker as the "undercover spy." 

With special appearances by Harrison Ford as "Bob Falfa," "Popeye" Pat Musi, Billy Glidden, Mike Murillo, Marc Dantoni, Nick Scavo, Nunzi Romano, Chuck Samuel, Jeff D'Agostino, Linda Vaughn, Jim Campisano, Rick Ehrenburg, S.A.E.* and the Green Brick*, the Brunt Brothers*, Cliff Gromer*, Mikey Teutel (Whoops, wrong show), Donald Trump (as The Donald -- "Freiburger, You're fired!"), Wayne, Garth and that flamin' AMC Pacer, Aerosmith, Triumph--the insult comic dog ("Jeff Smith, I POOP ON YOU!"), a couple of dozen HOT chicks in Daisy Dukes and SEMA-swag T-shirts, AND MORE!

"TurboTed, time for your meds . . . ."

*Appearing courtesy of Harris Publications

Hi David,remember me? I had the yellow twin turbo Camaro at Speedworld raceway park during your visit with the Anti-tour. This Drag Week deal sounds like just the event for my car. I know you were not too sure of the "streetability" of my car so this will be a good place for it to shine. I now have a pair of M/T sportsman rocks for the drive and we will trailer the good tires behind. We have also done a gear change since then (from 3.73 to 3.42) so with 33 tall tires open road driving is a breeze. Both my son and I are looking foward to this week. It should prove to be exciting.  

That is the funniest thing I have read in a long time, I would buy a ticket to see this epic movie. Don't forget the sequel- 2H 2Z

2HOT  2ZOMBIED!

Yes I know you, and yes, this event was designed EXACTLY for cars like you. There's no judgement call, so anyone can prove to us what streetable speed really is. You gonna show up?

DF

No matter what anyone says you guys come up with some great ideas. I have just registered. A very nice woman named Karen at Family Events took the registration even though she thought it wasn't opening until June 1.

So a couple of ideas. I did the PT Long Haul a few years back, Detroit to San Berdo, and the biggest expense for a West Coaster is getting the car back to the Midwest. This event is too cool to miss, but logistics can make it tough to participate in from long distance.

I'm looking for serious people who would want to share the expense of a transporter from LA to KC and and back from MI to LA. Money is tight, but time is tighter. We'll make sure there is room for little trailers as I think they will be required to be even close to competitive as well as safe on the road. I would expect to have a set of slicks, skinnies, jacks, tools, minor spares etc. and oh yeah, those five nitrous bottles. Anybody have a few extras I can borrow?

I think there are a lot of us out there that this is perfect for: not fast fast enough for the PGD, a little bored by the PT (sorry) and not enough slots in the RSE. My one shot on the CC Anti-tour convinced me this will be the best event ever. See you there.

Yes I am. Sounds like a good time to be had by all. I have been wanting to build a trailer to tow behind the car to haul my turbo GSXR 1100 to the track with so my son could ride it while I was playing with the car. Looks like it's time to get busy.

I think that I was fast enough for the PGD, I just did not make the cut. There seemed to be a handfull of 8 second cars that did not make the cut. Most of them appeared to be home built cars like mine. It appears that everyone out there  has there own idea of what a street car is and is not. Some think that you have to have a laptop.a/c,small tires,stock suspension and all the whistles and bells to be a street car. In my oppinion,for what it's worth, if the car has tags and insurance, meets the safety rules for the state you live in, passes emissions if your state requires it and drives down the road with no problems turning heads wherever it goes to me it qualifys as a street car. I dont get why some penalize cars because they look other than "stock" or too "radical". I thought that was what this game was all about. Most of us can't afford to take a Viper or Corvette and dump thousands and thousands of dollars into them to make them go fast, so we take older cars, ones that may have been old race cars and turn them back into street cars. We build our own chassis, build our own engines, install our own rear gears, do our own paint and bodywork and on and on and on. That is what hot rodding has always been about. I may not be the fastest car at the Drag Week but God willing I am going show Freiburger and the gang that you can take a Yankee engineered home built heap and run 8s and drive it a 1000 miles in a week! Just my 2 cents worth.  

That's excellent. You described exactly why we have Drag Week. Glad to hear you'll try and be there.

DF

Minor rules question. Racer's usually help each other out in a jam, look at last years RSE. So the question is, can I loan another Drag Week competitor a wrench, a couple of jets, a nitrous bottle if they're in need without disqualifying them or me? My thinking is the answer should be yes, as long as its something that's been along for the ride and not brought in from out side the event.  

ROTFL! 2Fast, 2Funny!

I live my life one joke about Freiburger at a time . . . .

(We love ya DAVE!)

Who wouldn't pay to see Griswold in the latest version of Family Truckster churning 'em in the burnout box?  Or Ellen Griswold (Beverly D'Angelo) backing up Clark in the lane? (Clark WOULD burn 'em like John Force across the line)  Or Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) hawking "track dogs" out of a grungy roach coach . . . .