Hot Rod Drag Week History: Single Day Record and Overall Top 10
Hot Rod Drag Week has always been one of the toughest drag and drive events in the world. With long drives, intense competition and the longest history out there, this event is the one with the wildest Records!
This article started because of Ned Dunphy’s Viper and his resetting of the Day Two Single Pass ET Record post we made yesterday. Let’s dive in to some of the fun that comes from looking at all of the 20 years of history from Hot Rod Drag Week.
Before we do that, I want to thank a very important man and family. Billy Gebhart (MoparBilly) began tracking and documenting stats and stories from each Drag Week wayyyyyy back on automotive forums. You have to dig now but you can find posts made as early as 2008. He goes into detail on the different types of cars and the records that were set. I hope to be carrying on that tradition in today’s times through stories like these, the weekly Live Streams we do and the videos we produce from events we attend. I know he would be proud of the community and would be enjoying the amount of events and racers that are competing in today’s drag and drive community.
I also want to give a huge shoutout to Tonya Turk and her team for creating the process we all use today for time slip collection and scoring. Without her knowledge and organization, none of this would have happened. More events should look to her process and structure for ease of input. This would save 100s of hours each year for me and my team and would result in more, and better, historical data that will be important to everyone in the future.
Hot Rod Drag Week Records/Standings:
Single Pass Records by Day (Finished or not):
Day One Single Pass Record: Tom Bailey - 6.032 - HRDW 2022
#2 Lutz 6.051 2015
#3 Lutz 6.195 2016
Day Two Single Pass Record: Ned Dunphy - 6.203 - HRDW 2024
#2 Lutz 6.255 2016
#3 Bailey 6.355 2015
Day Three Single Pass Record: Jeff Lutz - 6.106 - HRDW 2016
#2 Bailey 6.180 2019
#3 Bailey 6.596 2022
Day Four Single Pass Record: Jeff Lutz - 6.147 - HRDW 2016
#2 Bailey 6.270 2019
#3 Bryant Goldstone 6.543 2024
Day Five Single Pass Record: Tom Bailey - 5.998 - HRDW 2019 (Quickest Single Pass in Drag & Drive History)
#2 Lutz 6.256 2016
#3 Dave Schroeder 6.462 2021 (Quickest Nitrous Pass in HRDW History)
That list of racers is impressive! What’s even more impressive, is that ALL but Ned Dunphy’s Day Two Record was ran by a racer that also completed the week! So, if you feel that these records should only be held by people that finished the event, then move Jeff Lutz up from Second on Day Two.
Now, how about we look at the Top 10 Hot Rod Drag Week Averages
Four of the Top 10 are Tom Bailey! Dave Schroeder and Bryant Goldstone hold 2 spots with Jeff Lutz and Michael Westberg completing the list. The Fastest Female in Drag and Drive makes the Honorable Mentions in the #14 Spot.
#1 Jeff Lutz in Mad Max ‘69 Camaro - 2016 - 6.1918
#2 Tom Bailey in Sick Seconds 2.0 ‘69 Camaro - 2019 - 6.299
#3 Tom Bailey in Sick Seconds 2.0 ‘69 Camaro - 2022 - 6.583
#4 Michael Westberg in ‘91 S10 - 2022 - 6.5855
#5 Bryant Goldstone in ‘73 AMC Javelin - 2024 - 6.6718
#6 Dave Schroeder in ‘19 Corvette - 2022 - 6.7143
#7 Tom Bailey in Sick Seconds 1.0 ‘69 Camaro - 2023 - 6.7149
#8 Dave Schroeder in ‘19 Corvette - 2021 - 6.7392
#9 Bryant Goldstone in ‘73 Javelin - 2023 - 6.7433
#10 Tom Bailey in Sick Seconds 2.0 - 2015 - 6.7846
Honorable Mentions
Dave Schroeder in ‘66 Corvette - 2017 - 6.8136
Tom Bailey in Sick Seconds 1.0 - 2013 - 6.8338
Jeff Lutz in Evil ‘57 Chevy - 2014 - 6.845
Alex Taylor in ‘55 Chevy - 2024 - 6.8452
Bryant Goldstone in ‘73 Javelin - 2016 - 6.8574
If we sort it down to only include unique racers or unique cars (Lutz, Bailey and Schroeder are in different cars on the list), and only use their quickest average, the list looks something like this:
Top 10 Quickest Racer Average for Hot Rod Drag Week
#1 Jeff Lutz - Mad Max Camaro - 2016 - 6.1918
#2 Tom Bailey in Sick Seconds 2.0 ‘69 Camaro - 2019 - 6.299
#3 Michael Westberg in ‘91 S10 - 2022 - 6.5855
#4 Bryant Goldstone in ‘73 Javelin - 2024 - 6.6718
#5 Dave Schroeder in ‘19 Corvette - 2022 - 6.7143
#6Tom Bailey in Sick Seconds 1.0 ‘69 Camaro - 2023 - 6.7149
#7 Dave Schroeder in ‘66 Corvette - 2017 - 6.8136
#8 Jeff Lutz in Evil Twin ‘57 Chevy (Black) - 2014 - 6.845
#9 Alex Taylor in ‘55 Chevy - 2024 - 6.8452
#10 Doug Cline in ‘69 Camaro - 2014 - 6.8722
Record Breaking Potential
Ned Dunphy, in the Viper at HRDW 2024, was performing at a level to take down the long standing record from Lutz. With a two day average of 6.199, he actually had the better average when compared to Jeff’s first two days in the legendary run in 2016. But, the drive is what breaks the cars and people. Sadly, we will have to wait until HRDW 2025 to see if Ned, or a list of other racers, can take down the 6.1918 average Jeff Lutz set almost 10 years ago.
“People have finally come along….”
Tom Bailey said, on the Wes Buck Show (EP 368), that he has “f*cked around a while and waited for people to come along so that I can kick their ass. People have finally come along, Brett has finally stepped up. People are finally stepping up. I’m tired of f*cking sitting here just waiting for everybody to get here…..I have a whole bunch of brute force that I haphazardly mismanage that can go fives. And then you have someone like Brett [he expands on Brett’s technology and skill]….. Mine is a pro mod with a license plate….that should be able to run 5s no problem…”
This conversation is an amazing insight into why Tom has such a blast at drag and drive events. He is at the leading edge of a streetcars capabilities; and I think he is going to enjoy the challenge from other racers attempting to cover the quarter mile in 5 seconds during 2025. He would later talk about the camaraderie that drag and drive creates and all racers, fast or slow, want other racers to “make it to the next day”.
I’ll say it again, the 2025 drag and drive season is going to be one of the best in history. The level of friendly competition at the top of the game in this sport is unheard of in other racing. These racers are welcoming the competition and look forward to the chance to compete against someone at their best! In a previous article, we dive into the Six Second Racers that are coming in 2025, and also look at the potential for more Five Second Runs (Read it here 0.1% of Racers run these ETs).
We’ll continue to look at the stats and stories that come from this incredible motorsport!
Photos from Drag Drive Repeat and racer facebook posts.
P.S. In the next article, we’ll talk about the SME/Index classes and why the largest class may be a great place to shine!
