When it comes to drag-and-drive events, Hot Rod Drag Week is still the big daddy by which all others should be measured. After all, that’s where it all started more than 20 years ago, and the 2026 running of the five-day event proved to be another cracker.

With four five-second-capable cars in attendance, everyone was wondering if this year’s Drag Week would see its first five-second average. Previously, the only person who’d completed the week having run a five was Tom Bailey in 2019, but he was absent from Drag Week this year. That left Ned Dunphy, Jeff Lutz, Bryant Goldstone and five-time Drag Week winner Larry Larson returning to battle it out.

Lutz broke a rod on his first pass on Day One at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, and after Day Two’s racing was rained out, Larson did the same at Cordova Dragway on Day Three. That left Dunphy and Goldstone competing for the 2026 title. Unfortunately for Goldstone, his Corvette dropped a valve during the drive leg to St Louis for Day Four, leaving just Dunphy and his blue Viper at the pointiest end of the field.

Even without the pressure from Lutz, Larson and Goldstone, Ned still gave the goal of a five-second average for the week a serious scare, with consecutive runs of 5.99, 6.08, 6.08 and 5.97 to complete the week with an average of 6.032 seconds. That’s the quickest-ever Drag Week average, with Ned’s 5.974@249.16mph on the final day being the quickest single pass at any drag-and-drive – ever!

The Aussies were also getting in on the action, with Mike Ward and his mate Kevin Boulton heading back this year for their fourth go at Drag Week in Mike’s 427ci twin-turbo 1963 Chevy Nova. Mike stores the car in the US, travelling over to work on it on prior to the event, which presents a few difficulties most competitors don’t have to face.

“It definitely adds a challenge to it,” Mike said. “Every time, we try to come over a week or two earlier. We have a think about it for three months: ‘Okay, how can we make the car better?’”

Mike’s game plan this year was all about consistency and making sure the Nova got off the line cleanly. Like most drag-and-drives, the track prep at Drag Week can be a double-edged sword that rewards some but penalises others – especially when they start pushing the limits.

“We’re running in the Modified class, and we’ve just been chipping away slowly,” Mike said at the start of the week. “We’re trying to be really conservative in the 60-foot and get down the track early every day and then on the road as early as we can, just to give us the best chance of fighting any dramas.”

The plan nearly came unstuck on Day One at Joliet, with a crank trigger issue resulting in an uncharacteristic 7.79@179.8mph. Mike didn’t immediately get a chance to see if they’d fixed the issue thanks to rain cancelling Day Two’s racing at Bryon Dragway, but Day Three proved the fix had worked. Even with the Nova turned down a bit, it ran a 7.59@188.8mph at Cordova, where many struggled to get down the track cleanly.

With the ambient temps nearing 100°F (38°C) at St Louis, Missouri on Day Four, a 7.55@170.3mph pass put Mike at the top of the list in the Modified Power Adder class heading into the final day.

Back at Joliet, Mike had to wait hours for his first pass of the day, so he made sure it was a good one with a 7.438@190.62mph, and that was enough to seal his victory in the Modified Power Adder class.

Understandably, Mike was pretty happy with that result, and reckoned that the secret to Drag Week is trying to stick to a one-and-done gameplan each day. “At Drag Week, the tracks are nowhere near as good as Sick Week,” he said. “So, reading the track is much more important so you don’t get stuck having to make multiple passes chasing a track that’s getting hotter, with more UV, and degrading as more of the slower cars run.”

That’s good info for anyone attempting a serious hit at Hot Rod Drag Week.