HIGH 5.998 FIVES

HOT ROD DRAG WEEK 2019 PRESENTED BY GEAR VENDORS

- Michael Galimi

“BUILD IT FAST, MAKE IT LAST” is the mantra of HOT ROD Drag Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive and this year’s weeklong torture test authenticated it. The field of 355 entries saw unprecedented tales of mechanical survival and the first official 5-second run in the competition’s 15-year history.

HOT ROD officials selected the Mid-Atlantic region as its base of operations for the 2019 running of Drag Week. Virginia Motorsports Park served as the host track where the tour began and finished. Day two brought the streetcar mob to Cecil County Dragway (Rising Sun, Maryland) before shooting north to Atco Raceway (Atco, New Jersey) and then back down to Maryland International Raceway (Budds Creek, Maryland) for the fourth round. The final day at Virginia Motorsports Park sealed the fate for category winners and record runs. At just shy of 800 miles, this year’s drive was less distance than usual, but don’t confuse that to mean that it was easier than years past. This year’s route took us through some dense metropolitan areas surrounding the Chesapeake Bay and included several tollbooths and slow-moving traffic over bridges.