1,000-Mile Street & Strip Life

ALEX CORELLA’S GINGER RED DELIVERS MID-8-SECOND RUNS DURING HOT ROD DRAG WEEK

- Michael Galimi

Since 2005, our sister publication Hot Rod magazine has thrown a weak long torture test that has been called Drag Week. It involves five drag strips in five days, and contestants travel roughly 1,000 miles as they zigzag across backcountry roads to get to the next destination. The catch is the vehicle in competition must drive under its own power the entire time on the road and make a minimum of one pass on the dragstrip each day. At the conclusion of the week, the competitors’ best time from each day is used to create an average. In the 12 years of its existence, the competition has turned into a worldwide spectacle that has attracted entries from over a dozen countries.

Drag Week, presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, began this year at Cordova International Dragway, located in western Illinois. A 267-mile road tour on Monday afternoon and evening brought the field of nearly 400 vehicles south to Gateway Motorsports Park (in Madison). The caravan of hot rods would then go northeast to hit Byron Dragway on hump day. Hot Rod officials then sent the group farther north into Wisconsin to hit the famous Great Lakes Dragway. The fifth day of competition circled back around to Cordova International Raceway, bringing the total number of road miles to roughly a thousand.

Last year we rode shotgun in seven-time NMRA True Street winner Mike Jovanis’ 1,400hp 1989 Mustang LX. This year we were back on tour with Jovanis but picked up a running mate: Alex Corella and his turbocharged 1993 Mustang LX, known as Ginger Red. The Miami-Dade firefighter brought along his girlfriend, Christina High, and they narrowly escaped Hurricane Irene in order to attend Drag Week.