Red Deerian drives to Florida in 1965 Pontiac GTO; wins back-to-back drag-and-drive competitions

While he says most people transport their race vehicles in trailers, he wanted a comfortable and quiet street car that he could modify to increase its speed and power.

“By day two, I was the fastest guy. The car was very reliable this year. We drove through some nasty weather on the way down and the way back; snow storms and tons of rain but honestly the car handles pretty well with good Alberta winter tires,” he said.

The 1965 Pontiac GTO at a gas station during winter road trip to Orlando, Florida for Sick Week drag-and-drive competition this February. (Supplied)

Purchasing the GTO roughly 20 years ago, he says with the help of Muscle Motors in Strathmore, they were able to build a durable motor for the 4,000 pound vehicle that could produce 1,500 horsepower.

The five-day Sick Week event requires drivers to race a quarter-mile drag strip at five different tracks, with the winner measured by the average of their completion times. Participants must also drive a specific route in between tracks, totaling roughly 1,300 km, Guido says.

While some drivers attempted each track a few times to get their best score, Guido says he did each track just once with an average time of 8.84 seconds, reaching up to 257 km/hour.

Richard Guido’s 1965 Pontiac GTO at the Sick Week drag-and-drive competition this February in Oralndo, Florida. (Supplied)

In between each track, Guido said he had to spend 45 minutes switching his car from street to race mode, emptying the trunk, changing the tires, and adjusting the clutch. He has competed in 15 drag race competitions so far.

He said 12 of his competitors’ vehicles broke down at some point and couldn’t complete the race.

“It’s a pretty gruelling feel to switch a car back and forth but because I drive all the way down there, I work out lots of kinks and I’m pretty confident with my car on the street and I was pretty calculated not making extra passes if I didn’t need to,” he said.

“I didn’t have to really beat my car up a whole bunch.”

The event having inaugurated last year, Guido has already won both years in his class.

“What you win when you do this event is an orange helmet. You don’t win any money by doing these. You spend a lot of money but you don’t win any money,” he said.

Two orange helmets for winning both years at the Sick Week drag-and-drive competition. (Supplied)

And both years, Guido had his 80-year-old father Mike in the passenger seat with him and as part of his pit crew.

Growing up on a farm in Cranbrook, British Columbia, he said his father was a hot-rodder who built an AC Cobra replica. When Guido moved to Alberta for his studies, he restored cars as a past-time and the hobby has stuck to this day.

For Guido, the best part of it all, he says, is the journey.

“It’s the struggle that comes along with it. The challenge of doing an event like this, driving that high of a horse power car, that far, competing and driving home; that’s a big challenge to overcome. It’s not like climbing Everest but most people would tell you you’re nuts to try to do what I do,” he said.

And on that journey, he says he has met some amazing people along the way, including TV personalities in the car industry.

Richard Guido’s 1965 Pontiac GTO. (Supplied)

by Alessia Proietti

Red Deerian drives to Florida in 1965 Pontiac GTO; wins back-to-back drag-and-drive competitions

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