18 Drag Weeks. One Nova. Every One Finished.

No one has completed more Hot Rod Drag Week’s than the team of Steve Eden and Pete Holm. HRDW 2026 marked Steve and Pete’s 18th completion of one of the hardest car guy trips you can take. 

Historic Streak Continues

Beginning in 2007, Steve Eden and Pete Holm loaded Steve’s Nova down with slicks, tools, supplies and clothes to compete in the third annual Hot Rod Drag Week. Steve has told me that he “would have competed in the first one but didn’t hear about it until coverage came out in Hot Rod magazine. The next year, we didn’t have the car together in time.” 

And with the exception of missing 2023 after an engine failure at the first Sick Summer, the guys have made it to every Drag Week. That Sick Summer event was their first foray into other events other than HRDW. 

That means, nearly every year, these two guys have made the pilgrimage from Illinois to the starting point. They have also seen extraordinary growth in the event and subsequent motorsport we call drag and drive. 

Steve and Pete are on another level when it comes to completing the events. They have Finished EVERY Hot Rod Drag Week they have entered. That is EIGHTEEN events, with a perfect record, something no one else is even close to contesting. 

More Than 100 Times and Counting 

Every Year, Every mile, every load and unload, every gallon of fuel, these guys have driven the same 1970 Chevy Nova. They do not pull a trailer so each day consists of unloading the slicks,  tools, spare parts and supplies, and their luggage to get ready for racing. Once they are satisfied with their pass, they reload all of that stuff and hit the road. Imagine being on vacation and loading/unloading your car each day before driving 200+ miles to the next stop along your trip. I caught the team loading up on Day Four at World Wide Technology Raceway in St Louis and we got to talking about how many times they have been through this process……

Eighteen years with five days of racing each, plus the load for the event and unloading once home, means these guys have done this process more than 100 times for HRDW. As I collected photos and videos of the process, I saw a team of guys that know what has to be done, where every part and piece goes, and a symmetry that only comes from countless repetitions.

Performance across the years

The Nova has had several iterations of powerplant, from an engine Steve built in High School, to this year’s 632 big block Chevrolet. This variety of engines has meant years in the low 10s to low 13s. 

The quickest year being 2025 with Steve’s 10.389 average. He would run his Best HRDW ET on Day Three with a 10.252 at 129.37 mph.

Steve’s slowest year would be 2008 with his 13.218 average. That year would see his slowest pass submitted at 14.077 at just 100 mph. 

It would take until 2013 for the team to submit their first 11 second timeslip. After that 11.662 on Day Two of 2013, they haven’t submitted a pass slower than 11.800 until Day Three of HRDW 2026. The 11.800 came on Day Four of 2013’s event. That is 51 passes quicker than 11.8 across 13 years of events. 

Two years would pass before their first 10 second pass with a 10.968 on Day Two of HRDW 2015. That week would net them three 10 second submissions - 10.968 on Day Two, 10.913 on Day Three and 10.937 on Day Four. 

Low tens lands Steve into the Street Machine Eliminator Top 32 Bracket Race each year and that’s a great goal. 

Maybe the biggest lesson in the Nova's story isn't that it has gotten quicker over the years, but that Steve didn't wait until it was a low-10-second car to go Drag Week. They went when it was a 13-second car. Then they came back. And came back again. Over the years the car got quicker, the combination changed and the goals moved, but they were already out there doing it.

Why Steve and Pete’s Streak Matters

These guys bridge the gap from the “old days” to the new era of drag and drive. In 2007, there were 124 competitors at Drag Week. The guys were a part of that special group. This year, there were 353 racers at Drag Week, with 176 of those in the Street Machine Eliminator Class. Steve and Pete have raced with more than 5,000 competitors over the years. And while racers have come and gone, Steve and Pete have been there. They have been there for so many record runs, great stories and historic firsts. 

There are plenty of racers who have gone quicker, won their classes or set records during those eighteen years. But there's something about what Steve and Pete have done that feels attainable to the rest of us. They kept showing up. The Nova evolved, Drag Week evolved and drag and drive grew into something they could not have imagined in 2007. Through all of it, they made this week a part of their lives. 

Everything has its place.

Someday, Steve and Pete will load the Nova after a Hot Rod Drag Week pass for the final time. I don't think either of them knows when that will be, and I'm not sure they particularly care. For now, Pete knows where the slicks go. Steve knows where the tools go. Everything has its place. They'll load the Nova, point it toward the next checkpoint and do what they've been doing since 2007.

Get to the next track. Make another pass. And finish another Drag Week.

Article By: Mike Narx - Photos by: Eric White and Mike Narx