Tar Heel Horsepower: Street Car Takeover Charlotte [VIDEO]
Charlotte, North Carolina is known for many things, but fast cars and drag racing isn't one of them. However, this city harbors one of the most saturated car enthusiasts cultures of any major city in the U.S. American muscle cars make up a large fraction of the mix, but there's no shortage of well-built import cars in the city. Perhaps the largest magnet for these enthusiasts lies just outside of town, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord. Inside the facility is one of the most unique drag strips in the country. zMax Dragway is home to 4-Wide racing, with four lanes across its strip. Such a setting is the perfect venue for the fastest growing grassroots motorsport tour in the United States: Street Car Takeover.
Of all the cities around the country that Street Car Takeover hosts their events in, Charlotte continues to triumph over the rest as having the largest turnout of both drivers and spectators. With other 400 vehicles signed up to race, and some 15,000 fans in attendance, no other SCT event comes close. In typical SCT fashion, the weekend kicks off with a car meet at the local Twin Peaks restaurant. But this is not your normal car meet. A full vendor show, mobile dyno, vendor row and complete takeover of the surrounding parking lots makes the Friday night event a total party. Fans can stroll the parking lot to check out the competition, engage with local motorsport vendors and purchase official SCT merchandise. But the real action takes place the following morning.
Saturday's race day kicks off with single-round elimination roll racing, with test and tune segments in between rounds. Drivers can pass the Christmas tree at up to 40mph and hit the throttle to make their best roll passes. After a short driver's meeting, drag racing kicks off at 4:00 p.m. Ranging anywhere from stock vehicles like the Dodge Demon to full purpose-built drag racers that still sport a license plate (behind the parachute), cars of all kinds make their way to the staging lanes. Two-by-two, racers take off down the strip, whittling down the long list of competitors with every round. By the end of the night, only two cars remain in each class for the final battle to take home a cash prize.
Watch the video above to get a taste of all the action that went down in Charlotte, and be sure to make your way to the next event near you.
