Most of you that are reading this have street raced in the past or at least thought about it at some point. Racing illegally on a public road endangering yourself, others, and possibly having your car totaled or taken away by authorities is not worth the risk. Street racers are looking for better options, and that’s where Street Car Takeover (SCT) owners, Justin Keith and Chase Lautenbach come in.
Back in 2013, at a Street Car Takeover kick-off party, Justin was approached by Chase about doing more events. This simple conversation turned SCT into what it is today. This mega event offers roll racing for those who loved highway roll racing except this time its legal! Racers get back far enough behind the tree to get a 40mph rolling start that’s flagged off, and then make their hit. Roll racing is not the only event offered to participants either. There are drag racing classes for practically any setup, car show, a night meet the day before the event partnered with Twin Peaks restaurants, and plenty of vendors who can showcase what they offer.
Out of all the events SCT holds across the country, Z-Max Dragway in Charlotte North Carolina is special. The event had to be expanded into a three-day show this year because Street Car Takeover attracted almost 600 entries where 10,000 spectators came through the gate making it this biggest event they’ve held!
The SCT night meet, sponsored by Twin Peaks offers food and drink specials, and the parking lot is roped off for all the cars. The night gathering is typically held on a Friday night but was moved to a Thursday this year. Even on a weeknight, hundreds of people flocked to the parking lot and surrounding the Concord Mills area to either get a good parking spot or see what everyone else had brought. Everyone listened to music, took in the sights of all the gorgeous rides, and talked with vendors on hand. A chassis dyno was also set up for those who wanted to show off what they had as well.
There was an abundance of very fast, well built late model GM powered cars at the Streetcar Takeover in Charlotte. One of these cars was Jeff Hagaman’s previously featured Hotrod Dynamics built Cadillac CTS-V that made the first pass to kick off the SCT racing. With Jeff’s best friend behind the wheel and his wife and two kids in the car, we were able to see the CTS-V go down the track again for the first time since Jeff’s parting. For those of you that don’t know Jeff, he tragically passed away last year when he lost control of his GTR at a half mile event. Justin, Chase, and many of those who attend the SCT series lost a good friend that day. Watching this pass with Hagman’s friend behind the wheel and family in the car was incredibly moving and a highlight for the weekend. A Jeff Hagaman Tribute award was also given out at the end of the race.
Vengeance Racing (VR), who have supported the SCT series for a few years now came up with a whole pack of cars ranging from mild bolt-ons to a 2000-plus horsepower beast. Many of the VR vehicles were entered in both roll and drag racing classes. Vengeance had two LSX-powered cars on the property that got our attention. The first one was Chuck Greers beautiful blue 1400WHP 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Chuck typically roll races the car at half-mile events, but he double entered this time and did some drag racing too. The second one was Gina Mckinley’s 700-plus horsepower 2012 Cadillac CTS-V. Sporting purple accents, purple weld racing wheels, and black diamond purple paint, the Caddy really stood out among the others. Look for these two builds in upcoming features on LSX magazine!
As they say, “Once a car guy always a car guy.” As it turns out that NASCAR driver Alex Bowman loves cars just as much when he’s not driving his cup car for a living. Heintz Racing had both of his beauties on display for everyone to see. Alex’s cruiser is Beautiful 2016 third gen Cadillac CTS-V that sits right and has a few mild modifications. The car he plans to race is his 2010 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 which is not only boosted from the factory but bottle fed with nitrous. What’s unique about this car is that the ZR1 now has an automatic transmission that was swapped in for consistency at the track.
The vendor area is always a mecca for the car enthusiast. Whether you’re looking for gear to wear or parts to finish your car, Street Car Takeover always has the best of the best at their events. The guys over at Frankenstein Engineering Dynamics had their very trick LSX CNC machined heads and intakes on display, they are indeed works of art!
Rock Solid Motorsports master welder Steven Eades, displayed their chute mounts, headers, and front end kits as well as his wife’s car OMG Boost. Also on display was the Trans Am Driven by Lauren Eades, which showcases the shop’s fantastic fabrication work. 
Stick shift racing would not be where it is without companies continuing to push the limits of what a manually shifted transmission is capable of doing. Tick Performance is at the top of the list whenever it comes to manual transmission needs as well as late model GM performance in general. On display was one of their top of the line T-56s so the customers could see what they were getting and the benefits going with one of their transmissions provided. It also comes to no surprise that they sponsor the stick class.
Even if you don’t have have something to race or show off, the Street Car Takeover team would like to invite you to come, have fun and enjoy yourself at one of their events that take place all across the country. Be sure to check out their website, and Instagram to see when they are coming to a city near you!
