Ah, the sweet smell of race fuel is in the air once again…
Last weekend, myself and Slightly Mangled took a road trip to Aiken, SC to go watch some drag racing. By watch, I mean cover the event, but same difference in our world! Earlier in the year, we were invited to cover Street Car Braggin Rights by the host, Nate Prater. This being the first event, we had to check it out – and boy are we glad we did.
Nate gathered up everyone for a drivers meeting before each class went to compete.
There were a few standouts, like this 1,100HP AWD EK Civic Hatch, built by MSS Racing.
Early in the day, the track was still less than optimal. A LOT of cars were spinning to about quarter track. This was not a problem for this Civic. I took this photo at roughly the 100ft mark. You can see the 1K-ish HP LTD being left at the line. Unreal how quick this car gets going.
For every fast car in attendance, it seemed there was always someone faster.
Of course, someone needs to be the fastest. The Vengeance Racing guys continue to make cars that just dominate.
Speaking of fast Cadillacs – just about every one of them was on slicks.
There were about 7 or 8 Mopar vehicles, most of them Hellcats. Here is a photo of a widebody (right) and non-widebody (left). Both were on slicks and both were Plum Crazy Purple.
This Camara was WILD. Tons of carbon fiber, bumper cutouts, slicks – AND the guy could drive. This made for one fast car.
Here’s a car I wish I had more info on. It was powered by a 2JZ and had a chute on the back – meaning it was capable of running 150+ MPH in the quarter per NHRA rules.
There was also a new C8 Corvette that ran quite a lot down the track. It also got gapped by quite a few cars.
Civics Galore!
Here’s a great example of a turbocharged Civic taking that C8 to school!
However… it came at a price. Circled up above is the sunroof. *insert SpongeBob “aight, I’m about to head out…” meme here*
There were a couple more Civics racing throughout the day.
This one was naturally aspirated and ran 10’s – not bad at all!
Eventually, something was bound to happen, such as at every other racing event. Luckily, this one was caught by the track officials before anything serious happened.
The turbo mustang above had spat a part out in front of staging after their burnout. The car was able to be driven back into the pits and everyone was ok!
This drag car could not get a grip at the starting line, but was incredibly loud and fast.
One of the crazier runs of the day was this side by side drag racing an electric go kart. The kart ended up reeling the buggy in at the end of the track with a speed of 109MPH!
Car Show
Outside of the drag racing, there was also a car show. I spotted this Voltex STI out in spectator parking. One of the most impressive builds to see in person and definitely a candidate for a future article.
Into the actual car show, there was definitely a diverse mix of cars.
This custom built kart was built from the ground up by Checkerd Motorsports. Featuring a rear engined K series – and it was RHD.
This takes me back to the days of NOPI. Period correct? Seems so.
Car Drugs brought out this very sparkly red NSX. Lots of aftermarket goodies on this one.
This Maserati definitely set itself apart from the rest of the “$699/mo” crowd.
This 3/4 scale big rig was also the talk of the show. Check out the size comparison between it and the GMC Sierra in the background.
Lastly, the most intriguing car in the parking lot was this time attack Eagle Talon. 700hp 4G63, widebody and an aero kit that produces well over 3,000lbs of downforce. Crazy stuff.
All in all, an awesome trip. Shout out to Nate and all of the volunteers & staff that made Street Car Braggin Rights an absolute blast. Looking forward to the next one! Check out the video below from Slightly Mangled on our experience:
Text & Photos by Ben Battles, Video courtesy of Jake Willard of Slightly Mangled on YouTube
