Baber Scores Two Class Titles, Whitaker Backs Up 2025 Victory, and King Claims Richest Lil Gangsta’s Win as Street Car Bragging Rights Crowns Sixteen Class Winners at Rockingham Dragway!
Created in 2022 to give street cars an event in the southeast area to participate in, Street Car Braggin Rights (SCBR) has since evolved into a multi-day event with a combination of street car-based classes, as well as pure race classes.
The event returned to Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina for the second year in 2026, and after three days of qualifying and two days of eliminations, champions were crowned in sixteen classes.
Braggin Rights joins Sick the Magazine and Street Car Takeover for the new Speedfest event, May 28th-30th at Beech Bend Raceway Park. For more information and details on it, visit the Sick The Mag events page by CLICKING HERE!
Participating in his first SCBR event, Tyler Baber would make the biggest impression by winning two classes, becoming the first person to double up on wins in SCBR history.
Baber, who has been a multi-time True Street champion at the LS Fest East event, took his Ford Mustang to a victory in both the Street Car Braggin Rights Shootout Elite and Extreme 28s classes.
Alan Whitaker, who recently backed up his Heavy Metal Motion Raceworks Sick Summer class win with a second Sick The Mag orange helmet at this year’s Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, applied the same recipe to this year’s SCBR event.
After qualifying atop the Heavyweight Outlaw field with a 7.02 at 208 mph with his 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Whitaker reached his second-straight final, where his 7.21 at 202 mph blast got the win over the Jeep Trackhawk of Christopher Torres.
The Heavyweight Pro field found a familiar drag and drive name in the final, as Danny Allen and his Cadillac station wagon staged up with the Dodge Challenger of Christopher Thomas. At the green light, Allen moved first, and his 9.02 at 126 mph would easily score the win over the 10.37 from Thomas.
The defending champion in Street Car Index, Jimmy King also racked up the win lights in the popular Lil Gangsta’s class at SCBR, the first time the class was a part of the event. The class is based on a 5.30 eighth-mile index, and a no-time, no time slip format.
King earned a final round berth in both classes in 2026, and although he fell short of a second victory in as many years in Street Car Index, King emerged victorious in Lil Gangsta’s and pocketed $30,000, the largest payout in the history of the class.
The other no-time class held at SCBR was the No-Time Overdrive class, just for vehicles with an overdrive automatic transmission. The final would be the Mopar of Sumit Goyal and Mike Thomas at the wheel of a Ford Mustang. The race was over before the 60 foot, as Thomas left too soon, illuminating the red light, and giving the win to Goyal.
A whopping 70 cars entered the Stick Shift class for SCBR, and three qualified fields of 40 cars total would play in eliminations. The top field of eight cars, the Stick Shift Outlaw class, found Sean Madden opposite Patrick Lewis in the final, and Madden scored a second victory in as many events with a 6.54 at 215 mph over the coasting 9.01 at 108 mph from Lewis.
The second qualified field, the sixteen car Stick Shift Pro class, had Marcus Davis scheduled to meet Ryan Pederson in the final round. But when Pederson wouldn’t make the class due to breakage, Davis rolled to a 9.71 at 176 mph single victory lap.
The third and final Stick Shift class was the ‘Street’ version, with Vance Cooper’s Cadillac facing Alex Martinez in the title round. Martinez got off the starting line first, but ran into problems mid track, giving Cooper a path to a 9.22 at 139 mph time slip, and the win.
An all-Florida final between the Mustangs of Mike Moretti and Michael Chambley staged up in the second qualified field of Street Car Braggin Rights Shootout Wild class, and Moretti used a holeshot aided 7.22 at 201 mph got the win over the close 7.23 at 187 mph of Chambley.
The third field of Street Car Braggin Rights Shootout class would be the ‘Mild’ version, with Will Chowanec battling Alexander Duff in an import versus domestic match-up. Duff got the slight holeshot, but Chowanec’s Mustang would notch the win, 7.84 at 176 mph to a 7.92 at 175 mph from Duff’s Toyota Supra.
Another all Florida-final would stage up in the Street Car Braggin Rights Shootout Sport class, with Lou Iacopetti against Matt Lamphier. At the start, the Buick Grand National of Iacopetti moved first, and while Lamphier had rear end issues, Iacopetti streaked to a 7.94 at 169 mph for the win.
The fifth and final Street Car Braggin Rights Shootout class would be the ‘Daily’ class, pitted Ron Wambo opposite the ‘Dirty Diamon’ drag and drive proven pick-up of Chris Conlon. Wambo grabbed the early lead, but Conlon pulled ahead by the finish line for the victory, 8.71 at 154 mph to a 9.02 at 152 mph from Wambo.
The DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) versus AWD (All-Wheel-Drive) class featured two qualified fields, with the quicker cars going into the Unlimited class. The final round in the Unlimited featured Mike Portoles and David Shakesby in an all GT-R battle, with Portoles getting a 7.35 to 7.40 victory.
The DCT versus AWD Pro class final found recent Sick Week contestant Richard Bleier making the final opposite Andrew King, and the 8.22 at 170 mph from Bleier got around the holeshot-aided 8.35 at 172 mph pass from King for the win.
The second-largest class of the event is the Street Car Index class, where competitors are required to complete a street cruise, complete with checkpoints, to be eligible for eliminations. After six rounds of racing, a champion was crowned, with Josh Carroll holding off defending class champion Jimmy King for the win.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Motion Raceworks and Daniel Ryan.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com