Mustang Week Charlotte Brings Big-Time Drag & Roll Racing Action To zMAX Dragway

Mustang Week Charlotte is bringing serious straight-line action to one of the most iconic drag racing facilities in the country.

As part of the full Mustang Week experience at Charlotte Motor Speedway, racers will have the chance to line up at zMAX Dragway for two days of quarter-mile drag racing and roll racing, including competitive classes for anything from daily drivers to wild street cars and even full race cars.

The Drag Racing and Roll Racing program at Mustang Week Charlotte is presented by our friends at SPE Motorsport, giving Ford and Mustang racers a major stage to compete, test, and show what their cars can do.

Whether you are chasing a win, testing your setup, proving your street car can do more than cruise, or just looking to make passes with friends, Mustang Week Charlotte has a class built for you.

Five Ways To Get In On The Straight-Line Action

Mustang Week Charlotte gives participants several ways to hit the track, from heads-up street-car battles to consistency-based competition, open-format grudge racing, and high-speed roll racing.

The lineup includes:

1. Street Kings
2. True Street
3. Open Comp
4. Test & Tune/Grudge Racing
5. Roll Racing

Each class brings its own personality, rules, format, and level of competition, giving racers of different builds and experience levels a place to compete at Mustang Week Charlotte.

Roll Racing will be contested on Friday. Street Kings and Open Comp will qualify Friday and race Saturday. True Street will be held Saturday. Test & Tune/Grudge Racing will be available both days.

Entries are limited due to demand and available track time, so racers should register early.

Street Kings: Real Street Cars, Real Bragging Rights

Street Kings is built for the street-driven Ford and Mustang crowd.

Inspired by Street Car Braggin’ Rights-style shootouts and other popular street-car events, this class is designed to crown the ultimate street-driven Ford or Mustang at Mustang Week Charlotte.

Entry is limited to 75 cars, with the quickest 64 qualifiers making the field. This is a real street-car class. Cars must be licensed, insured, registered, and driven under their own power throughout the event. No push vehicles or tow vehicles are allowed during normal competition flow, and cars must be driven to the staging lanes and back to the pits under their own power.

Street Kings is open to Ford-bodied vehicles, including Mustangs, F-150s, classics, and other Blue Oval machines from any generation. The goal is simple: bring a real street car, make clean passes, qualify, and fight your way through eliminations.

The format starts with three rounds of blind qualifying, with scoreboards off. Qualifying is based on elapsed time. After qualifying, the top 64 cars are split into four performance-based divisions:

1. King Class: qualifiers 1-16
2. Outlaw: qualifiers 17-32
3. Hot Sauce: qualifiers 33-48
4. Grocery Getter: qualifiers 49-64

King Class is true heads-up racing with no breakout. The Outlaw, Hot Sauce, and Grocery Getter divisions use a breakout format set 0.10 seconds quicker than the number-one qualifier’s best E.T. in that division. That means the fastest cars have a no-excuses heads-up fight at the top, while the other divisions still deliver tight, competitive racing without turning the entire field into a runaway.

Street Kings uses a Pro .400 Tree. Eliminations begin with a random chip draw for round one, with remaining rounds laddered. Scoreboards will be on during eliminations, and lane choice is determined by the best previous-round E.T., or qualifying E.T. for round one.

Street Kings has a guaranteed purse of $8,000:

1. King Class: $5,000 guaranteed
2. Outlaw: $1,000 guaranteed
3. Hot Sauce: $1,000 guaranteed
4. Grocery Getter: $1,000 guaranteed

Each division payout is split 75 percent to the winner and 25 percent to the runner-up.

Street Kings also has specific street-car rules to help keep the class true to its intent. Vehicles must have a functioning cooling system, functioning radiator and water pump, working taillights, and at least one functioning headlight. Tire limits apply, including a maximum 275mm rear tire on a 15-inch wheel, a 325mm tire on a 17-inch or larger wheel, or a maximum 29.5 x 10.5 slick for rear-wheel-drive entries. AWD vehicles such as F-150s and Explorer STs are limited to a maximum 315 tire on a 17-inch wheel or a maximum 28 x 10.5 slick.

Wheelie bars, throttle stops, delay boxes, and reaction-time-based electronic aids are not permitted.

True Street: Built For Cars That Can Cruise And Compete

True Street is for racers who want to prove their car is more than a trailer queen.

This is a drag-and-drive-style competition designed to test real street and strip performance. Street-legal Mustangs, Fords, F-150s, and Ford-powered vehicles will complete a mandatory 30-mile supervised cruise before returning to zMAX Dragway for three back-to-back quarter-mile passes.

The goal is to show that your car can drive, survive, and perform. Competitors must complete the cruise under their own power, then make all three passes to be eligible for awards.

True Street vehicles must be street-legal, registered, and insured. They must have functional headlights, taillights, turn signals, and horn. Exhaust with mufflers is required, and DOT-legal tires are required front and rear.

After the cruise, cars return directly to the staging lanes for a group cool-down period. During that time, competitors may not open the hood. Opening the hood results in disqualification from awards, though the vehicle may still race. Trunks or hatches may be opened, and racers may refuel, change nitrous bottles, and pack intercooler ice as long as it does not require opening the hood. No tire changes are allowed.

Once competition begins, each vehicle makes three quarter-mile passes. Hoods, decklids, and trunks must remain closed until all three runs are complete. No adding fuel, nitrous, or ice once racing begins. Tire pressure adjustments are allowed between runs.

True Street awards will recognize the overall quickest averages as well as racers who land closest to specific E.T. average categories.

Awards include:

1. Overall Quickest E.T. Average
2. True Street Winner and Runner-Up
3. True Street Street Class Winner and Runner-Up
4. 9.00 Average Winner
5. 10.00 Average Winner
6. 11.00 Average Winner
7. 12.00 Average Winner
8. 13.00 Average Winner
9. 14.00 Average Winner
10. 15.00 Average Winner

The True Street Street Class division is designed for cars running 200-plus treadwear tires on the rear with full-size front tires, 205mm or wider. Eligible vehicles are automatically entered into Street Class while remaining eligible for other True Street awards.

For manual transmission racers, the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout adds even more incentive. It is open to H-pattern, foot-actuated manual transmission vehicles and is based on the three-run E.T. average. The top 10 fastest averages receive awards, and the top four advance to a four-car heads-up shootout on a .400 Pro Tree.

The TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout winner receives a trophy and a TREMEC TKX transmission.

Open Comp: Reaction Time, Consistency, And Competition

Open Comp gives Ford-bodied race cars a structured, competitive format at Mustang Week Charlotte.

This class is contested over the quarter-mile using a Pro .500 Tree and a 0.10-second breakout format. It is open to Ford-bodied vehicles only, with any engine combination, power adder, or transmission permitted. Transbrakes, 2-steps, and pneumatic, electric, or hydraulic shifters are allowed. Mechanical throttle stops are permitted as long as they are not adjustable during the run.

Dragsters and roadsters are not permitted, even if Ford-powered. Delay boxes, crossover boxes, reaction-time-based electronic aids, and electronically controlled or adjustable throttle stops are not permitted.

Open Comp qualifying is expected to include 3-4 rounds, beginning Friday and possibly continuing Saturday morning if time allows. Eliminations will be held Saturday. The class is capped at 35 entries, with the top 32 qualifiers advancing to eliminations.

Qualifying is based on positive reaction time only. The racer closest to .000 earns the number-one qualifying position. Red-light runs are placed at the bottom of the qualifying order based on how far negative the reaction time is. Identical reaction times are placed in order of occurrence.

The quickest qualifying E.T. permitted is 8.30 seconds, and the slowest qualifying E.T. permitted is 15.70 seconds. During eliminations, there is no minimum or maximum E.T. limit.

Open Comp uses laddered eliminations in an NHRA Sportsman ladder format. Courtesy staging is encouraged. Lane choice during qualifying and eliminations is the responsibility of the competitors. If racers cannot agree, a staging official will determine lane choice by coin flip.

Open Comp has a guaranteed $1,600 payout:

1. Winner: $1,000
2. Runner-Up: $400
3. Semi-Finalists: $100 each

This class is a great fit for racers who want a traditional competition format where reaction time, consistency, and execution matter just as much as horsepower.

Test & Tune/Grudge Racing: Make Passes, Have Fun, Settle It On Track

Not every racer is chasing a trophy. Some just want track time, clean passes, and the chance to line up against a friend.

That is where Test & Tune/Grudge Racing comes in.

This is a non-payout class built around making passes, dialing in your setup, and having fun in a controlled track environment. It is quarter-mile racing on a .400 Pro Tree, and racers can either run against the clock or line up with a buddy.

Test & Tune/Grudge Racing is available Friday and Saturday. All vehicles must pass safety tech, and drivers must have a valid U.S. driver’s license and/or the proper license for their E.T.

If you are racing True Street on Saturday and want to make runs on Friday, you will need to purchase a Test & Tune card.

For many participants, Test & Tune/Grudge Racing is the easiest way to get on track, make passes at zMAX Dragway, and enjoy the Mustang Week racing experience without jumping into a full competition class.

Roll Racing: High-Speed Action From A 40 MPH Start

Mustang Week Charlotte will also feature Roll Racing for racers who want to line up from a rolling start and let their cars stretch their legs in a controlled motorsports environment.

Roll racing is a form of heads-up drag racing where two cars start from a controlled rolling speed instead of a dead stop. At Mustang Week Charlotte, the start will be from 40 mph just beyond the Christmas tree. Both cars are released slightly offset, set the pace at 40 mph, and then accelerate on a signal to race to the finish line.

If a racer exceeds 40 mph during qualifying, that run will be disqualified.

Roll Racing is especially well-suited for high-horsepower street-style cars because it removes the traditional standing-start launch and puts the focus on power delivery, acceleration, setup, and driver discipline once the cars are already moving.

Roll Racing will be limited to a maximum of 80 cars, and spots are expected to fill quickly. Entries are available as either Race or Test & Tune. Participants may choose one or the other, but may not purchase both.

All Roll Racing race entries will qualify together in a single group. Once qualifying is complete and every racer has made a pass, the field will be divided into three performance-based classes:

1. Top Dog
2. Outlaw
3. Street

Roll Racing class participants will receive three qualifying runs, time permitting, followed by eliminations to determine the winners. The format is simple and exciting: 40 mph start from the tree, race to the quarter-mile finish line, and the win light determines the winner.

Roll Racing has a guaranteed $3,000 total purse paid across three classes:

1. Top Dog: $1,500
2. Outlaw: $1,000
3. Street: $500

Each class purse is split 75 percent to the winner and 25 percent to the runner-up. The top two finishers in each class will receive trophies and a cash payout.

The Roll Racing rules are designed to keep the class focused on real street-style Ford vehicles. Drivers must have a valid state-issued driver’s license and be at least 18 years old. Vehicles must be Ford-bodied or Ford Mustang street-type cars with stock chassis and frame rails. No stripped race cars are allowed. Vehicles must have two front seats, all glass, and mainly steel or OEM panels. Rear seats are optional.

All vehicles must have functioning headlights and taillights and meet all track safety requirements. Passengers are not permitted. Crossing the center line results in disqualification. The higher qualifying speed receives lane choice, and the left lane will always set the pace.

To help prevent sandbagging, Outlaw and Street divisions will have a 5 mph breakout rule during eliminations. That means no car can run 5.00 mph or faster than the number-one qualifier in that bracket during eliminations. Top Dog has no breakout rule.

Safety requirements also apply. All Roll Racing participants must attend the mandatory driver’s meeting. Track officials and event tech inspectors have final authority on vehicle safety eligibility. All drivers must wear an SA2015 or newer helmet, closed-toe shoes, long pants, and a long-sleeve shirt. Additional safety gear is required at higher speeds, including fire-rated gear at higher MPH thresholds.

Tech, Safety, And Registration

All drag racing and roll racing vehicles must pass tech inspection before being allowed to compete. Tech inspection includes a safety check and class rule check. Once approved, a tech sticker will be applied to the vehicle.

All vehicles must comply with applicable safety standards based on elapsed time, trap speed, and class requirements. It is the responsibility of each competitor to ensure their vehicle meets or exceeds the required safety specifications for its performance level.

For all cars running 9.99 or faster in the quarter-mile, a diaper or approved belly pan is mandatory in order to maintain track and racer safety.

All drivers must wear the required safety equipment appropriate for their vehicle’s E.T. and speed classification. A valid government-issued driver’s license is required for vehicles running 10.00 seconds or slower. An NHRA competition license is required for vehicles exceeding 10.00 seconds E.T. and/or meeting NHRA licensing thresholds for speed.

To participate in Drag Racing or Roll Racing at Mustang Week Charlotte, competitors must purchase a Mustang Week Participant Ticket and select the appropriate class entry during registration. Competitors may participate in both drag racing and roll racing if they choose, but all drivers and crew members must have a Participant Ticket.

Official Mustang Week registration packages include credentials, event materials, and participation information. Packages are scheduled to be mailed in advance prior to the event. Competitors who register after the mailing cutoff or purchase at the gate, if available, will need to pick up credentials at on-site registration.

All competitors must check in and obtain proper credentials before proceeding to tech inspection.

Drag Racing And Roll Racing At Mustang Week Charlotte

Mustang Week has always been about more than parking cars in rows. It is about driving, racing, competing, hanging out, and celebrating the cars and people that make the Mustang and Ford community so strong.

Bringing Mustang Week Charlotte to Charlotte Motor Speedway means participants get access to one of the best motorsports facilities in the country, and zMAX Dragway gives racers a first-class stage to show what their cars can do.

From Street Kings and True Street to Open Comp, Test & Tune, Grudge Racing, and Roll Racing, this is one of the biggest on-track opportunities ever offered at Mustang Week.

Drag Racing and Roll Racing take place August 28-29, 2026, at zMAX Dragway during Mustang Week Charlotte.

Spots are limited, and demand is expected to be high. All competitors must purchase a Mustang Week Participant Ticket and select the appropriate class entry during registration.

Register now and get ready to line up at Mustang Week Charlotte.