Behind the build: Allen Patten’s 950HP Time Attack C7 Corvette

If you were trackside at the South Carolina Festival season kickoff, your ears are probably still ringing from the sheer violence of Allen Patten’s 2017 Chevy Corvette C7.

Hunting lap times in TrackBattle Unlimited isn't for the faint of heart, but Allen didn't just show up to win, he showed up to decimate. He walked away with a 1st place finish and completely shattered the overall Unlimited record with a blistering 1m28.544s. But the craziest part about that weekend? The car almost didn't survive Thursday practice.

Let’s rewind a bit, because Allen's racing career started practically yesterday in motorsport years. Back in May 2023, his wife "forcefully encouraged" him to get off the couch and start driving in HPDE. By spring of 2024, he was dominating the timing boards in NASA, jumped into GRIDLIFE, and ran an undefeated five-win streak to take the Street Mod Championship. In 2025, he moved up to Track Mod, swept the class 4-0 to win that championship, snagged a Limited class top time at Super Lap Battle, and somehow found the bandwidth to run GT4 America in SRO.

This C7 was originally purchased as a dual-purpose street and track toy. After laying down a GRIDLIFE Street GT benchmark on a basic setup, Allen handed the keys over to Louis at Louis Gigliotti Racing for a "mild" Street Mod build. We all know how that lie goes. It escalated immediately. The first true Track Mod iteration of the car was thrashed together in just 70 days, resetting the fastest lap at every single event during what was supposed to be its shakedown year.

Rob Wilkinson

But nothing tests a build, or a team, quite like the Unlimited class. During Thursday’s test day in South Carolina, the Vette grenaded its transmission. Most guys would pack the trailer, crack a beer, and watch the rest of the weekend from the fence. Not Allen, and definitely not the LGR crew. Refusing to take a DNF, the team flew replacement parts in from Texas, wrenched straight through the night, and had the C7 rebuilt and back on grid in under 24 hours. They didn't just survive; they went out and set the outright fastest time of the event. That is the literal definition of going fast at all costs.

You don't hit a 1m28s without some serious firepower, and the guts of this Corvette are completely unhinged. Under the hood sits a stock bottom-end LT4 that’s being forcefully fed by an LT5 supercharger, churning out a massive 950 horsepower and 950 lb-ft of torque. All that violence gets shoved through an Emco sequential gearbox and a C7 base diff.

The real secret sauce is the mind-bending amount of bespoke fabrication from LGR. To dial in the center of gravity, they cut and re-engineered the driveline mounting to shove the engine lower and further back into the chassis. They welded up the nasty side-exit headers, built a one-off six-stage Dailey dry sump system, and fabricated a lay-down radiator to keep temps in check.

The aero package is a masterclass in downforce, pairing a Zebulon wing, splitter, and diffuser with a full LGR flat floor and Faircloth Composites carbon doors to shed factory weight. To keep it all glued to the tarmac, the car sits on Penske three-way shocks and massive 18x13 8TWELVE wheels wrapped in Michelin S8M slicks. Right down to the ZR1 front-end conversion and the hand-laid LGR flame livery, every single millimeter of this car screams aggression.

Rob Wilkinson

Fast Facts

• Driver: Allen Patten (@slinkii606)

• Chassis: 2017 Chevrolet Corvette C7

• Engine: Stock bottom end LT4 with LT5 Supercharger

• Power: 950 HP / 950 TQ

• Drivetrain: Emco sequential transmission, C7 base model diff

• Suspension: Penske 3-way coilovers, LGR drop spindles, LGR spherical bushings

• Brakes: AP Racing Motorsport with water cooling, Bosch M5 ABS

• Wheels: 8TWELVE 18x13

• Tires: Michelin S8M slicks

• Aero: Zebulon wing, splitter, and diffuser; LGR flat floor

• Electronics: Motec M182 with torque-based supercharger firmware (Motec USA), Motec C187 dash logger, individual cylinder EGT and Lambda

• Interior/Safety: LGR roll cage, Racetech RT9119 seat, Lifeline fire suppression, Airjax air jack system

Allen is absolutely out for blood this year, campaigning this monster in GRIDLIFE TrackBattle Unlimited while simultaneously trading paint in IMSA and SRO GT4 w2w racing. He sends a massive thank you to his wonderful wife, who makes everything he’s been able to accomplish in motorsports a reality. He also wants to shout out Louis and the entire LGR family for their endless, sleepless dedication to keeping this car at the top of the leaderboard. Keep an eye out for the flaming C7 on track this year.

And make sure to watch GRIDLIFE Summer Apex at Waktins Glen, July 24-26, on the RACER+ app (Apple, Android and Connected TV devices) and on RACER’s FAST channel (RACER Select, available on Samsung, Roku, LG and Amazon Fire) to see Allen reset the Unlimited track record at Watkins Glen.