My dad started this business in 1995. Four bays. A lot of tools. Even more hustle.
Pete saw an opportunity. There were cars that needed fixing, and he knew how to fix them. He didn't have a big investor or a business plan written by some consultant. He just had skill and the willingness to work.
I grew up around that shop. So did my cousin Josh. We were kids running around between the lifts, watching Pete and his techs pull engines apart and put them back together. That wasn't school for us. That was home.
A different kind of education
A lot of kids play sports because it's something to do on Saturday mornings. Josh and I played sports too, but we also spent time learning a trade. Not because anybody forced us to. Because we wanted to understand how things worked.
A four-bay shop is a classroom if you pay attention. You watch experienced techs. You learn why something fails. You understand that precision matters. You get a feel for the work.
Then Josh and I did something different. We got serious about racing.
In the late 2000s and 2010s, we raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. I was the driver. Josh was my crew chief. We'd drive up I-85 to Charlotte Motor Speedway, to Daytona, to other tracks around the country. We were out there competing at high levels.
What racing taught us
Racing changes your perspective on precision. When you're going 150 mph in a truck that you and your crew built, you start to understand that details matter. A half-turn on a spring adjustment. A tenth of an inch on a wheel alignment. That's not small stuff. That's the difference between winning and wrecking.
Josh as a crew chief and me as a driver, we had to communicate perfectly. He'd tell me something was off with the truck, and I had to trust him completely because there's no time to second-guess it. By the time I got that message, I'd already gone into a turn with information that might change how I approached it.
That relationship — that trust, that attention to detail, that understanding that small things compound into big results — that's what racing was all about for us.
And then we realized something. That's exactly how you run a repair shop too.
Coming back to the shop
Pete was getting ready to step back. He'd built something real. Eighteen technicians across multiple locations. Fleet customers from all over — lawncare companies, building supply, utility companies, railroad, tree service. Pete had done the hard part of establishing something that worked.
Josh and I came back. We'd raced. We'd learned some things. We had that mentality of precision and not cutting corners. And we had something else: we actually cared about running the business right.
We brought racing discipline to the shop. When a tech pulls a set of brakes apart, we want them approaching it the same way we approached a race truck. Because it matters the same way. The person driving that vehicle has someone they love waiting for them at home.
From three bays to three locations
The shop has grown since Pete started it. We've got two locations in Concord — one on Zion Church Road for automotive work, one on Armentrout Drive for our heavy-duty operations. We also opened up on Roxie Street in Kannapolis.
Growth isn't something we chased for growth's sake. It was something that happened because we were doing the work right and word got around. Our fleet customers needed us to be in more places. Their trucks needed service, and it made sense to be there.
I remember opening the second location. We were nervous. You're spreading yourself thinner, you're hiring new people, you're betting that the culture you built at one location will translate to another. But it did. The techs we hired were good people who cared. The customers kept bringing their trucks back. It worked.
The racing mentality in action
This isn't just something we talk about. It's how we actually operate.
If you want to see what we found, we're happy to send you a picture of the actual part on your actual vehicle. No generic stock photos. You see what we see.
We stand behind our work with the best warranties in the industry. Three years and 36,000 miles on automotive. One year, unlimited miles on heavy-duty and commercial — no mileage cap on trucks that run all day. We're not rushing through jobs to crank out the next customer. We're treating every vehicle like it matters because it does.
We don't oversell people on service they don't need. Pete taught me that. Your brakes have life left, I'll tell you they have life left. Your brakes are worn down to metal, I'm going to be straight with you about it. Either way, you're making a decision based on facts, not on what makes us the most money.
Where we are now
Pete's retired now. Doing what he wants. He built something that matters, something that's still running strong.
Josh and I run it now with eighteen techs across our three locations. We're working on everything from a lady's Honda Civic to a semi truck hauling freight down I-85. We've got a railroad company that depends on us, utility companies that trust us with their fleets, owner-operators and small business owners who've become friends over the years.
The racing days are behind us. We're not chasing trophies anymore. But we're still operating with that same mentality — precision, integrity, and understanding that what we do matters to people's lives. A business owner who depends on his trucks to run. A parent who needs their car to get the kids to school safely.
Why we do this
I've had people ask me why we haven't tried to franchise or go nationwide. The answer is simple: we like being here. We like working with people we know. We like building relationships that last for years.
One of our fleet guys has been bringing trucks to us for over a decade. We know him. He trusts us. That relationship is worth more than trying to be everywhere.
The racing taught us something that applies to everything: you win by being better than your competition, and you stay in the game by taking care of the people who trust you. That's it. That's the whole thing.
If you're looking for a shop
You want to work with people who are going to be straight with you. Who are happy to show you what they find if you want to see it. Who aren't going to upsell you on work you don't need. Who stand behind their work and answer the phone when you call.
That's what Pete built. That's what Josh and I have tried to make better. Come see us.
Meet the team. Bring your vehicle by.
Three locations in Concord and Kannapolis, NC.