Double AA club Podcast
Double AA club Podcast
EP:78 Street Racing Memories and Car Culture: From 'The Tank' to Social Media Evolution
What happens when a hand-me-down 1991 Toyota Camry, affectionately dubbed "the tank," faces off against some of the fastest modified cars in Orlando? Buckle up as we reminisce about the thrills, close calls, and unforgettable nights from our teenage years in the street racing scene. We'll take you to the heart of Orlando's vibrant car culture, where oversized rims and ingeniously modified Impalas reign supreme. Hear how budget constraints pushed us to creative solutions, like using dryer duct piping for an intake, proving that passion and resourcefulness can fuel even the wildest automotive dreams.
Our journey doesn't stop there. Guest and seasoned car racing enthusiast joins us to reflect on how the import racing scene shaped his life, offering a positive escape from the challenging streets of New York City in the 80s and 90s. He shares how social media has revolutionized the racing world, yet pays tribute to the pioneers who paved the way long before the digital age. From the camaraderie formed on the streets to the life-changing moments, discover how racing provided an alternative to urban struggles and created lifelong bonds. This episode is packed with heartfelt stories and adrenaline-pumping memories that highlight the transformative power of car culture.
You are listening to the Double A Club and this is your host, ny Boom, and my co-host, big Daz. We'll be talking about trending topics and healthcare and basically just as a disclaimer just to let the listeners know that this is just basically on our opinions and speculations and I hope you guys enjoy the show. Let's start off and kick off with our first topic.
Speaker 2:I know down here in Florida they usually have this. I can't think of the name. It's a big thing to have to do here in Orlando. It's with some college football game and I forget the name of it. It's two black colleges but they have like they don't have street racing, but they bring the whole, like everyone shows up with their impolites a 30-inch wrench with like a half an inch of tire.
Speaker 3:Like it's crazy oh, I know what's the name of that Like like all the dunks come out and all that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, they all come out, they just come. It's ghetto as hell. But hey, you see all these cars done up, man. You see all the cars with like done up, with like fucking 45 inch rims, like they just try to get a bigger rim. I mean, like I'm surprised I haven't seen the fucking tractor trailer co-op here. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:Like they take their cars serious over there you're seeing a lot of those cars now and not now, but they've been. You know they've been at it for a little bit, but you're seeing a lot of those cars now and not now, but they've been at it for a little bit. But you're seeing a lot of those cars transition into the street racing also.
Speaker 2:Oh, and the track racing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have a lot of cars. You can't see those cars racing, bro, believe it or not, a lot of those cars are running really fast, like really, really fast.
Speaker 2:Bro, look it or not, a lot of those cars are running really fast, like really really fast, bro, look into it.
Speaker 3:I'll even send you a few links, like after this If you really look into it, there's some fast cars with huge rims, you know, wheels on up. But you know you're starting to see like and not starting, I mean that's the wrong word. But you're seeing a lot of those classic corners like and not the old school hot rod he's talking about like these dogs, like sitting on, you know 26 is or whatever he can, 30-inch wheels, but like they're super them up and they're, bro, they're fast too. You know, and I know those empowers like the ones that they typically get, like the old piece empowers, they can put a big engine in that stuff, right, right, right. So they're souping them up and they're just as fast as anybody else. You know like it's dope to see the evolution of this car scene and the racing scene and what it has grown since I got into it, you know. You know we were just young kids with hope.
Speaker 3:I remember, man and I won't even be ashamed to admit this because a lot of my close friends, if they hear this, they'll start laughing but I remember one of my first Honda Civics. I couldn't afford the intake for it, right, intake filter. I couldn't afford it and I went to, I think, sears at the top Sears, bro, that's what my age. But I went to Sears and I bought the duct piping for our dryer, right, wow, yeah, yeah, I attached a filter at the end of it. And I attached a filter at the end of it and I removed the air box from my car and I used another clamp to the throttle body area and that was my intake.
Speaker 3:You know, I couldn't afford an intake, but I was like yo, like all it is is pause a tube with a filter at the end, and I was like yo, I could do that with air dryer ducts, you know. So I went to Sears and it was like $5 compared to like $150 for like a real intake setup and I set it up that way and that's how I ran it and, like a lot of my friends were like yo, it worked and it made the sound. It made the sound that everybody was expecting to hear out of a fast car and I remember doing that and a lot of my friends used to crack jokes I'm like they never ripped on me like yo, you broke ass. You know. Like, not like that, I know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have a friend whose father was a mechanic and he would duct tape everything. He would duct tape the windows. He'd duct tape the headlights. He'd duct tape the exhaust. He'd duct tape the catalyst converter. He'd duct tape everything. If they had something wrong with it, he duct taped it. That was like his dick for cars.
Speaker 3:I mean Yo, I lived off of zip ties For a long time.
Speaker 2:Yo, I feel you, bro, you were young Like yo.
Speaker 3:My bumper broke, zip tie. My mirror broke. I was holding that up with a zip tie, like yo, that Listen, whatever works the boat. Zip tie. Uh, my mirror broke.
Speaker 2:I was holding that up with a zip tie, like you know that you know listen, whatever whatever works, whatever works, bro, for real, I mean, I feel you put you know that, um, you know, I can only imagine that the racing scene itself if you're just doing it for love, it's not. It's not really bringing money like that where you can drop everything on the car because you also have your own expenses, life and everything. If you do get money, it's got to go to those other priorities before the car. So I can only imagine hey, you got to do whatever you got to do to make sure it's going to work until the next paycheck Right, and that's why I give props.
Speaker 3:Listen, you know, and one thing I want, I want people to take away from this podcast Well, from this episode at least, um is that there's so many people that have that I look up to out there that have inspired me and continue to inspire me in this, in this car scene. You know I see these guys, you know, working hard at what they do. You know, shout out to my boy, pharoah, you know he's one of the hardest working individuals, high boost in Jersey City that I know that puts his all into his racing program. You know, and by no means does he have a huge racing program but he's been, you know, huge on supporting other racers and influencing other racers and and just being there being a pivotal point of the car scene. You, you know, in Florida you got, you know, high boots like Cesar in Orlando. You know, in Central Florida you got Cesar, the Champ, who's been another pivotal person that I've always looked up to, and his brothers and their race cars. And you know my boy, steve, who's, you know, cesar's brother, um, and Stefan, his brother too. You know you got this whole little camp out there that has been dedicating the majority of their lives to just racing and they inspire guys like me.
Speaker 3:You know, I'm nowhere near what these guys are, you know I I I've never raced to the degree that these guys race. I've never raced to the degree that these guys race. You know, I've never been as involved in my car as these guys are with theirs, you know. But they inspire me in my own way. You know, it makes me want to pick up that camera and document their journey. It makes me want to, you know, start a podcast and invite them in and speak and let the world know what these guys are really about.
Speaker 3:You know, um, you know now, social media, you know, obviously we could see everything, but you know these guys have been doing this way before social media. You know, way before it was cool to make a post or post something on your story, or. You know, they weren't doing it for clout, they weren't doing it for fame, they were doing it for the love of racing, um, and they continue to do so. So you know, I I've been, I've been lucky enough to to um been let around a lot of these racing crews and have inside access, uh, in an inside look, uh, as to what it takes for them to build these racing teams. Shout out to them, because if it wasn't for that, my life would probably be pretty fucking boring, honestly, yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't know, man, your life wouldn't be boring. You'd figure out something else to do.
Speaker 3:I'm a cannabis cultivator, like legally in the state of New York I cultivate cannabis. So that's been. You know that's been a little thrilling. But you know, from 96 to now, you know the majority of my life has been dedicated to the import racing scene. You know, and even that flourish and seeing that progress, um has truly made me into the individual I am today. You know, without it I don't know where I'd be. You know, like I was a young knucklehead in New York city. You know, growing up in New York city in the eighties and nineties had in New York City. You know, growing up in New York City in the 80s and 90s I wasn't destined. You know statistically where I'm from. You know there wasn't too many, too many of us making it out. You know, in the 80s we saw a lot of our parents get addicted to crack uh, they're still doing it, even to this point.
Speaker 2:There's a lot. I grew up with a lot of people in the Bronx and some of them are dead and some of them are just still hooked on it.
Speaker 3:Right, and just statistically, coming from these neighborhoods, we didn't have a lot of chances to get out. Our parents were bad hands in the years that they were trying to raise us and 96 was bad hands in the in the in the years that they were, you know, trying to raise us. Um, and you know 96 was a pivotal point for me. You know I had just moved to Jersey from New York. Um, I was already, you know, arrested once in New York for like a few you know pretty little serious crimes out there. Um, and then moving to Jersey, like you know, you take a nigga from Washington Heights and the Bronx and you put them in Jersey in the suburbs, like I'm gonna set that shit off fire.
Speaker 3:You know, um, and I, um, I want to say I'm happy enough that the car racing took my attention away from the streets and put it into something positive, um, and it's truly shaped my life into the way it is now. You know I I can't wake up one day without seeing or being involved in the car racing. Um, I can't think of my life, of how it would have been without the car racing. So you know, I always I owe a major part of my life to these guys that I grew up idolizing and I still do idolize it, and I and I, I you know I try to take my time to give everybody their flowers, um, but if they haven't heard it in a while, then let this podcast episode be the one that they tune into and and hear the respect that I have for them. Well, this podcast episode will be forever Right.
Speaker 2:And you know you're right, and I think that's one of the biggest problems that we have, coming from the New York area, is that there's not a lot of things for the youth to do to get out of trouble. You know what I'm saying. It's either we get into gang, gang we do stupid shit, we fuck up in school Drugs or go to work Things like that. You know what I'm saying. Like there's no real like, like, if you go to Texas, they got they, they uh, they have things out there that orchestrate for family. You know what I'm saying. They got racetracks for kids, they got horseback riding, they got all these activities for kids to do when they're young and stuff like that and to grow into. But we don't have that in New York, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know it's like I was saying earlier in the episode. Yeah, you know it's like I was saying earlier in the episode. You know, growing up in New York or you know like cities like Newark, new Jersey, or you know wherever, you know these big, you know urban graffiti, you know from when I was 70 years old till, you know, and exploring the train tunnels and you know all these little areas that you had to like sneak into just to get a tag up. You know like, you know that was our playground where you go to the suburbs, and you got a swim club for the local residents. You got, literally, you got football programs. You got all that.
Speaker 3:And in the 80s and 90s, like we didn't have none of that, you know we had them. Pal was just starting out. You know the dare program was just starting out, so we didn't, we didn't have these escapes like other. You know areas were blessed to have. Um, you know, and what it is. You've got to make the best of it and you can't let that determine who you'll be in life or where you're going to go in life. But when you're dealt a bad hand, you're just dealt a bad hand and you have a disadvantage over other communities or other areas. Mm-hmm yeah.
Speaker 2:Right. So while you was racing what was some of the most memorial races you've had, like the ones that like stick to your head and you'll never forget this race.
Speaker 3:Man, I'll be 100% honest with you. Like, a lot of the races I had were bullshit little races here and there with friends, you know, like I had one. So I had one with, uh, you know, one of my close friends, frankie, and this was just a fucking rivalry between two best friends, right, um, and he always had a faster car. Right, he always had a faster car, had a faster car. Right, he always had a faster car. Well, finally, like at the age of 21, I had saved up enough money, um, to put a down payment on this car that was being sold and it was already like, hooked up. It was a 91 Honda CRX and it had a roll cage in it. Um, it had a moat, you know, a bigger motor in it. Um, you know, and it was, it was just built for street it, it had a bigger motor in it and it was just built for street racing.
Speaker 2:It was ready to go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was ready to go. And the kid who sold it to me he was like bro, I want this car to go to you, I know you're going to take care of it. And I was just like, all right, cool, but I didn't have all the money to buy it. So I literally scrounged up everything I could for my paychecks and you know whatever I had saved. And then I asked my job at the time, cause I had been there for a while and I was like a supervisor with them. I was young but, like you know, in like management roles, you know whatever. Um, and I asked, uh, theo of the company, who at the time was, you know he was like mentoring me and I was like, hey, dave, I was like, mind, if I get like, uh, you know, a 2500 loan and just take it on my paycheck every two weeks? And he's like what? And I'm like, yeah, I was like yo, I'm trying to buy this car and I I can't get to work every day. Um, you know, I'm dependent on my girl to drive me to work Every day and all this and I just want to be independent and have my own car. He's like, yeah, man, get yourself something reliable and safe. And you know, do it. And I was like, yeah, yeah, no doubt. So the minute I get the check, I go and I cash it and I call the kid and I'm like, yo, I got the money for the car and I go to DMV and I register it.
Speaker 3:And I showed up to work the following week and this fucking race car, um happened to be outside smoking a cigarette and I pulled it and I'm making all fucking sorts of noise with this car. It's just um. And when I pulled into the parking lot, he comes over. He's like Danny, and I'm like, yeah, he's like what the fuck is this? And I'm like, yeah, he's like what the is this? I'm like it's my car. And he's like what do you mean? This is your car. And I'm like, uh, it's my car. He's like this is what we gave you money to buy. And I'm like, yeah, I'm like, yeah, it's like you know. He's like, listen, man, it's your money. You decide what you want to do with it. You know, know, whatever, whatever, you just don't quit, because we need that money back. And I was like I got you.
Speaker 3:But you know, going into situations like that and having my car and getting that first taste, I was able to finally stand up to my boy, frankie, right, and I'm like yo, I got a fast car now, so you want to fucking race me? And I was talking hella shit, and I knew his car was a little bit faster than mine. And, frankie, if you ever hear this, don't get mad. But I knew I was a better driver, right. So we finally had the opportunity to line up and this was I'm talking about years of rivalry, right we finally had the opportunity to line up and we fucking launch the cars and we take off and I'm out in front, first gear, second gear and I go to third gear and I missed fucking third gear, but I recovered kind of quick.
Speaker 3:So I got it into gear. And I missed fucking third gear, but I recovered kind of quick. So I got it into gear and I take off and at the end of it he beat me by like half a fender in the front. So he beat me by a little bit, but at the end of it all, like, I felt proud because I pulled up and I was like yo, let's fucking run it again. Fuck you, run it again. He looks at me like now I don't want to race and I'm like Fucking pussy and I'm like come on this race and this race, and still to this day, you know like he's still a very close friend of mine. Yeah, you know, I talk to him every now and then and I'll be like yo like you know, that day I would have taken, I would have kicked your ass.
Speaker 3:And he's like nah, nah, nah, get the fuck out of here. And I'm like bro, that's why you didn't want to raise me. Like the second time the same thing. Like yo, danny had you and he was like 100 in the. Now he tells me, you know, like nah, um, but yeah, that was. You know, that was probably one of my most most memorable races, I think, um, the only other one that trumps that one was uh.
Speaker 3:So we were at hunt's point and I was in my first car ever. It was a 1991 Toyota Camry that was like a hand-me-down for my mom and we used to call that shit the tank right because it was like, no matter what I put it through, the shit was like rock solid, like it would never die, right. So, um, I took that car to Hunt's Point and people, you know, like they were like yo, everybody was racing everything back then. It didn't have to be a race car, you just had to have a car and you were racing. Um, yeah, shit, my bad, my charger. So, um, but, um, you know, we pulled up to the race and I'm I'm soothed and I go down the strip and I come back and I race again. And I go down the strip and I come back and I race again and I lost down the strip. And I come back and I race again and I lost the first one, I won the second one and I lost the third. And right when I was coming back, uh, the guy who I just lost him, he's like yo, let's race again, bro, let's race it down. I'm like I'm gonna kick your ass when we can go back around and I line up and the cops come. And when the cops came, it was like talking every man for themselves yeah, it didn't matter, like you just had to get the fuck out of Dodge. Um, so we did. And all my boys running like, because all my boys were spectating, because, like, the less people in the car, the less the car waves, the faster, yeah, right. So All my boys run up to the car and they're like oh yeah, you'll get in, get in, let's get out of here. Now I think the cops see me racing. Right, so, a motherfucker out of like a hundred cars, he starts chasing my ass, right, yeah, so I'm dipping.
Speaker 3:And yeah, so I'm dipping in fucking flying, and I was 1718 at the time. I want to say I'm gonna say I was 17, not like 18. I was 18 at the time and I'm fucking different from this cop. And I jumped on the opposite side of the highway of the Bruckner, jumped on the opposite side of the highway of the Bruckner, so I jumped Right. So I jumped on the opposite side of the Bruckner and I didn't do it on purpose, bro, I didn't do it on purpose. You wasn't paying attention, but going Right. But I was just trying to get away and I ended up on the opposite side of the B Brooklyn.
Speaker 3:So I'm fucking flying and this cop. That's a busy highway, that's a super busy highway. So this cop is like chasing me and I just keep going. I'm like man, fuck this dude, I'm not stopping. And my boys are in the car. They're like yo, what the fuck is going with you?
Speaker 3:Now, when I look to the right, on the, on the proper side of the road, my boy, frankie, is in his hatchback and he's like he's looking at me and and like I'm looking at him like yo, what the fuck are you doing? And I'm like I don't know and I just keep going right. So the cop got off. At the next exit, like the next on-ramp, he got off. So I just keep driving. I'm like yo, I'm not fucking slowing down and I'm not slowing down, this thing ain't catching me. So finally, like five exits down, bro, I drove on the opposite side of the highway for like literally, like retardedly, like a few miles. Well, a few miles, yeah, cars would come in. All that shit happened Like that was a wild time, right.
Speaker 3:So we get off the highway and, like my boy, frankie, meets up with me, and we meet up with him and he pulls over and I pull over. He's like yo, what the fuck is wrong with y'all? I was like bro, I wasn't getting caught. And he's like yo, he's like yo, he's like, holy shit, I've never seen anything like that ever. But we got away. You know, we got away and that was the beauty of that night and that was one that you know we still talk about that to this day.
Speaker 3:Like yo remember that night, like that shit was crazy bro, that sounds fucking crazy bro. Yeah, that was a verifiable story back in the days. Man, that was a crazy night. But yeah, those two moments, those two moments to me, you know, like I've raced quite a few races when I was younger, but nothing stuck out to me like those because those were just, you know, like those were at the beginning of my love for the scene and it was just like naturally fun. It was like innocent, mischievous, young teenage fun. So those always stuck out to me as the two most memorable times.
Speaker 2:You must have that. Stuff must have happened often, Especially in your early Street racing time. You know what I'm saying Caps always breaking up and you getting away from them. You must have many crazy stories.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to Double A Club. Listen to us next episode To continue this topic. If you want to reach us on the email, it's doubleaclubpodcast at gmailcom. Catch you on the next one.
