Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS: Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Gerry Burke and Phillip Pratt

Street Racing Made Safe’s 2nd Autocross event at AMR Motorplex in Homestead, Miami is exposing drivers to a whole new world of obsession.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18Street Racing Made Safe’s (SRMS) second Autocross event hosted at the AMR Motorplex in Homestead, Miami, Florida, right outside the legendary Homestead Speedway, was a something of a culture shift. South Florida has always been a great place for auto enthusiasts. Probably why a private company is investing millions of dollars into a high-end driver’s club next to Opalocka airport. Year round sun, no snow, and very friendly emissions laws allow us to enjoy our machines day in and out. But for the most part, it’s always been about drag racing. Can’t blame anyone, it’s probably the easiest event to host.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18Autocross has always been a niche kind of thing. Turnouts at parking lot hosted events generally have good turnouts. However, they are so few and far between, growing the event in terms of exposure was going to tough. When SRMS first teamed up with AMR and sold out all their tickets, I was impressed. It was new, and people trusted the SRMS name. It rained (or poured) that day, so it was hard to get a good read on what people really thought.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18When they did it a second time under blue skies, I really took notice. Roughly 1/3 of their attendees were brand new. These weren’t the same hooligans from a month ago. All of a sudden the staging grounds turned into a hundred mini-pits with drivers jacking up their cars, rotating tires, comparing times, set-ups and exchanging tips. Tent’s and canopies were all over the place as families were settling in to spend the day. Autocross in Homestead isn’t fade, nor is it fly by night event. It’s growing and maturing into its own animal. There is officially more to Miami than just drag racing.

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing 10.14.18

Street Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean Culture

Street Racing Illustrated | Clean Culture Ballpark Banger 2018

Clean Culture Ballpark Banger 2018 x Street Racing Illustrated

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Kevin Zambrano

Clean Culture is no stranger to South Florida. They host two, sometimes three, shows down here every year. Even with their strong year-round presence and hordes of fans and crew members spamming the roads- it doesn’t change the hype, excitement or the buzz in the air leading up to a show… and most of the time, that’s just the night before! If nothing else, the Clean Culture crew has mastered the art of finding interesting locales to host their signature events. One of the most unique among them is dubbed the Ballpark Banger in West Palm Beach, Florida. With cars strategically staged around the FITTEAM Ballpark baseball diamond, the guys at Clean Culture do what they do best- set a bomb atmosphere that is both chill and excitement. Enjoy the photos from our coverage below- peace.

Street Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean CultureStreet Racing Illustrated | Kevin Zambrano | Clean Culture

S2000 at SRMS' Cars, Coffee, and Racing

Street Racing Illustrated | Cars, Coffee, and Racing 08/12/2018

“Auto-Xing actually becomes more fun when it’s raining!”- Mario Ojito

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

SRMS Cars, Coffee, and RacingStreet Racing Made Safe’s inaugural Car, Coffee, and Racing was everything that SRMS President, Mario Ojito, said it would be. Even a massive speed trap on the turnpike and forty-five-minute downpour couldn’t stop the meet and races. Despite the wetter circumstances of the end of the day, the beginning was effing flawless. The racers were blessed with sunny, clear, skies as prep began and walks of the track were allowed. This isn’t a go-kart track with a tiny lane and nearly unreasonable amounts of hair-pins. AMR Motorplex supplied racers with lots of stretches to open those throttles up and get some speed going. The rain that arrived halfway through the event slowed down the meet-section, but unlike on a drag-strip, water just makes the racing more engaging. It was easy to tell the first time Auto-Xers from the seasoned vets, but as this event grows, I expect to see skills and car engineering do the same. Auto-Xing times can be viewed here. Next event will be held on September 9th, 2018 at AMR Motorplex.

 

SRMS Cars, Coffee, and Racing

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne 07.29.2018

Street Racing Illustrated | Car and Coffee Key Biscayne 07.29.2018

Cloudy weather made a chill meet, hot.

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

 

Miami is known worldwide for its amazing beaches. When you take this aspect and apply to it something like a car meet, it becomes a potent mixture that’s hard to top. Because of this, CLRDHOT/ Street Racing Made Safe’ Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne rarely disappoints. However, there is a downside to being so close to the beach. The weather. Luckily, it held up long enough for the event to thrive while keeping the blazing Miami sun at bay. The event brought in a vastly diverse crowd of Domestics, Europeans, Japanese (both legal… not so much), Classics, Exotics, Rat-rods, and bikes. This is due to the crowds drawn in by both the likes of CLRDHOT Motorsports and Street Racing Made Safe. There really is nothing like spending a couple hours appreciating some fine automobiles and then heading into the city for lunch with the same breathtaking waterfront views… even when the storm finally rolls in and nature behaves as if the world is about to end.

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Street Racing Illustrated | Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne 03.25.18

Beautiful weather and an awesome locale make Cars n Coffee Key Biscayne a ‘must go’.

Story & Photos | Phillip Pratt

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Majestics reppin’ at C&C Key Biscayne

 

There really is no backdrop like the aqua-color waters of Miami Beach on a clear morning. Even with the controlled vehicular chaos that was created by the Miami Open Tennis tournament taking place just across the Causeway, it was hard to let the laidback vibe be diluted. Outside of the beautiful location, the biggest standout was the eclectic mix of cars, bikes, and enthusiasts in attendance. It was impossible to say what kind of meet it was; import, domestic, classic, bikes, exotics… but I guess that’s the point of a Cars n Coffee meet. It’s intentionally nondescript by design, in turn, draws in a vastly diverse crowd. From the custom hot-rods, pocket bikes, modern muscle cars, to the rows of GTRs (both old and new) and the random bicycle hooligans; C&C Key Biscayne doesn’t disappoint. If nothing else, the view coming over the bridge is almost worth the drive by itself.

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Crew of Pocket Bikes showed up in mass

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Classic and Clean

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Hoods up

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Beauty in motion

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | A Bug done right

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Everyone is a Hoonigan

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Some mean muscle in attendance

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | When the wheels match the backdrop

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | Cars even love the view

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

 

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Street Racing Made Safe 03.24.18

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS in West Palm Beach on March 24th, 2018

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Phillip Pratt & Gerry Burke

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | The always fast DentPros 911

 

On a perfect weather night where we saw the return of Rob and his thousand-plus horsepower Supra to Street Racing Made Safe, MPI’s GTR making a 195 MPH pass and Frustrate running something close to eight seconds in his AWD EG hatch; you’d think it was a night the racers and spectators won… but no. With well over 15 broken axels on both front wheel and rear wheel drive cars, the biggest winner was Palm Beach International Raceway’s freshly paved, professionally prepped (perhaps a bit over-prepped?) track. It conquered both the amateur and the experienced, built and daily-driven, leaving some to load up their trailers earlier or call for a tow truck. We all love the action, but racers, seriously… if you drove to the park from a great distance, perhaps it’s best not to dig in the car that got you there? Despite the spattering of hold-ups due to having to push crippled cars off the track, it was still a great night of power. While they weren’t able to get too much into the Dig List Top Ten, I think everyone in attendance did learn a valuable lesson; while building your racecar, don’t neglect your axels.

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | The MPI GTR before it made a 195MPH pass

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Daniel Frustrate lining up for a call-out on the Dig List

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Digs in high demand

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Cousins

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | The view most see of this car

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | MPI GTR sitting scary

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Perfect FWD burn-out. Think it broke too.

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Mustang warming up the rubber

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Beautiful weather

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Rob in the lanes alongside the MPI GTR

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Javi’s RSX

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Lanes were jam-packed

 

SRMS 03.24.18

SRMS 03.24.18 | Some of fastest Bikes in SoFlo

Street Racing Illustrated | Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne 2.24.18

SRMS, CLRDHOT and 4×4 Alliance team-up to bring you Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Peter Castle

Cars and Coffee

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | 4×4 Alliance reppin’ what their culture is all about.

 

The name “Cars and Coffee” has become something of an international tradition. You can deduce the nature of the event merely by its name. To boil it down to it’s simplest definition, it’s a type of morning car meet. Typically, if not exclusively, held on weekends. If done right, it can attract hundreds of enthusiasts for miles around. The largest in the nation is held monthly in West Palm Beach. A great event but it can be quite a ride for most of South Florida (45 minutes to more than an hour for some). That’s where SRMS, 4×4 Alliance and CLRDHOT come in. With the breathtaking views of Miami’s waterfront at their backs, combined with the historic and famous site of the Seaquarium, “Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne” was built. While it’s not the first event to bare the name, with these three entities working together, it has the potential to challenge any other meet in the tri-county area. Either way, we win.

 

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Brought out cars from all walks…

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Got to love a clean Z

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Proof that we all can co-exist

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | This is Key Biscayne, after all

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Lamborghini distracting from the Miami Beach backdrop.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Beautiful Lotus melting into the morning sky.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Super-ill Wide-body Bimmer

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | SRMS CEO, Mario, brought out his slick ST

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Glimpse of a unicorn.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | The original bug-eye.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Stangs of South Florida with a strong showing.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Yosdany’s Supra stole the day.

Street Racing Illustrated | 2018 SoFloSubies Annual Cruise

The annual SofloSubies cruise and meet at Okeeheelee Park in Palm Beach.

Story & Photos | Phillip Pratt

Let’s start out with an admission on my part. I’m a Subie-guy. I drive a 2002 bug-eye Impreza WRX. I’m a member of SoFloSubies and a loyal customer of the WRXperts. I’m biased. Now that that’s out of the way, onto the beauty that is the 2018 SoFloSubies Annual Cruise to Okeeheelee Park, in Palm Beach County, Florida that took place on Sunday February 25. Maybe not that much of a “cruise” for local Subaru enthusiasts (hard to believe, but people do actually live in Palm Beach, its crazy, I know), it’s roughly a fifty-five mile or forty to fifty-minute drive if you’re like me and coming out of Broward County. Add about ten to fifteen miles or twenty minutes to the trip if you’re a denizen of Miami, proper. After meeting up at one of two of our local spots, we caravan North to the midway point, that being the Pompano Beach Service Plaza. While we gather in numbers that more oft than not eclipse three digits, we try our best to avoid blocking-in the openly annoyed truckers attempting to get on with their lives. I don’t even want to know what the ones sleeping in their cabs think about the ruckus we make. We don’t generally spend any more than a half-hour there before we get underway with the final leg of the trip. Barring any unforeseen circumstances and/or official set-backs (a Trooper seemingly escorted us one year… good times) it takes about thirty-five to forty minutes, the fastest route taking us through a laughably quiet suburban neighborhood. Once we arrive at the park and start unwinding from the drive, it turns into a big meet; except with food and a reserved shelter provided by the event’s many sponsors. As the day comes to an end there’s a 100% legit raffle that typically one-person wins 30% of the prizes (seriously what the @#$%?! This has happened at least twice. I want a #%#@%$# key-chain too!), trophies for “best ________”, and a group picture to cap it all off. If you are in the South Florida area, and a Subie-driver, you need to experience this event. There really is nothing else quite like it. Make the time.

 

SoFlo Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Mean BRZ

SoFlo Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Okeeheelee Park Line-Up

SoFlo Subies Okeeheelee Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | WRXperts’ Multi-Gen Knowledge-base realized

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Won the best STI of the Cruise

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Delicious STI from Machines Gone Wild in Miami

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Clean, right-hand drive GC

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Israel shows off his immaculate 03′ Bugeye WRX

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Trophies for the day

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | White Hawkeye STI getting a wipe-down after the drive

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | David Bazooka Money-pit

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Beautiful Community of Subaru

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Sick stance on this one

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Rolling into the meet

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Got to love the taste of Subie drivers

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Sittin’ pretty

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Perfect weather for the meet

SoFloSubies Okeeheelee Park Meet

SoFloSubies Annual Cruise 2018 | Beware Dave’s octopus

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS 2.10.18 “Grudge Night”

SRMS Grudge in West Palm Beach Florida.

Story & Photos | Phillip Pratt

 

Nothing like perfect weather to drive a great night of grudge racing. Despite an unfortunate setback with a Mustang spilling its guts halfway down the track, creating an hour and a half long “wait and see” situation, we were treated to a plethora exciting races from some of South Florida’s fastest cars. Atop of a night where we saw local tuning guru, Javi Bastista of “Javituned”, and his wicked fast, turbocharged RSX move from the 7th position to the 3rd in a single night on the 40mph roll list, Daniel “Frustrate” Rodriguez debuted his AWD set-up on his K-powered EG hatch (also tuned by Javi). Javi was able to defeat Frustrate in the tuner vs builder clash, but time will tell if he’ll be able to hold on as I suspect Frustrate is only going to get faster as he gets used to his new set-up. Due to the aforementioned Mustang evacuation, the Dig list wasn’t able to pop off, however, those that stuck around while the track got cleaned up got to see Frustrate take on Dig-King, Eddie Miller, in his 73’ Plymouth Duster with a pro-tree. Frustrate was able to pull out a victory as Eddie let off the throttle quarter of the way down the track giving up at least a car length’s lead and ultimately the race. If you missed it, I wouldn’t worry. They’ll do it again, soon.

 

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night” | BD Performance GT-R

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night” | Daniel “Frustrate” Rodriguez and his AWD K-series EG

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night” | Dentpros 911 staging up with a Camero

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night” | Javi and his RSX and Carta Performances’ Foxbody Mustang

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night” | Javituned’s own creation

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night”

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night”

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night” | Eddie Miller and his 73′ Duster getting ready to run Frustrate’s AWD EG

SRMS Grudge Night

SRMS “Grudge Night” | Frustrate and his family back in the pits after his win over Eddie Miller

Street Racing Illustrated | SRMS x K1 Speed Meet 02.08.18

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

Story & Photos | Phillip Pratt

 

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

 

Night car meets can be hit or miss. You might have the right size space, but the lighting isn’t adequate. You have a great location, but never got the official permission, so it ends up shut down by the cops. Sometimes it just attracts the wrong crowd and turns into a complete crap-fest of a failed event where a moron slams his car into a crowd of onlookers while attempting “drift”… All these obstacles can ultimately be avoided if a promoter does his or her homework and just treats the event like it is; an event. The people at SRMS are no stranger to putting in the work and their monthly meet at K1 Speed in Hialeah shines because of it. Hosted outside of K1 Speed’s indoor karting facility on their very large lot, SRMS, in conjunction with their partners, have created a fun, comfortable and safe environment attendees pack to the brim every first Thursday of each month.

 

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18

SRMS x K1 Speed Meet

Street Racing Made Safe x K1 Speed Car Meet 02.08.18