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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

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.

 

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 | 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

Street Racing Illustrated | Evolution of the Beast

EVOLUTION OF THE BEAST

Fr8train’s journey from contender to king and back.

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Phillip Pratt / Gerry Burke

 

Evolution of the Beast | C&S Transmissions in Miramar, FL

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Home at C&S Transmissions in Miramar, Florida

 

When the word “evolution” is mentioned, at least in the circles we run in any way, most immediately relate it to other words like “Mitsubishi”, “Lancer”, the engine code “4G63”, or, if you’re a die-hard Subie driver, “@#$% you!”. But to the rest of the sane world, the word “evolution”, derived from the word “evolve”, is the gradual development of something, especially from a simple form to a more complex one. It’s typically a slow process that begins to help an organism survive in whatever ecosystem it lives within, as the environment or other organisms around it change. Some develop rock-hard shells or the ability to change their color, maybe even to secrete venomous slim from their skin; it’s all done to better their chances in a world that’s out to kill and probably consume them.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Twin-Turbo LS

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Original Twin-Turbo Set-Up, utilizing the stock ECU

 

Carlos, owner of the Trans Am named “Fr8train”, and the former king of the SRMS (Street Racing Made Safe) Top 10 List down in South Florida, knows this process all too well. Anyone familiar with the SRMS program in SoFlo knows his tenuous rise the top of the pack. The low-profile Firebird went from contender to top dog defeating every challenger put in its way. Having anywhere between 700 to 850-wheel horsepower, provided by a twin-turbo LS powerplant would generally make this a reality. That power combined with a rock-solid transmission built to necessity, in-house, by C&S (Carlos’ transmission shop) in Miramar, led to several run-ins with the ever-popular Danny “Frustrate” Rodriguez and his then B-Series powered, EG Civic. Losing to Frustrate during that friendly rivalry was enough to trigger Fr8train’s growth, but it most definitely wouldn’t be the last.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Party’s Over Indeed

 

The car wasn’t purchased as we see it. It was acquired by Carlos’ father as a mere shell. From there, they decided to drop in the 5.7L LS V8 that’d you’d typically find in a WS6 but built it out with forged internals stroking it out to a healthy 393. Instead of going down the familiar avenue of a bottle nitrous (something they were used to) and calling it a day, they decided to go turbo. And not just a single snail either, two big boys. Utilizing the stock ECU (yes, the stock computer) and manual boost controller, they tuned it out to a ripe 711-wheel horsepower on only 3lbs of boost! That was enough to get him into the top five, and on the way, set up dances with several impressive contenders including a couple ridiculous Fox Body Mustangs, big power Supras and a wicked Evo or two. By the time Carlos was ready to challenge for a top-three spot, he’d turned up Trans Am to about 8lbs making more than 900-wheel horsepower. Finally, he was set to face-off with his target; Frustrate, and his boosted EG, who much like him had fought his way up the list over the last few months and wasn’t interested in letting go his crown. It was a close race, but Frustrate held on and did so for several months and just as many races. It forced Carlos to take his Firebird back into the lab.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train”

 

The next time we saw Carlos, a couple things had changed. At a Super Chevy show, he snapped the timing chain on the Trans Am cz-lekarna.com://https. It turned out to be a blessing-in-disguise as it led him to switch from a hydraulic to a solid roller which allowed the car to shift at higher RPMs and make a little more than 150 extra horsepower. This pushed the Trans Am well into the 1k+ club. That, combined with some needed track testing, was enough to dethrone the “People’s Champ”, Frustrate, at the next event and hold onto the #1 spot for quite some time. He even took the show on the road with a trip to Orlando Speed World. After some heated back-and-forths and the changing of the day (the race happened several minutes past midnight, in front of a handful of people), Carlos and Fr8train walked a local LS-powered Fox-body, with no more than two wheels on the ground for half of the 1320.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Firebird Vs Civic

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Facing off against “The People’s Champ”, Daniel “Frustrate” Rodriguez

 

Carlos’ success didn’t go noticed, however. There were several groups from around the area that wanted a shot at him. Even Frustrate returned with a new set-up. This time utilizing a fully-built turbo-charged K-series motor. He was most certainly faster than before, but it still wasn’t enough to dethrone Carlos, who since their last meeting, had pushed the Trans Am to hold more than 1200 horsepower, converted to an automatic tranny and by then was consistently popping up on two wheels… and still had A/C. It wasn’t until weeks later, when Miami Performance Inc. and Fabshop Miami (no relation) showed up with their frighteningly fast GTRs, was anybody able to contend for Carlos’ crown. Ultimately, the younger, more advanced cars proved too much for the Trans Am and both, at one time or another, bested Carlos, controversy on roll-speeds and jumps notwithstanding, mind you.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train” | Warming up the tires on a cold night in Orlando

 

With all that behind them, the boys at C&S are looking forward. They hadn’t originally built the Trans Am to be a “world-beater”. It was a passion project. Something to play around with on the weekends. Even after the big pressure contests, he endured against his friend Frustrate, it was just always just about fun at the end of the day. Now it’s a little different. During Carlos’ bouts against the MPI (Miami Performance Inc.) GTR there were a couple of dust-ups between the two crews. Ok, maybe more than a couple. Just about every time these guys got near each other there were most certainly words and always the chance of an altercation or two. I don’t want to claim it’s “personal” but I’m also not going to assume it’s just about going fast anymore.

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train”

 

With the intention of making a comeback, C&S have completely torn down the Trans Am; A stiffened-up chassis, a completely new rear-end, and a more advanced, substantially larger engine that will put out more than 2000-wheel horsepower (shhh…). The only thing that will remain from the previous power/drivetrain is the tranny because you know… C&S is a tranny shop. Carlos doesn’t plan to be present at the beginning of the new season of races in West Palm Beach. However, he does plan to be offer takers both rolls and digs, and promises “When I do come, they’ll know.”

 

Evolution of the Beast | Carlo's Twin-Turbo Firebird

Carlos’ Firebird “Fr8train”