![]() ![]() In Detroit, the largest US city with a majority African-American population, the sport’s popularity reflects local demographics. Media and movies traditionally portray drag racing culture as the sole domain of white guys, often with slicked-back pompadours and sideburns think Rebel Without a Cause, Grease, and American Graffiti. Hump spun old-school jams: Whodini’s 1984 “Freaks Come Out at Night,” Inner City’s 1988 early Detroit techno anthem “Good Life,” and one of the ur-tracks of Motor City electrofunk, Cybotron’s 1982 classic “Cosmic Cars.” After dark, the music was provided by David Humphries, better known as Hump the Grinder, founder of Hair Wars, Detroit’s renowned annual African-American hair stylist competition. Earlier in the day, members of the Underground Resistance collective had manned the wheels of steel, accompanying the squeals of screeching tires with the high-octane sounds of Detroit techno. In a booth overlooking the racers set up on top of a semitrailer, legendary local electronic music DJs surveyed the scene and supplied a steady musical backdrop. ![]() As he finally waved the starting flag, the cars roared suddenly to life, clouds of smoke issuing from their spinning tires that obscured the hot rods from view before they reemerged from the haze as blurry streaks of color blazing down the tarmac into the sunset. ![]() ![]() After the burnouts, the drivers were coaxed back behind the starting line, where they waited impatiently for the race’s official starter to step between them. On one of the airport’s runways, two cars engaged in pre-race “burnouts”-spinning the wheels while stationary by hitting the gas and brake pedals simultaneously-which ensured drivers were on the cleanest patch of tire rubber possible, as well as laying down a nice, hot, sticky lane of rubber for cars to launch into. On a Saturday evening late last September, several thousand people gathered along the airfield at Detroit City Airport for the inaugural edition of the Motor City Showdown, the first legal drag race in the Detroit area in 20 years and perhaps the first-ever legal race within official city limits. Words: mike rubin photography: mike rubin, doug coombe ![]()
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