Hey, everyone! Today we sat with the legend Rafael Estevez of DRT Racing. DRT Racing is a shop that started in 1997 by Rafael and Javier Ortega of OGS 1320 and the world-famous @HDAY . Rafael is a Washington Heights native where he spent his teen years infatuated with cars and the culture behind them. Since the mid-80's, Rafael has been into modifying cars and racing in the streets of NYC. While making a name for himself in street racing, he caught the attention of Kenneth Li who was a journalist for a local news paper. Kenneth had done a small story on the automotive culture in NYC yet had dreams of getting a story in Vibe Magazine. If you are not familiar with Vibe Magazine, just think if Complex was a print publication. Kenneth was introduced to Rafael by Javier Ortega and the seed was planted. What comes out of that connection is still hard to believe this day. Kenneth and Rafael worked together for a few years on the story and it was finally printed in Vibe with the title "Racer X'.
The accomplishment for Rafael was huge to him as all his hard work on the streets was finally recognized by a huge publication but that wasn't the end of it. The story of "Racer X" made it's rounds and caught the attention of Universal. They ended up buying the rights to the story and made the culture shifting film, The Fast And The Furious. Crazy right?! I have know this story for years but I never imagined I would hear the story for the source. Rafael is as real as they come and it was an honor to speak with him.
These days Rafael has relocated his shop DRT Racing to South Amboy in New Jersey where he is still making noise in the automotive community. Please make sure to show Rafael some love and if you enjoy this story, please tell a friend! Let's give "Racer X" the flowers he deserves.
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Guest:
@DRTracing
Vibe Magazine Article:
https://www.vibe.com/2015/03/racer-x-rafael-estevez-kenneth-li-fast-and-furious-inspiration-may-1998
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