racing.htm

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This page is dedicated to my insane addiction to crazy motor sports. I've been racing "small scale" for almost 20 years at Orlando Speed World, Lake Erie Speedway in PA, Holland Speedway in Buffalo NY and other local tracks in Florida. Upon being a small business owner operating my mobile DJ company I have the perfect advertising tax write off. You will find on these pages some awesome footage of us in action doing what we do, "DESTRUCTION". Now, I know many are saying "Look, they're a bunch of rednecks, it's poor mans racing", well I have news for you, this is the best show out there. An entire night of crashing and bashing; it's what NASCAR wishes they had in order to keep people from falling asleep Sunday afternoons. These new generation of cars we are building are the latest in speed, and durability, you could call these WMD's, do to their crashing, strength and ability to take out other cars. Check back soon as I'll be posting pictures of the newest car from DJ BenJammin Motor sports to take place of the now retired Black Sunshine. (RIP)

If you would like to sponsor some of DJ BenJammin's cars feel free to email me or call for details. I'm always looking for support to help build better cars and to help get mine and others sponsors names advertised. Whether its an automotive parts, service, restaurant or any other type of business we can paint it on a car. This isn't NASCAR so a million dollar budget isn't needed but a few hundred dollars can really go far in making a winning demo car. In being one of the original drivers in the Crasharama series, I'll definitely get the message across.

I first started racing at Orlando Speed World in August of 1994. Upon returning from the Woodstock 94 concert in New York, I was approached by Bucky, one of my co-workers/great friend about an upcoming school bus figure-8 race. Being the adventurer that I am, I signed up for my first race, and into a lifelong addiction. I finished 5th I think, but discovered I had as much fun painting up my busses as I did racing them, and the fans loved it. I painted my first bus up all hippy-like, and was nicknamed the Partridge Family bus. I started out racing busses and then a school bus demolition derby, and then got into other events. The next event brought up by the track was a boat trailer race, that's racing a car with a boat on a trailer behind it. I started with a 1973 Buick (Cojack mobile) and an old 17 foot tri-hull boat. This was the next step in my wild and crazy racing hobby. I started with a crazy psychedelic paint job on the car and boat with over 20 different colors, making the "Love Boat" and the "Love Machine". Pulling out on the track, the fans rose to their feet for this rolling monstrosity I was driving, I was pumped and ready to put on a killer show. Racing a car was even more fun then busses so I got involved in more trailerraces. I then heard of an upcoming demolition derby at a county fair, so I set up the "Love Machine" for that, but cracked a head the day before the derby racing it at the track.

TNN came to town and filmed us for a live demolition derby for their new series "Friday Night Motor Madness". In seeing how much "prime time" fun this seemed, I found a full size Cadillac and set it up for the show. It had a killer paint job as "red, white, and blue" as you can imagine. This car just whistled "Yankee Doodle dandy". I even got a $50 sponsorship from a local flea market which was "impressive" to me at the time. I even managed to get AutoZone to sponsor me for parts, decals, and hats for me and my crew. I started in the first round of the derby and did pretty good, and proceed to the second round. All was fine until I forgot to refuel the small 6 gallon tank for the big 500 cu inch motor in between rounds. TNN came back a year later and did another live derby taping which I participated in with a front wheel drive Olds Tornado. The car was ok, until I took a hit which cut part of the fuel line, giving me a few flames under the hood. I seem to have a lot of fuel related problems which are apparent in many future races, and on the TV show.

I bowed out of racing for a year or two to finish up my degree, and returned when Orlando Speedworld scheduled a twice a year Crash-a-rama series. This was an entire crashing/racing program put together in the summer, and fall of the year. In having a regular race schedule, I found myself getting, boats, cars, and campers together for this bi-annual event. I never got back into hardcore bus building, but still ended up with a track bus from Speedworld that I would tweak and tinker with. I have then raced and retired many cars, busses, boats, and campers over the years, and some I only remember by photographs. These last few years have been the most fun out of all my racing periods. I got my father involved/hooked in racing and joined forces with him for several races and let him take over the boat/camper trailer races, and drag me in the chain race. This left me more time to setup my 4 and 8 cylinder demolition cars, as they need more prepping to be competitive. This was a great relationship until his stroke in 2003, in which we had to pull his "racing" license. Since then I've taken over his driving duties, and gone on to some wins and close finishes. With my added workload of more cars, I've brought in some more family to help me get things going. I've recruited my mom as my full time lettering artist, and actually taught her how to airbrush. Racing is truly a family sport, as when it all comes down to your life on the line in a car, who else would you trust? I've got my girlfriend involved somewhat, she doesn't exactly enjoy my racing hobbies, even though it keeps me out of trouble but she's there to support me.

Along with the the hard work and hurdles of racing, there are some accomplishments that were made along the way. From just a small track out in East Orlando we seemed to have garnered some national attention of our Gladiator sport. While we were blessed with some safe races and no injuries, our reputation for a death defying stunt show was spread across the land. Our little Crash-a-rama series was publicized in "People", "Automobile", and "Motor Trend" magazines for all the world to see. I myself have been featured in articles in both "Playboy", and "Esquire" magazines. Our races are also regularly showcased locally by the local news stations, and local papers. Within the past year we also took part in an independent film documentary about "bus racing" as Orlando is the birthplace of Figure-8 school bus racing. And now just recently we are featured in a videogame made by Atari called "Test Drive: Eve of Destruction" out on X-Box and Playstation II. The taping of the video game then inspired a "reality" show to be produced for Spike TV in which I and 11 other racers competed in. This isn't too bad for a death defying stunt show that is considered "insane" by the same people who pay $20 a head to see this mayhem.

Visit Heather at Suggs Motor sports for some of the best deals on custom vinyl cut graphics, and your Mini Cup Racing headquarters. A Proud new Partner with BenJammin Motor sports