Rides - Sarah Hoskins

In the world of drag racing,
company-sponsored crews with
show-ready, fully blueprinted,
fire-belching rides are few and
far between. The majority push projects with
chipped paint and shoddy motors that are sponsored by
their nine-to-fives. The E-Town racers, a group of family
and friends from Evanston, Illinois, rep this group.
With ages ranging from 15 to 40-plus, the E-Town
racers, much to the chagrin of their wives, spend a
good amount of their free time locked in garages, toiling
with their hand-built rides. Building and rebuilding their
engines, they squeeze as much performance out of their
cars as they can without breaking the bank. They don’t
street race, and it’s not just because they’re scared they’ll
wind up like young Hogan. The crew simply can’t afford
to keep up with hustlers who dump stacks into their
rides. So they continue wrenching all throughout the year and slowly perfect their vehicles. When
they do decide to race, the E-Town racers pack up the family and food and roll with the United
Black Drag Racing Association to sanctioned events all over the country.
Photographer Sarah Hoskins knows their world well, as she grew up with most of them. On a
Fourth of July visit home, she reunited with a number of her old friends and got a peek into their
circle. Through her revealing photos, RIDES gets a never-before-seen glimpse into the domain of
people who are keeping the age-old American tradition of drag racing for the fun of it alive and
well. Sponsors, pay attention.
Your Local Drag
Leave the NOS and Streetglow at home as RIDES takes you into
the world of the E-Town racers.
This was taken during
what I call “the garage
tour,” which essentially
means cruising the
alleys and taking photos
of the racers and their
friends. This was
the hottest day of the
summer, and we were
at Butchy’s dad’s garage.
His dad does all the
mechanics on the car,
and Butchy now does
the driving.
Story Damien Scott /// Photography Sarah Hoskins
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This is Mike (left) and Joey Jenkins (right)
working on Joey’s car. I asked Mike about
calling him Mikey, as most of the E-Town
racers seemed to have a “y” at the end of
their name, and he said, “Oh, no! I don’t
think so!” I figured I better not push it, as
he was allowing me to photograph him
after not letting me for quite a while. This
day they were working hard to get Joey’s
car up and running again.
This is at Union Grove [drag strip] in
Wisconsin. Mike Jenkins was at the races
working on his cousin Joey’s car, while his
grandson Jamari looked on with his ears
protected from the loud cars.
These photos are of Ricky (right) and his “ bitch.” When I called his wife, Robin, to ask where he
was one night, she said, “He’s out with that bitch,” referring to his car. Ricky and his brother Wingard “Jimmy” Sudduth have a cable TV show in Evanston, Illinois, called Sudduth
Brothers Racing , which they’ve been doing for around three years. They got into cars because of
their dad, who raced Harley-Davidsons in the ’60s.
This photo of Terrance Kennedy was taken
on one of the last races of the season up in
Wisconsin last year. The Midwest isn’t known
for its beautiful winters, so things really slow up
after the fall. They call Terrance “The Pit Man,”
because he helps everyone out and has been
around forever.
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