Flint, MI—The City of Flint is proposing to crack down on street drifting, but Rachel Wooten is providing a safe outlet for car fanatics to burn rubber in collaboration with Alpha Motorsports, Inc. 

Wooten has been organizing car meets for the last two years. She was originally hosting more traditional classic car shows in Grand Blanc, where she lives. At the end of 2020, she linked up with Alpha Motorsports for the first time to host a meet-up in Flint. They spent the following winter dreaming up plans for future events, but it wasn’t until this past May that she decided to set up a slideshow where attendees could take turns doing burnouts and slides.

The traffic cone getting reset between burnouts and slides after it was knocked out of place. Car enthusiasts from across Michigan gathered at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

On Saturday June 12, people of all ages gathered in the Alpha Motorsports parking lot just outside of downtown Flint for the Armory Backshow. When asked what type of cars you could find at the event Wooten said “from your daily shit box, to exotic cars.” 

Smiles and excitement could be found from every angle as tires screeched and smoke filled the air in the slideshow pit—sometimes until the car was no longer visible. A DJ was on site providing a soundtrack for the day and a food vendor was slinging Koegels and other snacks. 

Event organizer Rachel Wooten, 44, of Grand Blanc, shouts jokes on her megaphone during her event the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Wooten says that when she hosts an event her main goal is to walk around and see everyone smiling and having fun. “I’m so passionate about it. I’ve been to so many (events like this) where there’s always trouble. There’s always an argument or some little group where, you know, there’s some petty drama going on, and I never see that at my events.” Wooten said. 

Safety is a big concern for Wooten. She says she has a zero tolerance policy for dangerous behavior. She considers herself a youth mentor, and is a mother and grandmother. “I like to sleep at night, so I will not allow these kids to hang out windows or be in the pit at all, because just one accident could be someone’s life. We have staff that walk around the pit to make sure that nobody is going to be in the pit and that they (drivers) follow the rules. And I have my megaphone,” she said.

Small but mighty, Wooten is known to pause the entire event if someone’s safety is in question. 

You can find out about future events by following Rachel Wooten on Facebook or joining the NightLife Cruise Facebook group here. 

Spectators at the Armory Backshow car meet watch burnouts during the slideshow portion of the event at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Driver and YouTuber ScaryyCat pulls into the slideshow pit to perform a burnout at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A car does a burnout at the Armory Backshow car meet up on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Families watch the slideshow event together from behind a fence at the Armory Backshow car meet up on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Crowds gathered to watch drivers to burnouts at the Armory Backshow car meet up on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
(From left) Brendan Earley, 19, of Davison, Zachery Templeton, 18, of Davison, Brendan Biazza, 19, of Davison, and Seth Macek, 23, of Otisville pose on top of Biazza’s 1990 Mazda Miata as it cools down after a burnout session at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Brendan Biazza, 19, of Davison prepares to change his shredded tire after doing a burnout at the Armory Backshow car meet up and slideshow event on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Brendan Biazza, 19, of Davison, pulls a shredded tire off of his Mazda Miata after doing a burnout at the Armory Backshow car meet up and slideshow event on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. He said he has done his share of burnouts but this was the first time he ruined a tire this much.
Cars on display in the parking lot of Alpha Motorsports, Inc, in Flint, Mich. during the Armory Backshow car meet and slideshow event on June 12, 2021. Car enthusiasts gathered to show off their vehicles and perform burnouts and slides in front of an audience. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Ahmed Jobeh, 19, of Hamtramck, changes a tire just outside of the slideshow pit on his car after doing a burnout at the Armory Backshow car meet at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021. Jobeh regularly attends car meets around the state. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Tire marks streak the parking lot of Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. from the slideshow event at the Armory Backshow car meet up on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Detail of a shredded tire which was ruined during a burnout at the Armory Backshow slideshow event at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Spectators film with their phones as smoke fills the air from the burning rubber of tires while someone performs a burnout at the Armory Backshow car meet at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021.
The burnout pit from above at the Armory Backshow car meet and slideshow event at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Bakil Ali, 19, of Hamtramck, tightens up a new tire on his friends car during the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Josh Milosek, 27, watches burnouts and slides from the sidelines of the slideshow pit at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Smoke plumes from the tires of a truck while the driver performs a burnout during the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Spectators at the Armory Backshow car meet watch burnouts during the slideshow portion of the event at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Armory Backshow car meet attendees get snacks from a vendor in the parking lot of Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Nuni Taylor, 20, of Saginaw, peers out the back of her friends car at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. Taylor regularly attends car meets with her friends. She likes to ride in the passenger seat while her friends do burnouts and says it’s fun but it isn’t scary. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A passenger holds his arm out the window to film on his phone while the driver performs in the slideshow pit at the Armory Backshow car meet at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A couple kisses on the sidelines of the slideshow pit at the Armory Backshow car meet at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
KT Stoyanoff, 24, of Flint in front of her Chrystler 300 SRT. She is no stranger to drifting. “I grew up around it in the suburbs, on a farm, in the hood, you know, Flint.” she said. Stoyanoff has been doing tricks behind the wheel for a couple of years and was one of the only women performing in the slideshow event at the Armory Backshow car meet at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A driver burns his tires at the Armory Backshow car meet up on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Photographer Maxwell Dow, of Davison, stands ready to document on the sidelines of the slideshow pit at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports Inc, in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A driver pulls out of the smoky slideshow pit after doing a burnout at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A car becomes nearly invisible as smoke from doing a burnout fills the air during the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Kevi Stephens, 18, and Nuni Taylor, 20, both of Saginaw, sit on their friends car at the Armory Backshow car meet at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021. They both like to ride in the passenger seat while their friends do burnouts. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A car is tied to a truck and the driver does a burnout. Drivers performed burnouts and slides during the slideshow event at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Spectators at the Armory Backshow car meet watch burnouts as the sun sets during the slideshow event at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Two cars slide around each other in a circle in the slideshow pit at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021. Car enthusiasts and spectators gathered at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. for the event. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Spectators film a Corvette doing burnouts at the slideshow event at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A passenger goes against the rules and hangs out of a car doing a burnout momentarily during the slideshow event at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Girls watch as a driver pulls his Camaro into the slideshow pit at the Armory Backshow car meet at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Passengers stick their phones out the car windows as the driver does a burnout in the slideshow pit at the Armory Backshow car meet on June 12, 2021 at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazwich | Flint Beat)
As the sun sets and the Armory Backshow car meet and slideshow event comes to an end, the last performers do a burnout in the pit at Alpha Motorsports, Inc. on June 12, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

4 replies on “Flint photos: Drivers come from all over to safely burn rubber at new event”

  1. Pingback: Flint photos: Drivers come from all over to safely burn rubber at new event - Brand Timelines
  2. Pingback: Flint photos: Drivers come from all over to safely burn rubber at new event - Brand Pulse

Comments are closed.