Growing up on the island of Oahu , Shimizu has always been around racing thanks to his father , Thomas Shimizu , who raced a ’ 68 Barracuda . When Kyle was born , the ‘ Cuda was put on hold to focus on ohana ( family ) but , as Kyle got older , the Shimizu men started up again with a grassrootsstyle drag racing endeavor .

“ It was a very simple operation . We would drive to the track , put slicks on , Dad would run 12s , we would take the slicks off , and drive home ,” recalls Shimizu of where his obsession was born . “ My dad

is a Mopar guy , but I ’ ve always been interested in Camaros .”

Sadly , Oahu ’ s only dragstrip , Hawai ’ i Raceway Park in Campbell Industrial Park , closed in 2006 – the same year that Kyle got his driver ’ s license . With a relentless passion for the sport but no place to race , he found an alternative .

“ I had an ’ 02 Audi A4 with a bigger turbo and some other parts . I hadn ’ t ever been down the track , so I thought my sub-400-horsepower car was fast ,” laughs Shimizu , not proud of the fact that he often went street racing and highway roll racing with friends . Having no safe , sanctioned dragstrip available to Oahu ’ s enthusiasts , and despite efforts by residents to secure a new facility , the street racing scene grew exponentially . Consequently , police cracked down on illegal activity and strengthened restrictions on modified cars . “ We used spotters and had radar jammers and would all watch out for each other .”

In the meantime , Shimizu ’ s father had been racing a rental car in Maui . “ He would fly up , run an embarrassingly slow Nissan Versa just to scratch his itch , and then fly home ,” Shimizu says , proud of his father ’ s motivation to do what he loved , no matter what .

Eventually , Thomas put together his “ Hawaiian Hurricane ” Plymouth Duster . He sent it to stay with the family ’ s cousins , Shawn Motonaga and Christian Motonaga , serious drag racers and owners of Nextgen Auto Center in Kahului on Maui . The situation enabled Kyle to finally make his maiden trip down the dragstrip in 2017 . “ My first shakedown pass was 13.89 at 82 mph lifting through the lights . It was unreal !” proclaims Kyle , who shares his father ’ s spirit .

Not long after his inaugural hit , Kyle started looking for a car of his own . He knew it would be

22 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 167