STREET/RACE Issue 2, Spring 2018 | Page 66

BEAST MODE of torque, Ho’s version pumps out a whopping 1,281 horsepower and 928 foot-pounds of torque at the wheels. “My idea was to max out the parts and fuel capabilities and still be able to drive it on the street every day.” requires stock front brakes. “I try to stay within eight or 10 hours of Oklahoma City,” he mentions, but has been going to more races locally as of late. The beautiful white GTR isn’t just a pretty face at the track, though, as And he does. Ho usually can be Ho has racked up quite a few wins found cruising around in his GTR on and notable finishes with it. He won the weekends, going out to eat with the GTR 3 class in 2016 after laying his wife, Michelle, and racing. He down multiple 8-second passes doesn’t limit himself to just one with a personal best of 8.64 at type, though, and often mixes it up 163.67 mph. “That was the first time both at the strip and on the street. I got the car back with the new set up, and the conditions were ideal. Most often, Ho competes in the I was running on M&H drag radials, Forced Induction Pro class at Import but now I’ve switched to M&H slicks Face Off (IFO) events and in Street and I think I could have gone in the Racer at Street Car Takeover (SCT) low 8s if I’d been on slicks at that races. He also makes the yearly mi- time,” he muses. “I also won IFO gration to TX2K and happily flogs earlier this year at Thunder Valley his GTR in the GTR 3 class which and was the IFO runner up in Tulsa.” NOW, PEOPLE KNOW MY CAR SO I DON’T GET AS MANY CALL OUTS ANYMORE. 66 STREETRACE Not one to back off from a challenge or shy away from a race, Ho also has made a name for himself on the streets. Though the OKC scene ex- ploded in popularity in recent years, lately Ho has noticed it tapering off. “Ever since I got my car to be making the power it has, it’s been one of the fastest cars on the street. I have good power straight from the hit, and I used to race 1,500-horsepower Lambos with more power than me, but I’d keep up,” he boasts. “Now, people know my car so I don’t get as many call outs anymore. I’ll race my friends just for fun, too.” On the hunt for new victims, Ho started traveling out of state. He often hits up Texas and runs with his Oklahoma-based crew to rep- resent their state. “A few months ago in Dallas, I ran into an 1,800-horsepower Lambo and ended up racing him. He got on it and came around me on the big end—but it looked real good on video,” Ho laughs when recalling the race. Ho’s notoriety on the street also grew thanks in part to a couple of appearances made by his car on Discovery’s hit TV show, Street Outlaws. In its television debut, Ho’s GTR was actually driven by a fellow OKC racer Bernie Towns in a round robin-style match up. “Bernie ap- proached me a few days before they filmed. His car wasn’t ready but he needed a car to drive, so I said ‘why not?’ and loaned my car to him,” Ho explains. “He didn’t know the car and it’s pretty finicky—you have to shift early with the dual clutch pad- dle-shift setup and the earlier Cobb technology—so I didn’t put it on full drag mode.” Towns wound up losing on the show, but the car won many fans. A few seasons later, Street Outlaws leader Justin “Big Chief” Shearer himself approached Ho about coming on for another round robin race. “A week prior I had gone racing and beat a buddy of Chief’s. When they were looking for cars, his friend suggested me,” He details of how things went down. He admits feeling a little weird being in front of the cameras, but when it came time to race, it was all business. “I