There are few things the average man takes as much pride in as his woman and his car. Hoping to connect with car lovers everywhere, Vice TV is tapping in on the underground culture called, “donk racing,” where men take more pride in their candy-painted rides and outrageous rims than one would think is imaginable. The new series, “Donkmaster” chronicles the journey of Sage “Donkmaster” Thomas, often referred to as the Michael Jordan of donk racing.
Rolling out sat down with Sage on the premiere night of the new show, “Donkmaster,” which airs on Vice, Wednesdays at 10:30 PM EST to learn more about this underground phenomenon and what drives the passion in the participants of the super-niche, but super cool sport.
Donk racing is such a large part of the African American culture, especially in the south. Why do you think it’s taken so long for it to be celebrated and showcased on mainstream television?
When I started traveling around to car shows with the “skittle pack” (various race cars built by In and Out Customs, traveling city-to-city, state-to-state on our 18-wheeler 5-car hauler), the reaction of all of my fans as we would pull up to each city gave me the confidence to keep it going and push forward. Prior to other smaller publications putting out their DVD’s covering the south Florida car shows back in the early 2000s, it was an unknown underground culture.
In 2015, In and Out Customs challenged the first DONK racer to step up to the plate out of Miami and hand-delivered a fresh bottle of GapSauce (FYI GapSauce is the legendary term that I use when I gap an opponent). I then discovered, in the winning circle, that the thousands of spectators that witnessed it first hand were highly entertained and wanted more donk racing by the day… So that’s when my business partner, my main man, Country C, and I put a plan together for In and Out Customs to host our own Donk Racing event — Fast and Flashy — now running six summers strong.
What ingredients contribute to a true donkmaster?
The ingredients it takes to be a true donkmaster include: Having patience, keeping your head when there is nothing but chaos around you, being a good listener to the loyal team that’s with you day-in and day-out, having the foresight it takes to stay one large step ahead and take the calculated risks necessary, not being complacent and always being willing to try something that has never been done before — a true trendsetter. That’s what it takes to be a true donkmaster.
What can viewers look forward to seeing in this first season of “Donkmaster?”
Aside from me being a single father of my 5 kids some, which will appear in a few episodes, viewers can look for fast cars, slow opposition, a lot of money on the line [and] “all gapping, no capping” — a true introduction into our racing culture.
