Biography
Nickname:
Casper Canul is for La Raza
Car:
S14 240SX
Location:
Alhambra, California
Nationality:
Hispanic
By Bill Wood/Racer Magazine
The most fascinating thing to watch in all of motorsports is a driver being introduced to the best he has within him. Learning to be fast is difficult but not as difficult as learning how to win and win championships. Many athletes never learn the nuance of introducing their best to what Magic Johnson called "winnin´ time."
Drifter Casper Canul is on that timeline as we speak. Whether or not he ever knows greatness or championships is now up to him. He´s already learned how to be fast.
"Drifting has been pretty amazing," he told me.
The best part of watching Canul from afar is seeing the growth. Three years (2003) ago it was all he could do to get into the events. His drift edge was that ragged. Two years ago he flirted with the top ten in the season standings. Last year (2007) he was fifth when the river card hit Fifth Street. Place your bets if Casper will get his first Formula D event win this year.
"Each year has gone better and better. Drifting has done amazing things for me," Casper told me as we sat trackside after a practice session for Long Beach.
" If drifting is the most urban of motorsports - and its observers say that it is - then Casper Canul might be the most urban of its competitors. Not only is he multilingual, his racing roots have him part of an African American owned team (promoting diversity in motorsports) (Team X), his ethnic/parental roots are in the Yucatan Peninsula, his personal roots are in Alhambra (an L.A. suburb), his collegiate roots are in the U.S. Northwest and Pasadena and his business roots are in family owned business 35 years Casper´s Mobil Service where he grew up learining about cars and light mechanics.
In the Tuesday, May 8th L.A. Times a piece on a new Latino media company talked about "young Latinos who feel equally at home in both the Spanish- and English-speaking worlds." That´s Canul´s drift world reality.
"A lot of Latino´s come out to drift events and they really support their Latino people when they see one," he told me. "They´re living their dreams through me. And I´m just really happy and proud to be representing them."
Canul is 35, married about 20 months and a new Dad as of December 19th. He has a son: Gaspar Enrique Canul named after Casper and Casper´s Dad. The name Casper is actually an Anglicized version of Gaspar. I´ve seen Canul, seemingly a quiet reserved guy by nature, hit the rev limiter when he´s pumping the crowd in Spanish during a rally in his sponsor pits.
"Motorsports has been my biggest passion," he went on. "One of my biggest heroes is Juan Pablo Montoya. He takes it to people whether it´s NASCAR, F1, CART, whatever. It´s all fun and games after but during competition it´s fierce terror out there." But I got the biggest emotional reaction from him when we talked about the music in his iPod.
"I love reggaeton!" which is Spanish Hip-Hop. "There´s nothing that makes me get more in the mood for what I do than that music." He said reggaeton has very little equivalent in American rap because "rap here is not really mixed with Latino salsa culture. It´s hard to make that analogy. Reggaeton bumps a lot harder. The bass is a lot harder.
"There´s a couple songs I like to listen to: ‘This is for La Raza.´ Kid Frost. It kind of centers me again and lets me think about the people who are out there watching, all my fans, friends and family."
The "La Raza" lyrics can be pretty explicit but here´s an example of the attitude:
"Crusin' en la calle, I hate for the bolo No want to go with me, so I have to go solo And when I go out alone... attack…"
They weren´t written for drifting but they say a bit about the drift attitude and driving aggression.
There are no Hispanics or Latinos running at the level Canul has reached. Does he feel a responsibility to represent his cultural roots in an event?
"Absolutely! Being the only Latino, whether I like it or not, I´m a role model. As a role model I want to be as professional and dedicated as I can. I want to show them that if you´re surrounded by the right people and do the right things, you can be where I´m at today."
In the past I´ve gone to schools. I´ve done more media stuff. I love picking up the kids and taking pictures and holding their hands. It´s a big connection and that´s what I strive to do."
Casper has been an athlete most of his life playing baseball, football, hockey, wrestling, and swimming at Mark Keppel High School. "I´m very competitive by nature. I always want to put myself against the best even if they´re bigger, badder or the best. I have to thank my parents for that. It´s part of my nature."
One day Gaspar Enrique Canul will be one of the bigger, badder and best but that won´t stop his personal competition. It´s who he is. He must still define and learn to live with the best he has within him.