For cars destined for the big scrap heap in the sky, Mahmoud Enaya, of Moody Cars, gives them a second life. For example, this 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle that he uses in the 8-cylinder Gut & Go class (aka enduro) at New York’s Riverhead Raceway.
“I saw this guy with a car on a trailer heading to Gershow Recycling,” said Mahmoud, of Riverhead, New York. “He was going to dump it there. I chased him down and said, ‘No! No! I’ll buy your car!”
Mahmoud Enaya: Off the Street and to the Track
The racetrack wasn’t always his destination for to sit behind beautiful and fast cars.
“I went to Riverhead Raceway with my figure 8 friend George Hand, and we watched an enduro race,” Mahmoud, who works as a mechanic and tow truck driver for Jimmy’s Jet Towing, said. “Understand, I’m a car guy who loves old cars and loves fixing them. I never did an enduro in my whole life. I was a street racer.”
The action at the ¼-mile oval at the East End of Long Island intrigued Mahmoud.
“I started going to the track and I saw how the enduro cars are gut and go,” said Mahmoud. “I said, ‘I can do that’. That brings us to the point where I got my first car.”
A Rookie’s Race Car
The first car he saved from Gershow Recycling was a 1996 Cadillac DeVille.
“It was a complete running car!” Mahmoud said. “The guy was going to junk it. My boss bought the car for me. I don’t want to know what he paid — it was a gift.”
The GM Northstar engine struggled for Mahmoud.
“Lots of freaking problems with that Northstar engine,” said Mahmoud. “It overheated right away, but it ended up lasting the whole season.”
The Cadillac’s run ended while happily doing what many Caddys never get a chance to experience.
“Last race of the year, I got hit in the rear and driven into the wall,” Mahmoud said. “The frame was bent. I couldn’t save my Cadillac.”
Sophomore’s Upgrade
When Mahmoud saw the 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle, he had to save it — for the racetrack, of course.
“We stripped it down, rebuilt the inside, it had rust holes that had to be patched,” said Mahmoud. “George [Hand] is the grandmaster — they call him, ‘The chief.’ For six months, he helped me get the Chevelle ready for the new season.”
In his first enduro for 2022, Mahmoud finished 11th. So far, that’s all the starts he’s made, due to weather postponing events. Mahmoud seeks not only to get a full season out of his Chevelle. He also hopes to finish the year with the car in one piece.
“I love the Chevelle — so much so that I am a little bit afraid to race it,” Mahmoud said. “I do not want to damage it.”
Nevertheless, Mahmoud Enaya said he gets a good feeling from reusing cars destined for the crusher. Even if that means the car may get crushed in a different way.
The Outside Groove Director of Photography has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
