Jagdeo "Mad Cow" Seecharan, 47, became interested in cars at a very young age when he started attending car races at Wallerfield. Seecharan said in those early days his racing heroes were the legendary Frankie Boodram and Tanko Baboolal, two names from the golden days of local car racing. Seecharan's love for car racing has now put him among central Trinidad's most popular drag racers. He is best known for his 1975 Datsun 1600, which he has raced for the past decade.
Seecharan said he invested over $500,000 in the car, and would not part with the vehicle since it had taken him to stardom. The car bears his trademark, Mad Cow, and was re-engineered by Seecharan with superfast Nissan RB25 engine. He said the name was coined by one of his pit crew members at the time when Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad-cow disease dominated the media.
Seecharan is best known for topping the burnout competitions, and said he has a tyre shop as one of his main sponsors, since this event consumes new tyres in the blink of an eye. The burnout involves the installation of a braking system that will keep the front wheels of the car locked in position, while the rear wheels accelerate on spot to generate clouds of smoke. Seecharan said the burnout winner would be the car that generated the most smoke in 15 seconds.
Because of his skill to control the vehicle and put out a storm of smoke, Seecharan is envied by his peers. He described drag racing as a dangerous sport that was not for the weak of heart. It required a strong constitution and proper equipment, he said, and advised young people not to take racing to the streets, but to race on a track with the proper equipment and supervision.