Local Lowriders Welcoming the Overdue Recognition and Acceptance
Arlien Casillas remembers how her now husband used to pick her up in his lowrider when they were 16. Miguel Casillas and Arlien Casillas are high school sweethearts who were surrounded by the low-riding culture since they were kids in Los Angeles.
“The child in me came back out to do something I wanted as a child that I couldn’t afford at the time,” Miguel says of bringing his passion to Reno in 2001 and starting a local car club.
Miguel recruited others who had the same passion and now the Wicked Wayz car club actively participates in multiple family-friendly events throughout the year with their eight members. Their oldest member is 75 and their youngest member is 25. The club now even has two chapters, one being in Reno and the other in Southern California.
While the lowriding style was popular back home in Los Angeles, it has a history of struggling with law enforcement. At its origins, people weren’t allowed to cruise in their cars and they would receive tickets. “Now they’ve changed all those laws, they just had that big lowriding holiday a couple of weeks ago in Sac,” says Arlien.
In Reno, while there wasn’t really a scene for lowriding the couple says they never faced any problems and now they receive a ton of recognition. In fact, even police officers have told them to hit their switches when they are out on cruises. “Whether it’s UNR recognizing us or Hot August Nights it’s being recognized on a bigger level,” says Arlien.
The couple and the club love giving back to the community and use their platforms to do so. One of their favorite events is Christmas Wayz which started up during the pandemic in partnership with Catholic Charities. They find underprivileged families and give them a Christmas cruise, gifts, and food they otherwise wouldn’t be able to have. “Even if it’s just to bring the cars for exhibitions, we try to give back to the kids,” says Miguel.
The couple was also present at the El Grito event earlier this year at UNR, which caused some friction. They commented on some of the backlash from a photo posted to the UNR social handles of a Chicana model posing in front of a lowrider to advertise their event. Many Latine users were upset that that photo was chosen to represent their culture and referred to Chicano culture as gang-related or misrepresenting of Latine people.
“Until you come to a Wicked Wayz show you won’t understand, not many car shows can you go and see the RC cars going with the mariachi in one row and the dancers in another row. It’s a whole vibe, hopefully, they come to one of our events and learn to beat the stereotype,” Arlien says.
They are big supporters of Chicano wear and support local vendors like La Gente. The couple thinks its presence in the local culture was long overdue. “They’re doing a great thing not just for our people, but there’s other kids from different cultures that like that clothing, so it’s great to have it in town and for people who’re interested in that to go get what they want,” Miguel says.
Some of the exciting events that are upcoming for the club are being welcomed and even sponsored by Hot August Nights for a show on August 5th. “For the first time in history, Hot August Nights is welcoming lowriders,” Arlien says. To stay informed on their activities, they post regularly on their social media handles @wicked_wayz_cc
