IndyCar Skateboard From Cairo.
Is this skateboard connected to the Indy 500?
Hani Talat’s Santa Cruz, Jaya Bonderov deck from Cairo Egypt.
THE STORY:
I recently interviewed Hani Talat from Cairo Egypt over Zoom — partner and co‑owner of Amulet Skateboards, longtime skater, dad, and one of the people quietly holding Cairo’s skate scene together. We connected through Cairo Underground, the documentary project I’m building around the artists, musicians, and skateboarders shaping Egypt’s future.
Hani Talat, Cairo Egypt.
Owner of Amulet Skateshop
Hani’s been skating long enough to have watched the scene rise, collapse, and rebuild itself more than once. Before the 2011 revolution, he released Cairo’s Comeback — one of the first full skate films to come out of Egypt. That project opened doors, eventually leading him into freelance directing work with Carhartt, Real Skateboards, Thunder Trucks, and other brands he grew up watching from a distance.
In 2024 he put together The History of Skateboarding in Egypt, centered around Mo Kamel — Egypt’s first skater. That film is what led us to our conversation, and eventually, to this skateboard.
The Deck
It’s a Santa Cruz Jaya Bonderov deck. Mo Kamel, Egypt’s first skater, gave it to Hani sometime around 2011.
Hani laughed when he told me, “Mo asked for it back at one point, and I said, ‘Not a chance.’”
When I asked about the graphic, he held the board up to the camera. He wasn’t sure where the image came from, but he thought it might be from an Indy car race.
The Overlap
I live in Indianapolis. The city of the Indy 500 — the largest single‑day sporting event on the planet. 350,000 fans attended last year, and that number is expected to grow again. Race culture is so ingrained here that you’ll regularly hear Indy cars, dragsters, and the ever‑present Dodge Charger. The phrase “is that the Indy 500 or just some d‑bag with a Dodge Charger” gets tossed around a lot in our house during the month of May.
So hearing that a deck in Cairo might be carrying an image pulled from a moment that happened a few miles from where I live is an unexpected overlap.
Now I’m trying to figure out where the photo on the deck came from, and how that deck ended up in Egypt, eventually landing in a Zoom call between Indianapolis and Cairo.
If you or someone you know recognizes the location of the photo used in the graphic, or if you know why the graphic was chosen — I’d love to hear from you.
