In the first film, Dom runs his own automotive garage while Mia takes care of the family's grocery store in Echo Park. He also runs his own street race team, which consists of Letty, Vince, Leon, and Jesse. Dominic has a feud with his Vietnamese-American rival Johnny Tran due to a business deal that went sour and Tran catching Dom sleeping with his sister. Unknown to the public, he and his team drive black Honda Civic coupes and stage daring semi hijackings on the freeways, taking home millions of dollars in electronic appliances. He forms a friendship with rookie racer Brian Earl Spilner (Brian O'Conner), who saves him from arrest when the LAPD raid a street race gathering. When showing Brian the 1970 Dodge Charger he had been working with his father before he died, he reveals what happened to the latter: During the last stock car race of the season in 1989, Dominic watched as his father Jack was run off the track by another racer, Kenny Linder, when Linder's car clipped his bumper. Jack was killed instantly when his stock car crashed into the wall at 120 miles per hour and burst into flames. Dominic remembered hearing his father screaming as he burned to death, but the people who witnessed the accident explained that his father had died before his car exploded. Dominic had been the one screaming. A week following the accident, Dominic encountered Linder and when given the opportunity, Dominic attacked Linder, beating him with a wrench. Dominic only intended to hit him once but lost control and kept attacking Linder it until he couldn't lift his arm anymore. The result of Linder's injuries rendered him unable to race, and Dominic was banned for life from the tracks. During the Race Wars, Johnny Tran blames Dominic for a raid by SWAT forces; the SWAT team came into his house, causing disrespect to his family. Dom then attacks him and is promptly led away by Vince, who tells him to "chill out". During a hijacking job gone wrong, Dominic discovers Brian's true identity as undercover LAPD officer named Brian O'Conner. Following a drag race that ends with Dominic's 1970 Dodge Charger getting totalled, Brian hands him the keys to his Toyota Supra, as law enforcement have found out that Toretto has stolen millions in electronics with his crew. Dom ends up escaping to Mexico, while Brian, now a wanted man himself for aiding a known felon, flees the state.
