Street Racing: On the Inside

For 19-year-old Jeff, weekends begin on a long strip of highway near Atlanta. rather than browsing the mall or going to the movies like others his age. Jeff joins a group of his comrades and spectators to witness a spectacular show of speed. As we pulled up to the meeting spot he looks over at me and says, "Welcome to the world of illegal street racing."

"We have a cruising area where all the cars go and just chill. If someone wants to race," says Jeff, "they just ask...most of our races are with people you know pretty well...we don't have the major race nights like they have in other areas." The other areas Jeff refers to are about as common as can be and can probably be found on a straightaway near you. "Motorsports has made incredible progress as a legitimate sporting event in the last decade," says Editorial Director of NHRA Publications Phil Burgess. "Corporate America has taken a keen interest in motorsports, which has led to the proliferation of not just racing teams, but racing venues, where racers and fans can go to enjoy the fast-paced excitement that the varied forms of racing have to offer. Many sanctioning bodies offer grassroots-level racing, often where families can enter a race car literally off the street and compete against similar entries."

Contrary to popular belief, street racing isn't only found on the fast moving streets of the major cities, its going on all over the country. Recent articles published on MSNBC.com report on street drag racing as an increasing problems in such out of the way places as Spokane, Washington and Forth Worth, Texas; other articles found on www.abc.com report on accidents and coverage of events in Washington D.C., Boston and New York City. Los Angeles County is a big street racing scene however, was recently given a $200,000 state grant to crack down on the illegal street racing activity. Penalties for racing vary from state to state and offense to offense, but can range from a slap on the wrist ticket to arrest and impounding of the vehicle as was the case last January when police in Sylmar-Sun Valley arrested 32 people and impounded 72 vehicles after a sweep. With such heavy impending penalties why would anyone set themselves up for what seems imminent trouble?

"Everyone's got a hobby," says Jeff. "And this just happens to be mine. Why? Because it gets your blood flowing to your head, you get this amazing rush when you know you just beat your quarter mile time and you whupped up on that Civic next to you." "Hardcore street racers enjoy every minute of it, and they love the risk involved," The sport isn't only popular in the United States, either. Adam, 20, a racer from Australia who I've talked to online says that his reasons for racing may be a bit different from kids just starting out with racing. "I do it for the sound and noise of racing and the speed. It's a hobby and its competitive to have the fastest car, the most powerful car and the best looking and loudest car. But, I'm in it for the cash too." Other kids though, explains Adam, see the thrill in racing being illegal. "Kids think that its cool because the cops don't want them to be there," continued Adam "...they think its cool that they get chased out, and that it's breaking the law. They see cops and they run, and that's fun." "I do think that younger kids who street race (also know as newbies) do like the might get caught thrill factor." "That is, until they receive countless tickets, and realize that the punishment for the next ticket will not be a simple slap on the wrist." A 24-year old racer from Duluth, who wished to remain unidentified, gave his reason for racing as the adrenaline rush one receives when maximizing his vehicle's capabilities. "People get involved in this sport for the same reason they jump out of planes or climb mountains...there are no words to describe the feeling of pushing a car to its limits." But do some racers take their search for thrill too far?

Some say yes, and in fact the irresponsibility of others has scared some racers legal. 21 year old Jennifer has been active in street racing for four years and began as a spectator at various races in Atlanta. Although she currently races on tracks (legally) in Reynolds, GA, she got her start driving competitively against others that had far more experience than she did. "It was my first night dragging, and I ran a 16.0 (second) quarter mile, which beat a guy in a Mustang. It really made that guy angry, and he started screaming at me on the track," She says with a chuckle. "That only fired me up more to race because I was still pretty young, and thought it was more important to show girls could race...more important than the fact that I did well." She says that while she understands the attraction to the sport, she also recognizes that some racers don't take dangerous circumstances into consideration. "Its fun to drive fast and feel all that power, but I don't think that everyone factors in outside elements like pedestrians, other drivers, even road conditions." "I think that everyone