Another Reason to Not Street Race...

We street raced around here for years,, No one was on the side lines just at the starting line,,, and at the end out of harms way was 3 people watching the finish,,
we had a few places here to race,, one was Quigly rd,,, the other was Old Mill road, Old mill was in the Burbs,, 1 mile street that was to be part of a housing development, but went under,,, its built up now,, but was a new street and un used for 10 years,, no traffic,,
My Father was a street racer,,, My Mother as well,, and 2 Uncles that worked for Fords Engine plant,, here in Cleveland,, So we had the Goodies a year before it hit the market,,,and some experimental parts as well,, I have showed up many of times and decided the set up at different places was not safe and declined to run,,
There should be tracks for people to run the cars,, I agree,, But Still Common sense on the drivers part,,,and those watching needs to also kick in,, Ya don't stand on the side from the starting line to the end,,, That is a terrible thing to see in that article,,
There was a place here,, that the factory owners allowed people to be on the roof,, and had railings installed ,, the road was a mile long Private road,, and the buildings made of brick were on both sides of the road, an alley way about a third of the way down is where they watched for the finish,, was a perfect place to run,, for a few years,, being up 15 feet and looking down on the race was sweet,, had a few wrecks,,, but no one seriously hurt,, the road was always clean and black topped,, they charged $5 bucks a head to watch,,, $50 to enter the race,, Top cars battled it out for the cash,, And Yes my 71 Maverick took the cash a few times,,, 347 stroker,, and the NOS worked well,, ran a 411 posi, and a modified C4 trans,, Built by one of the best tranny builders in Ohio,,,and yes he is still in business,, if ya want his name, PM me,,,builds the best bullet proof racing trannies around,, second generation tranny builders,, he will be doing one for one of the cars I am building now,, Building another street car,, 71 Maverick 347 Stroker EFI,,Jet Black and Gold,, Might just be out for the Round up,, Not making any promises,, But I am hoping,,,Lol
Still don't understand why a 7 year old was out at 3:45 am in that article,, Most of the people at a street race was either the drivers Girl friend or Boy friend,, No one but the drivers were allowed in the cars,,, Also no side line spectators,,and that was years ago,, and an illegal race,,, So,, again,, Goes to Common sense,,,, Still a tragedy, and I am sure a few more laws will come from this,, Like we need more laws,,

 

I live two miles from my local drag strip. Been there twice (both times was on a drag nite during the MCCI Roundup Nationals). Place was sold last year. New owners repaved the entire strip this fall....so I would guess it is going to be there awhile.

 

thats sad about those people....

 

John drive like a old man. HMM more like a old lady in a pink car I Still think you are a class act bud. TTFN RON

 

that might be a more accurate description

 

This took place really close to Me and Dennis. Accokeek,MD it's 30 miles from Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek and 35 miles from Capital Raceway in Crofton,MD both tracks are closed for the season and reopen March 1st and 2nd but this part of highway on MD210 always has traffic and has been a hot spot for racing for years. I don't think there is enough advertising for race tracks any more to promote the safe way of doing it or the cheap entertainment it provides as a spectator sport. I started to watch some show the other day that had High school kids from two schools building cars in shop class to race against each other at the track. I thought that was a great ideal and would push the kids to the track for sure.

 

We had a program like this in high school, it was great. It was actually a letter type sport. The track would let us race for free on Friday nights and people would teach us how to do it, etc. And then there was a high school weekend points race. We had our own personal cars and then a few schools had a sponsored project car as well. Our rival school had a red and white Comet. That program is how I got hooked on racing 16 years ago. Now there is too much liability, etc. and the schools won't support a program like they used to.

 

hmm...this isnt very encouraging...
im getting my liscence this month....DEFINITLY WONT street race.

 

YET...:16suspect

 

I am not going to comment on this, because I might piss some people off.

 

Looking at this from a difefrent angle, perhaps, there is a tie-in relationship. As a guy who has collected pinball and video games for years (and is a "wholesome" 48 years young), let me add that there are a lot of kids nowadays that find the line between fantasy and reality easy to smear.

Case in point: my young son (under 10 years old) just got "me" the PS2 box set of "Need for Speed" games for my birthday. I gotta tell, you, at 48, these games are wickedly addicting - and what you can do on them is completely outrageous - to property, to the police, to other cars - all in the face of "street racing". Am I saying these games should be banned? NO! Am I saying I agree with these concepts? NO! But - I >will< agree that it's a heck of a lot of fun to do "prohibited" things in games - and there is a danger for those who can't separate it from what is real/possible and what is not.

If you don't agree, that's fine - that's my point of view...but at 48, I even find myself wanting to push the gas a little harder. The stuff gets in your blood. Oh - and then add the movie series, pushed towards the younger audiences....

Chris

 

Hey, on a side note: I collect Pinball machines also!!!

 

Dave, write me, I'd love to know what titles you have. I have 9 titles between 1980-1981, 1 from 1979, 1 from 1977, 1 from 1976, and one from 1964.

Chris

 

Small world, I just picked up a nice Shuffle Bowler to add to the game room