ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

just a little survey i am taking. please answer them, really easy questions, at least look them over please. any information would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.rx7club.com/lounge-192/why-do-dont-you-street-race-survey-275764/

DamonB

I think you'll find that anyone in here races at the track.

RETed

No, cause of STUPID **** like this:
http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=2371

Then, to make matters worse, more STUPID **** like this:
http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/25/news/story5.html


-Ted

GlitchFC

i used to street race all the time, but i got smart and didnt go back.....

villision

I used to for fun and money...then i matured...i might get on a car on the street .but mainly just on the track...i am pretty conservative...however my friends on the other hand are not that conservative...

Ty

Louis M

I will only race responsibly and speed responsibly... i.e. i don't swerve in traffic nor race at peak hours... but if a nice car asks me to race at midnight on a deserted road, i may

MPM

There's a time and place to race. Its called the racetrack during a sanctioned event or atleast in controlled conditions.

Anything else on public roads is stupid. No ifs, ands or buts. If you think otherwise your stupid.

FC Drifter

i race/drive hard on the streets and i dont consider myself stupid. not everyone has acess to a road course in their area, or the patience to wait a month to get their speed fix, or the money to afford track days at sanctioned events.
sure its reckless and crazy, ill admit that, but sometimes its all you have. i dont live anywhere near a road course, much less have the cash to afford track time. the only legal outlet i have is a monthly auto-x about an hour or so away, and sometimes that isnt good enough.
i dont run triple digit speeds down busy main streets or race stoplight drags in traffic. but i will go out and line up at the street races miles away from people out in the boonies, and i will find a secluded curvy road and blast down it with a smile on my face. i dont push as hard on the street as i would on a race track in a controled environment, but i will still enjoy myself. ill still go out to a desolate industrial park and slide my car around corners late at night.
i guess what im trying to say is there are exeptions to every rule, and street racing is one of them. just because someone street races that doesnt make them stupid. street racing has been around as long as cars have, and it will always be here.

DamonB

I know I probably sound like my father when I was much younger, but those two statements contradict eachother. If you already know it's reckless and stupid before you do it, and then you go and do it anyway, you are in fact "stupid".

Not everyone lives next door to a track or autox club; this I understand. Ask the racers how far they travel just to get track time; they don't live next door either. Just because you do not consider tracks convenient enough does not make the idea of getting your jollies on the street any more sensible or safe. If you go splat yourself on the pavement somewhere that was the risk you were taking, but no matter how much scouting of the area there is always the chance of another vehicle coming that you don't see. You don't have the right to endanger others unnecessarily.

When on the track all of us understand the risks and make the decision to participate anyway. People on the street shouldn't have to worry about that.

MPM

FC Drifter - Let me rephrase my comment. I do realize that just because someone street races doesn't make them stupid but the act of street racing is stupid. Having said that some of the people street racing are stupid but you may not be one of them( I don't know you) but the fact remains you consider what you do in the area you do it to be alright and its not. It belongs on the track.

FC Drifter

ah let me clarify......random rice boys racing down mainstreet in traffic is stupid. they risk other peoples safety when they do this. this i avoid at all costs and so do all the people i race with.
but i personaly do not consider a group of knowledgable car people going 20 miles out of the city to an abandoned 2 lane roadwith no traffic, homes, buisnesses, etc. to be stupid. sure its not as controled as a sanctioned track event, but on as small a scale as it is in my area it is somewhat safe. there is nothing to hit, no traffic or people to worry about, basicaly just two cars on the road hauling ***.
there is a safety risk but it is just to the two drivers racing and they have accepted this risk. i just dont consider that to be stupid, not when so many people have gone out of their way to make it as safe as they can. ive been doing it for many years now and have never seen an accident, or injury. im sure in the bigger cities where there are more people and drivers the racing gets harder to control. maybe my area is not as bad as others, i dunno.

on sidenote, i see a difference between crazy and stupid. skydiving is crazy, skydiving with no parachute is stupid.

Re-Speed.com

iTrader: (3)

According to Webster's:

Main Entry: stu·pid
Pronunciation: 'stü-ped
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle French stupide, from Latin stupidus, from stupEre to be numb, be astonished ...............

3 : marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting :


According to bwaits:

Bottom line is that racing on the street is done by Non-Racers. It should not be called racing because a real racers don't do it. A real racer has respect for himself, his competitors, his sport and the spectators.

There are local circle tracks, drag strips, road courses, drift events, autocross, road rallies, pro rallies and rallycross all over the country. If nothing is in your area - travel to one. Better yet, set something up and sanction it.

I grew up traveling to go racing. I have been all over this county to race, that is just part of it.

BTW, - "Nationwide statistics show that 49 people are injured for every 1,000 who participate in illegal street racing."

I don't know about you but I do not think those very good odds.

Here is a place for you to find something close:
http://www.racepages.com/Sanctioning_Bodies/

Here is the rest of the street racing statistics:
http://www.nhra.com/streetlegal/stats.html



-billy

christaylor

From one of the guys on Sports Car Revolution (I think):
Well put, if you ask me.

Redwood

Well said bwaits.

All I have to add is that racing is about all the things that street "racers" cannot wait for. Prepping the car, prepping yourself, getting up early, talking to competitors, learning, it's all part of racing. Street "racing" is for people too lazy or scared to try something really challenging and demanding.

Racing will not find you, you have to find racing. And once you do, you'll never go back to "racing".

Redwood
"Find racing"

FC Drifter

those are all good reasons to not streetrace, but at the same time you cant take anything away from the street. whether people admit it or not, streetracing is a big part of car culture. its been around since cars were first invented, and it will be around as long as mankind has a competive nature. hell the big three used to build their muscle for the street boulevards and their ads were geared toward streetracers back in the sixties.
i cant change your minds about it, i know that. but at least i can try to allow you to understand why its done. for some its the rush of a race, but for others its more than that. with me, its about my passion for cars and driving. driving is what i do, its my thing. its not just a hobby, or a pastime, its life. now im a regular at the street drags, but i dont always race. id much rather blast down a curvy road than run straight line drags somewhere. driving is very important to me, like i said, its my life, its what makes me happy. i cant just put my life on hold for a month and wait for the next sanctioned event across the country. i also cant afford the time off from work, or the actual trip itself. i HAVE to drive. its not like a craving like a drug addict would have, more like a calling. i see a curvy road somewhere i make a note of it and come back after hours when the need to drive is calling me. i make a couple of runs and i go home feeling happy. i dont push so hard that i fear losing it big and hurting myself, my car or other people. i push hard enough to satisfy my need to drive a proper line, to feel the tail starting to let go as i late brake into a corner. i just have to do that. i cant explain why i feel the road calling me, i dont know why i have to run to redline and heel-toe down shift, i just do. and im good at it, its the only thing im good at.
i would love to go to driving events, i really would. if i had the $$ and the time to do it i would attend all the track days i could. they seem like a really fun place and great for safely testing the limit of both car and driver. but even if i did, that wouldnt stop me from driving hard on the streets. the auto-x doesnt keep me from driving hard after i go to an event. and no one i know that goes to the drag strip doesnt race on the street as well.
some people, like me, just have to drive. no amount of track events could keep them from driving the way they drive. some people just dont know when to quit however, and those people are the statistics you see. those are the ones who hurt themselves and/or others by doing things they shouldnt be doing in a time and place they have no business in. statistics dont lie, but they also cant tell the whole story. there have been streetracing incidents for a long time, so its nothing new to see wrecks involving streetracing. but you also have to look at society too, right now streetracing is well known by all, almost to the point of being a fashion. there have been movies that we all know of that show streetracing in trendy mainstream kind of way. the simple minded are easily influenced by this and copy what they see. it has become a fad at this point to mod your car and drive fast. this is why we see so many rice boys and morons causing wrecks. but fads end, and it will turn around and the next fad will take over. streetracing wont stop but it wont be as heavily practiced.
like i said, i cant change anyones mind, and im not here to start an argument. i just want to show another side that you might not know about. not everyone is the same, not everyone is content to race only on the streets, some just have to drive fast to be happy. you cant stop it, you cant even control it. all you can do is sit back and do what you want to do and let others do what they want to do. im a streetracer and i know i could never stop the reckless driving that goes on down busy streets around here. theres no amount of violence, talking, or police enforcement that could ever put an end to it. the majority of the people doing it are just doing it because they think its cool or trendy or whatever, and thats part of the fad right now. it just has to run its course and end on its own. at least thats my take on it.

23Racer

I have just read the stream of conciousness that FC Drifter let us in on. I have been involved for a number of years in the "Take It to the Track" program here in Ontario, Canada and FC Drifter's response frustrates me a tremendous amount, but allows me an insight into the thought process/ justification process that street racers use to rationalize their actions.

I guess when you are young you don't understand the big picture because, through no fault of your own, you just don't have the knowledge base and experiences to make mature decisions.

I believe that most of the logical points, both for and against street racing have been made in this post. I personally don't see much for street racing other than immediacy however the most overriding reason that people street race is that they only care about themselves, they are selfish.

There is no way when you are street racing or canyon running or carving corners that you can control all possible eventualities, period. When people street race others get hurt! It is as simple as that. I have a difficult time hearing that statement that when I feel the need for speed I just have to let it out. It is like all other urges. As an adult you have to understand that everything has a time and place and somethings just arent done in society when you want to. I wonder if FC Drifter would be cool with someone just taking his ride because they feel the need for speed or this road just needed to be carved and they didn't have a car available right then. It is the same logic about street racing just applied in a different way, doing what you want when you want with a tiny amount of care.

Street Racing is selfish, uncaring and thoughtless urge. There really is no reasonable excuse for it or any way to justify it. There are many different ways to fuel your need for speed and if you can't afford it or it is too long of a wait, then grow up a bit and realize that we dont get everything we want when we want it. If we did, I would be racing in the ALMS series and have 50 different girlfriends and living somewhere where it didn't snow for 5 months of the year.

Sorry for the spleen venting but I really feel strong about this. I understand all of the feelings that FC Drifter has, I have them myself. I just don't accept that you need to street race to satisfy them. Buy a go-kart. You can get one for under $500 and race every weekend of the year, somewhere, for peanuts. Go slaloming, go to the dragstrip, go lapping. It just a little effort and it is far more of a buzz.

It is street racing and its effects to others that we live around that makes it really difficult for real enthusiasts to enjoy their car related lifestyle or passion in an adult grown up way.

DamonB

That doesn't make it right.

Then you and everyone you know are not mature enough to control themsleves.

Simple minded doesn't account for anything. The fact that streetracing was around in the 50's doesn't account for anything. This fad you call streetracing has been around forever and has been dangerous to participants and people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time ever since it started.



Believe me; we know about it. We're just trying to tell you that you yourself could be much better in the decisions you choose to make. It helps both you and everyone else.

Bullshit. That's why we are a society with laws. Just because you feel the need to do what you wish to do doesn't make it alright with the rest of us in this country.

You miss the entire point. Let everyone else go out there and risk themselves and the rest of the population by doing something that endangers others. YOU right now can choose to increase your chances of living a long and fruitful life without injury, tickets or the guilt of another's injury by making some good decisions. Don't give me this "I have to race" crap. I thrive on it more than most and know plenty of other people who do too. Just because I want to drive fast doesn't mean I get to act as I please.

You keep mentioning this fad and this large group of people streetracing. You're exactly right about that, but it doesn't have to involve YOU.

Re-Speed.com

iTrader: (3)

This is why I race. You can not get the same thing from street racing, no way.

**********

I idle towards the guy with the clipboard. I notice as he points me to my grid spot, the cars that qualified slightly slower. I think back to corner 3 on my flying lap during qualifying, a split second earlier during turn in and I may have had pole. My stomach begins to tighten. As I am guided back into my grid spot like a fighter jet into the take off lane, the adrenaline is starting to take over.

I check my belts. I tug on them until I am uncomfortably held into my seat. I wonder the same as everyone on the grid with me, who will take the trophy home, will I make it though turn one, do I have THE car today? She nods in my direction wanting acknowledgment that I am belted, gloved and ready to go. I raise my hand to comply; my leg starts to shake from the adrenaline running through my vanes.

The whistle blows, one minute warning. A chill runs up my spine just to run back down and the minute has passed. We roll off. I am sure from the air it must look like acrobatics as each car pulls from their grid spot into single file to enter the track. As we enter the track the gentleman pointing us left or right of him to set up the 2 by 2 lines greets us. As if we needed this, we have studied our start position for hours planning our attack.

The cars in front of me warming their tires hypnotize me. This is it. This is what I have worked towards. I see each corner for the first time at a slow pace. Knowing the next time I see it I will be hot on the tail of the car in front of me. I feel safe. Though the belts are just as tight as before I do not notice them. I know I have respect from the racers around me and the volunteer’s that are there to keep us safe. Last turn. Time to hang on.

The starter is waving his green flag as I put the throttle pedal down as far as it will go. The 2 by 2 lines start to disappear. Turn one keeps getting closer and closer. How are we going to get 30 cars through that corner? I shift into fourth gear not remembering the shifts through the gears before it. Through respect, luck and skill we all make it through the turn. I am pulling on the group of 4 cars in front of me. The first is holding me up slightly as I begin to strategize and set up 5 corners advance to get by him.

I can feel that I have a good car for the race today. It always seems like car 15 has identical speed and handling as I. I could have done that apex better, I will next lap. The adrenal has tapered off, or am I used to it now. 40 minutes down. A few more laps to go. I cannot see the first or second place cars, they had my number today. Three car links ahead is my next target, can I get third? I have been reeling him in for a number of laps. The white flag is waving. My hands are sweating though my gloves. This is my chance. He seems to have a problem with understeer in turn 12. I will take him there. My heart is pounding. I can hear it beat over the sound of the engine. I think I hear a loose part under the car in the rear. I am imagining it; I know my car was ready two weeks ago.

Turn 10, then 11. I set up my move through 12 only a few hundred feet from the finish line. I nailed that corner. I have a run on him. Along side I seem to be pulling him. The checkered flag waves and I have an inch to spare. Third place is mine. He was quicker in spots but that last spring change I made must have worked. I was able to put this car where I wanted at the end. I slow, and nod to the fourth place car. He understands me. We have both worked hard to get to this point. Neither one of us feels it was a waist.

As I pass each and every corner station I make sure to wave and acknowledge them for keeping an eye out for all of us. They enjoy what they do as much as I enjoy being on the track. We are all in it for the Sport. As I make it back to my paddock space the friends and family that came with me today greet me. I feel like a king crawling out of my car. That chill comes back through my spine as I remove my helmet. I can’t wait for the next race. I am going to make sure I come back faster and better prepared. This race began weeks ago when the last one ended. I am already thinking about the next one.

Everybody is loaded up and we are heading back home. I can remember each and every corner from the race and I am talking a mile a minute to anyone who will listen. I will do this next time and I did that corner just right the third lap. The drive home seems to short but I am glad to be home so I can start getting my car ready for the next race.


*******


I never claimed to be able to write and I did not major in english - so take it for what its worth

-billy

John Magnuson

Nah, I don't "street race" aka drag race on the street. But sometimes I need a nice fix on some curvey isolated mountain roads. If the roads are curvey enough you can keep it under 60mph and still have a great time.

Of course, you have to go to the track to truly push your car 100%

Or at least do a some performance rally on closed roads. I used to do that before it got too expensive. TONS of fun.

cpa7man

iTrader: (2)

Very nice. Real racing. Try it and you will never go back to street racing.

HKS_DRIFTER

if it is on the streets, you always have a risk of some one getting hurt. even if it is racing or drifting. i keep my drifting off the streets. cause you never know

wolf_9782

i can kinda relate with FC who has been defending his stance on streetracing. like him i too live out in a backwater town where there are many abandoned roads with hardly a weary traveler upon it. out here there are streetraces in the far outskirts of town where nobody travels too which is usually a road going to a ranch that is paved. the races go in towards it cuz everybody knows that ranch has been abandoned for many years since the owner was murdered or whatnot. but anyways the margin for safety is good and not so risky like racing near town or in it for that matter despite it being illegal and on the street. why is it safe? cuz we all know for a FACT that nobody goes out there, just the ones who wanna race. and if someone shows up we can easily see them because the headlights will stand out so bad out there and they will find themselves being stopped by ppl with flashlights to let them know its a dead end. its been done before and it has always worked with ppl who travel through the area. also the galleries are easily spotted since dozens show up and the area is lit up. i dont know, i think streetracing is going to be a complex issue for a very long time but thats how streetracing is for us down here in the *** crack of texas. we got our own road, ppl with flash lights, food and drink, our rides and fun filled nights ahead of us. we are so lucky to have found a road with only one way in and i must admit that if we didnt have it the streetraces would be alot more dangerous and unpredictable with traffic.

MPM

And what condition are these abandoned roads in? If it only goes to one abandoned ranch I'm assuming it isin't kept up by the state DOT. And if it only goes to one ranch was it ever a great road to start with. Is it even wide enough for two cars side by side at speed? Admitedly I'm assuming some of this but its a reasonable assumption.

rotaryspeedracer

I have yet to meet a 'dedicated' street racer that could do any decent lap times on the track. I could race on the street, choose not to, rather do it against my friends on the track.

rotaryspeedracer

To add to my post, track means road course