Who Didn't See This Coming?

[Notch1320]

Street racing surges across US amid coronavirus pandemic

Illegal drag racing has exploded in popularity across the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic began, with sometimes deadly consequences.

apnews.com

 

[TSK]

Same thing is going on in Little Rock.

A closer look at street racing in Little Rock and what the solutions are

The City of Little Rock prohibited racing and caravanning in public streets, but there are some who say it's not enough and won't stop the problem.

www.thv11.com

 

[mick]

Street racing surges across US amid coronavirus pandemic

Illegal drag racing has exploded in popularity across the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic began, with sometimes deadly consequences.

apnews.com

and yet the entertainment industry does nothing to curb highly rated shows that glamorize it and bring in so much ad revenue.

 

[n/a]

and yet the entertainment industry does nothing to curb highly rated shows that glamorize it and bring in so much ad revenue.

And there you have it. The danger, damage, and loss of life is not what's important to their business.

 

[vegasnitro]

Word around the campfire, OK Ed Bolian at VinWiki, is that the Cannonball coast-to-coast record was broken at least 3 times during the early days of the pandemic when no one was on the roads (and at least 10 known failed attempts). One person came forward pretty quickly after breaking the record (Arne Toman, 25 hours 39 minutes in an Audi S6), but the other 2 have been laying low waiting for statutes of limitations to expire or to avoid notoriety. Rumor is NY to LA in around 24.5 hours, which would be an AVERAGE speed of 115MPH!!!

 

[mick]

Word around the campfire, OK Ed Bolian at VinWiki, is that the Cannonball coast-to-coast record was broken at least 3 times during the early days of the pandemic when no one was on the roads (and at least 10 known failed attempts). One person came forward pretty quickly after breaking the record (Arne Toman, 25 hours 39 minutes in an Audi S6), but the other 2 have been laying low waiting for statutes of limitations to expire or to avoid notoriety. Rumor is NY to LA in around 24.5 hours, which would be an AVERAGE speed of 115MPH!!!

now that is a cool story

 

[SoCal Racer]

Meanwhile, because of lockdown orders drag strips across the country are closed or have severely limited schedules despite drag strips being one of the easiest places to observe social distancing (for racers anyway). Irwindale and Fontana - both of which feature many Street Legal events - are not hosting those events right now leaving that crowd nowhere to blow off a little steam.

We recently raced at Famoso where there was a huge car count and lots of people. Everyone just naturally social distanced without prompting or admonition, and nobody got uptight if someone wasn't masked up. Closest thing to "normal" I've been around in months.

 

[Jack]

On the street outlaws series Big Chief, Doc, Daddy Dave, Shane, Kamikaze, Jsff Lutz, Monza and at least one more that I cannot remember have totally destroyed their race cars in accidents over the past few years. Something about low 4 second in the eighth mile cars running on a public road and Oh so close to ditches and telephone poles is, well just nuts. Only by the grace of God have non of them been killed. But the ratings are really good so.......

 

[Jim]

Frustrating! There are so many places where you could run 1/8-mile street cars safely. Why don't city fathers (and mothers) catch on?

 

[MidnightbluS10]

and yet the entertainment industry does nothing to curb highly rated shows that glamorize it and bring in so much ad revenue.

Its clear to anyone with half a brain that what they do on the Discovery Channel is organized racing. Come on. It's equivalent to the organized street race that goes on every year at the Sayre Street Races or whatever they're called. And other legalized, organized Street Races. Because that's exactly what they're doing with permits, closed roads, mobile lighting, etc...

 

[MidnightbluS10]

On the street outlaws series Big Chief, Doc, Daddy Dave, Shane, Kamikaze, Jsff Lutz, Monza and at least one more that I cannot remember have totally destroyed their race cars in accidents over the past few years. Something about low 4 second in the eighth mile cars running on a public road and Oh so close to ditches and telephone poles is, well just nuts. Only by the grace of God have non of them been killed. But the ratings are really good so.......

Those wrecks would've happened had they been on a strip, too. They just would've went head first into a retaining wall instead of rolling 10 times.

 

[Randy]

Those wrecks would've happened had they been on a strip, too. They just would've went head first into a retaining wall instead of rolling 10 times.

...or they wouldn't crash into a minivan with a wife and kids in it on the way home from WalMart.

 

[4onthefl4]

Its clear to anyone with half a brain that what they do on the Discovery Channel is organized racing. Come on. It's equivalent to the organized street race that goes on every year at the Sayre Street Races or whatever they're called. And other legalized, organized Street Races. Because that's exactly what they're doing with permits, closed roads, mobile lighting, etc...

Street Outlaws is drag racing's version of pro wrestling.