Evo Street Racers: Street Racing Legislation

Don't, Repeat Don't, Try Racing on the Street! Professional Racing Community Bands Together to Promote Legal Racing, Curtail Illegal Street Racing.

Source: PR Newswire
Date: June 6, 2003
Author: Lynn Horsley

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. -- DIAMOND BAR, Calif., June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Going fast can be fun, and the excitement of racing cars can be contagious. And dangerous.

There are legal alternatives to illegal and dangerous street racing, according to members of RASR, Racers Against Street Racing. Drivers can show off their driving skills and their car's performance at local racetracks around the country, they say. The programs are open to owners of cars equipped to run legally on streets and roads, as opposed to professional racecars which are modified so much that they are no longer legal for street use.

"A lot of drivers talk about how fast their car is, but we say, it's not legit without a time slip," said Stephan Papadakis, AEM Racing. "You come away from a track with that time slip proving exactly how fast you and your car did go, so when someone says 'prove it,' you can." A time slip is the official record of a driver's run at a racetrack.

"Besides the excitement of racing in front of a crowd, some street-legal programs have other fun activities -- music, climbing walls, foam-play pits, and the formal and informal car shows," said Lisa Kubo, Saturn Motorsports of San Diego.

"Street-legal programs are sure a lot better than racing on the street," said Angela Proudfoot, Angela Proudfoot Racing. "There's a lot of good to say about racing to your extreme limit in a controlled environment."

"It's cheap to compete at a street-legal night program at a track," said Craig Paisley, Paisley Automotive Racing. Entry fees can be as low as $10, including inspection and the opportunity to race.

RASR works with drag-race sanctioning bodies to open up more track programs for the legal alternative to street racing. The leagues include Battle of the Imports/IDRA, Import Drag Racing Circuit (IDRC), International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and NOPI Drag Racing Association (NDRA).

Local law enforcement authorities support the legal alternatives to illegal street racing. In one southern California city, for instance, local police issue "tickets" -- to go race at their local Irwindale Speedway at no charge.

Besides racers Kubo, Paisley, Papadakis and Proudfoot, other active RASRs are Ara Arslanian of Bullish Motor Racing, Ed Bergenholtz of Bergenholtz Racing, JoJo Callos of Castrol Syntec/Team Tactics, Shaun Carlson of Team Mopar, Abel Ibarra of Flaco Racing, Len Monserrat of Team Big Len, and Chris Rado of World Racing.

RASR membership also includes manufacturers, suppliers, and racecar sponsors.

Companies underwriting current RASR efforts include founding sponsors Motorsports Direct, North American Honda, Polk Audio, SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, and Street Glow, and industry sponsors Advanced Clutch Technology, American Products Company (APC), NOPI, Pep Boys, and RELCO/Reliable Automotive.

More information about RASR and its programs to provide legal alternatives to street racing within controlled environments is available at http://www.rasr.info/ . A list of racetracks offering street-legal programs is available at that site.

RASR is a program of SEMA's Sport Compact Council.