Street racing results..

[SRGN]

Bottom line on that tragedy.. If there hadn't been the morons racing, the groupies would not have been there.
Nuf said.

It would be a lot different if it was a family changing a flat tire on their minivan though, right?

 

[SRGN]

If the driver of that car wasnt involved with the race somehow, I'll be surprised. Why else would they be out there with their lights off?

That being said.. back when I was coming along, street racing was way different... and Im willing to bet I have more street races than anyone on this forum (Well, maybe not Leeper and those other old farts ).. easily 750-1000 street races since I was 16. And I mean REAL street races, not taking off from a stoplight.. LOL!

You'd set the race up ahead of time, change the location a couple of times and finally show up with a max of 5 people. No one lining the roads watching, etc. You'd race, exchange money and leave.

I've seen my share of mishaps but nothing like this kind of carnage. One time I was going out to race this Mustang and the guy was behind me as we drove out to "the spot" and I look in the rear view mirror and the guy's lights just vanished. All of a sudden I see the lights literally falling out of the sky. I turned around, drove back and the guy had lost control of the car and flipping it, ending up about 50 yards out in the middle of a field. Everyone was okay.. wasn't much I could do so I drove him back into town and dropped him off at a payphone so he could call the cops.

Now it's like a damn circus. When I first moved to Florida and went out to the street races at the Gandy in St Pete.. I was floored. Hundreds of cars, people selling food, etc. And racing across a bridge with the ocean on both sides? WTF??!!

I'll stick to my backwoods redneck racing. It was way more profitable and way less circus.

You're not the only one that remembers the "way it was". 2 racers, a flagger, and occasionally a buddy with a flatbed tow truck to block the road with his lights on:smile:

 

[MikeL.]

....local news here

stated that after the race finished the two drivers/racers proceeded to do a huge smokey burnout creating a smokescreen. Bystanders wandered onto the road to watch the burnout and that's why the car without lights never saw the bystanders and the bystanders never saw the car coming.

Apparently(again according to the news) it's customary for both racers to simultaneously proceed with John Force style burnouts. Btw the white car looked to me like an unmarked crown vic.

Backing up what Jay said. We'd meet in a parking lot (mall of some sorts), racing location would change, the two racers and half a dozen people and that was it. And there were NEVER any passengers in the two cars that were racing. Of course back then, people weren't taping races from inside the car and posting it either.....

 

[Otto J]

I was told by people there that after both cars left the starting line the bystanders ran into the road to watch the race at which point the white crown vic traveling around 75MPH with no lights on drove into the smoke not knowing there where people there.
It was mentioned that the crown vic was being chased by police at the time when there is a no chase law

Now to me this is just hear say,Im not quoting anyone.

A sad day for sure in any event.

 

[DaJoker]

I was told by people there that after both cars left the starting line the bystanders ran into the road to watch the race at which point the white crown vic traveling around 75MPH with no lights on drove into the smoke not knowing there where people there.
It was mentioned that the crown vic was being chased by police at the time when there is a no chase law

Now to me this is just hear say,Im not quoting anyone.

A sad day for sure in any event.

The more I hear about this the more F'ed up the whole situation becomes!:frown:

 

[PaCemkr86]

yeah i agree, it sounds like there is more to the story then they are letting known to the public...

 

[whitehot1]

The driver of that white car with his lights off and plowing into the crowd should be charged with murder. He was behind the steering wheel, the people were off the road. It didn't have anything to do with illegal drag racing - he was either drunk or fell asleep and ran off the road.

When they questioned him he said he didn't see the crowd of 100 plus people along side of the road.

This same thing could happen at any race track or any place where people assemble, all it takes is some idiot to decide to drive into the crowd.

 

[TurboBuRick]

yeah i agree, it sounds like there is more to the story then they are letting known to the public...

I have to agree Phil, there is something fishy going on. How do you get off with nothing when your driving at night without lights and you plow down a bunch of people?

 

[BlackMetal]

If people were standing in the middle of the road watching illegal races it doesn't surprise me that they aren't going after the driver of the car. I know in Chicago being a spectator to a street race is just as illegal as racing your own car, so if these people were standing in the middle of a dark road in the middle of the night...

Just playing devil's advocate I agree it's strange.

 

[Rodney87GN]

Btw the white car looked to me like an unmarked crown vic.

I agree...I wouldn't be surprised if it was a cop trying to bust a street race. A similar incident happened to a good friend of mine in El Paso. He was at the street races as a spectator and he got hit by a cop car that came out from nowhere with his lights off. It messed him up pretty good and had to get a medical discharge from the military.

 

[Grumpy]

so do ya think they will find the 2 cars that were racing ???

 

[jdpolzin]

Most definately was a cop trying to bust the racers. They will never tell us that though. why the hell else would a newer Crown Vic have its lights off driving towards a street race?? DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I love how they will never say that though. Politics suck! Although, I do say street races are just as freakin stupid. As stated above, if you want to race someone for bragging rights and cash, go somewhere and race by yourself, no need to make it an event.

 

[GNBRETT]

The interesting thing were the ages of the people that were killed. Quite a range 30-60.

 

[RobR]

Nobody will know if the driver had lights on or not. But I'd tend to think that the lights were on. A huge wall of tire smoke will dim the brightest headlights thinking only the parking lights are on. Having a quiet car coming at you and cars running with open headers, not going to even notice it. The headlights were probably knocked out with the first hit or two. It is seriously dark down there with no lights on the road. Why do you think the truck ran over a body?

Neither the Crown Vic driver or the truck driver have been charged.

This area is for serious street racers, a lot of trailered cars. A ton of money for the races also.

 

[turbojimmy]

There's a guy on another board from that area that claims that there is a group of guys that race Crown Vics. He alleges that the guy in the white CV was racing a black one earlier in the evening and they were asked to leave because they were being idiots and attracting attention to the race. Even if it were true, you'd have to wonder what the motive was to plow into the crowd.

I tend to think it was just some dude driving along the highway - nothing more sinister than that.

Jim

 

[GregInAtl]

Damn street racers are useless punks!!!!

Not necessarily, These were much older people, one was 61 yrs old, one was in his 40s, most in mid 30s. Old ppl street race too, we had MANY in the 50+ range that would come when we did that 6-7 years ago. We'd have 200 ppl at races and I guarantee the avg age was almost 30, maybe above 30. Ignorance knows no age, I finally quit when the local laws made watching it as illegal as doing it.
The cops are so despirate at trying to stop racing that they actually create more danger from what I have WITNESSED.... let the race finish, and meet them where they turn around, they always go back to brag. I hate the fact that people get killed doing this, and it does seem to be onlookers generally. The panic that follows the police showing up as everyone scatters is FAR more dangerous than the actual racing.

 

[GNBRETT]

Not necessarily, These were much older people, one was 61 yrs old, one was in his 40s, most in mid 30s. Old ppl street race too, we had MANY in the 50+ range that would come when we did that 6-7 years ago. We'd have 200 ppl at races and I guarantee the avg age was almost 30, maybe above 30. Ignorance knows no age, I finally quit when the local laws made watching it as illegal as doing it.
The cops are so despirate at trying to stop racing that they actually create more danger from what I have WITNESSED.... let the race finish, and meet them where they turn around, they always go back to brag. I hate the fact that people get killed doing this, and it does seem to be onlookers generally. The panic that follows the police showing up as everyone scatters is FAR more dangerous than the actual racing.

I would agree with people scrambling away causes more panic and danger then the actual race itself usually. But until people actual race the police can't arrest anyone for "Drag Racing" till it actually happens.

Being a spectator is one thing and is easier to establish but developing probable cause to arrest for actually racing won't hold up in court for a gathering of cars. If someones car stalls then no race actually happens just as if someone is casing a store to commit a robbery, its not a robbery till it occurs.

I dont see street racing ever going away till the laws change and become stricter. Seizing vehicles is the only real deterent from stopping racing. Fines are just paid and chalked up to the cost of doing business. Just like selling alcohol to minors, the fines that the corner stores receive from the state are outweighed by the money earned from the actual selling of alcohol.

 

[Pablo]

If you eliminate street racing then you eliminate hot rodding, the NHRA, and this hobby as we know it. Like I mentioned before... Drag racing is going bye bye and asinine street racing laws (like theft of your vehicle by the police) are only going to hasten its demise.

 

[blackshoebox]

All i can say is back a few years ago, back when i was into street racing pretty heavily, I have trailered my mid 9 sec mustang from the south Texas boarders near Mexico and as far north as Dallas street racing for $$$, and i have seen all kinds of crazy stuff like this.. I am older now with kids and do my racing at the track now.. I look back now and can't believe some of the things i used to do back then...


Here is pic when i got busted right outside of San Antonio after a long night of street racing..

** the car is in the trailer...

Hey how did that turn-out for you penalty wise if you don't mind me asking? Looks serious!

 

[Saladin45]

Yeah. That does look serious.

How'd that go?