The Origins of Street Racing

Ryan Burgess
12-1-08
Research Writing


The Origins of Street Racing


Street racing is defined as unsanctioned illegal auto racing on public roads. It is popular all over the world but it’s most popular in Japan and the U.S. Mostly the youth of the world participates in street racing. The older generation probably has a dislike towards it since they grew up around it and maybe even took part in racing and has seen the consequences. The youth that take place in the street racing scene are in their world. They listen to no one and only give respect to those who earn respect. People have thought of several reasons why people street race. One reason is street racing has no rules and no entry fees also it’s available for everyone where some places like bars and clubs are not. Another reason is some get excitement when cops provide a chase. But Street racing does have its down sides like accidents and increased theft and violence. Theft and violence increase because teens what faster cars so they resort to stealing nice cars.
There are three main types of street racing. The most popular is drag racing where two cars line up and race for usually a quarter mile and the car in front wins. Another type is touge racing or drifting. In drifting one or two cars line up one behind the other and race around curved roads. You win in drifting by getting to the bottom faster or getting ahead of the first car. The third type is cannonball runs which involve a handful of racers that race from one point to another and the car in front wins.
People have different thoughts of how street racing began and I think no one really knows how or who started it but one thing everyone seems to agree on is that it started when the first cars were made. Some theories of how street racing began are that it began around the 1930s because bootleggers would try to find ways to make their cars go faster and have better handling and to find out if they went faster they would race them which in turn would start drag racing. Another theory of how street racing began is that it was just a form of entertainment for teens to get away from the tragedy of the great depression. Young adults started working on Fords and Chevys to make them go faster then they would form groups and race. At first the police just let it slide because they thought it was just harmless fun but later when teens started wanting to race for money they cops had to put a stop to it because the teens wouldn’t care who got hurt in the process. In the end this would jump start the street racing scene that is today and if the police catch you street racing today they will impound your car and suspend your license.
From when street racing supposedly first started till now it has changed in some ways. For example technology has become more advanced since the 1930’s. Nowadays cars can be tuned with a computer and there are so many parts teens can put on their cars to increase the speed. The main types of cars used in street racing today are Fords, Honda, and Acuras. Car manufacturers are also always looking to increase the speed of their cars. With all the new technology for cars and computers street racing will only continue to happen around the world because as the cars get faster the racers get smarter.