This type of Article drives me crazy

I hate it when they refer to street racers as Drag Racers, especially when something horrific like this goes wrong. After I read this article, I sent off the message below to the paper. Not that they will do anything, but it made me feel like I stood up for those of us who do this legally.


http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/17970814/detail.html

As a drag racer, I found your article offensive to those of us who race at approved venues through legitimate organizations such as the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)and the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA).

The people involved in this horrific accident were not DRAG RACERS, but were Street Racers who were racing illegally.

Drag Racing is a international sport governed by the NHRA or the IHRA or by other sanctioning bodies throughout the world. These races are held at safe locations, where public and racer safety is paramount.

By writing the article the way you did, you are insulting those of us who persue the sport legally.

Maureen Rieger

 

Good on ya, I hate it when they write articles about "Drag Racers"...it always seems to be about a deadly STREET race.

Looks like they changed it anyhow...at least online anyways to read Street Racers.

 

Maureen,

I completley agree that while these articles do bring a bad name to legal drag racing, what these knuckle heads do on the street unfortunately is still drag racing by defintion.

This is from Webste's online dictionary
Main Entry: drag race
Function: noun
Date: 1949
: an acceleration contest between vehicles

Ive battled this several times with local media here in the Phoenix, AZ area to no avail. As they have told me, sanctioned or not, on a dragstrip or public street, its still drag racing. They agree its terrible and they know it gives drag racing a bad name but they still report what it is. Ive even tried to get them to use illegal drag racing in their descriptions, still doesnt happen.

Maybe somebody ought to petition the folks at Webster's and the like to update or change the definition or have one put in there about street racing.

 

It didn't take them long to change the words - its about time the media recognized the difference.

Maureen

 

Street Racers drive me nuts.

We've all been 16. We've all broken our local speed limit and "excessive display of acceleration" laws. I understand the need for speed, wouldn't be in this business if I didn't. The problem is that these people aren't sixteen, their old enough to drink and old enough to know that what they're doing is a dumbass decision. My question is why they feel the need to race on an unprepared, traffic laden street when you can go to your local track twice a week, pay $25 and run as much as you can in the time allotted? I mean seriously, whats $25 for these guys who spend thousands on their engines, thousands on their rims and $20 to upgrade their brakes? Sorry, just had to get a jab in there about those 20" rims on 6" brakes.

If you want to play, do it somewhere you will only hurt yourself and not a 55 year old lady driving through an intersection in her Saturn. If you think your car is fast, take it to the track and race against real racers, not the retard you met in the bar that night that thinks his car is faster than yours.

 

Hi Frankie,

The problem with that definition is, it was originally written before there were drag strips. I've written to media people to inform them of the differences between illegal street racing and drag racing, usually with positive results. If the street racing idiots happen to be street racing on a winding road, does the media call it rally racing? No, they don't.

When I got my first driver's license way back in 1967, Colorado law described street racing as drag racing. The difference between now and then is, the motor vehicle statutes here label illegal street racing as illegal street racing. They don't call it drag racing anymore, because it isn't.

 

I saw another News clip dealing with that Detroit tragedy, and they did refer to them as "Street" Racers! Maybe a different station????