What is Drag Racing?

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Is Drag Racing to Blame? "Several cities and counties have successfully addressed their legal street racing problems by creating their own, or in collaboration with other organizations, a legal racing venue. This is intended to divert people to a safer racing enviorment, which allows racers to experience some positive aspects of the legal drag racing..." ("Responses to the Problem of Street Racing") Many people are not fully informed about the sport of drag racing so here is a little bit of information. In 1947, Wally Parks, a military tank test-driver for General Motors who served in the army in the South Pacific in World War II, helped organize the Southern California Timing Association and later became its general manager. In 1949, the Southern California Timing Association held the "Speed Week" in Bonneville Salt Flats, this event is what started "drag racing" or racing "against the clock" as some like to say. The first drag strip, the Santa Ana Drags, began running on an airfield in Southern California in 1950 and quickly gained popularity among the Muroc crowd because of its revolutionary computerized speed clocks. When Parks became editor of the monthly enthusiast magazine Hot Rod, he had the forum and the power to form the National Hot Rod Association in 1951 to "create order from chaos" by instituting safety rules and performance standards that helped legitimize the sport. He was its first president. (NHRA) Though police believe drag racing encourages illegal street racing, drag racing provides a safe legal way to race and actually discourages street racing. The whole idea of drag strips being created is to provide a safe and legal way to race and to get people off the streets therefore discourages illegal street racing.... ... middle of paper ... ...like the violent video games affects someone after they play it. Should drag racing be the blame for illegal street racing? Though police believe drag racing encourages illegal street racing, drag racing provides a safe legal way to race and actually discourages street racing. Drag racing doesn’t encourage illegal street racing because the whole purpose and idea of a drag strip is to keep people off the streets, even veteran drag racers say that drag racing in no way encourages illegal street racing, and video games are a bigger influence on people then drag racing. There are many reasons why drag racing doesn’t encourage illegal street racing and many people from scientist to 18 year drag racing veteran help support my argument. Drag racing is nothing but a legal, safer way to enjoy the sport of racing that in no way encourages illegal street racing in any way.

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