Street Raceing

Street Racing

Street racing, a topic many are discussing that has created several problems that result in death, or serious injury as well as several unwanted tickets, do not know how the sport came about.

Many people do not understand how street racing has evolved, and also has become one of the most common problems on today's streets. Bootleggers in the twenties were the first people in America to break the grounds of new standards. When I say standards I mean that bootleggers were the first of their kind to do what they did. First the main reason and intent of bootleggers was to sneak in banned alcohol as well as beer, also know as moonshine. Many people who lived in the country side would have private stills and would make mass amounts of liquor and distribute to local pubs and bars. At the time the prohibition act was taking place banning any and all forms of alcohol. This being illegal, many people would not attempt to smuggle contraband in, but would still consume it. Bootleggers would sometimes have to run from authorities and driving stock vehicles on dirt roads led to disaster. Not only would they get caught, but drivers would get into accidents and were prone to losing their lives.

The first major step in making a vehicle perform to the standards you want it too, was suspension. Good handling made for better control on the roads which caused drivers to take turns as well as cornering much better. What bootleggers would do is cut the springs on the vehicle to make the vehicle sit lower which once again caused better handling. They would also add Leaf springs so the back of the car could hold more weight and would not squat. This caused the vehicle to look as if the driver was not carrying any contraband. Next what they would do is put bigger brakes on the vehicle to help with stopping. Soon, many bootleggers found that this was not enough to get away from the law. Back in the twenties people were not able to go purchase parts for their vehicles, they either had to make the parts from scratch, or innovate new ways to make vehicles better perform. Many upgrades started by adding a header, a piece of metal that carries the exhaust to the back of the car. This led to better airflow as well as compression causing the car to excel in horsepower.

By this time, the prohibition act was lifted from the United States and bootleggers were then now out of a job. Many turned to the streets for entertainment. By the fifties, there were several automobiles rolling off the assembly line at many plants, which caused for an abundance of car parts.

World War 2 had now ended, and many soldiers had money saved up from being overseas and would then take this money and put it into their pride and joy, their cars. Friday and Saturday nights were the nights to be on the roads, many people for entertainment would meet up at a local spot and would hang out, see others cars, and have a good time. After this, many would go as we know as, "cruise." Several vehicles would be out and soon several were also racing on the streets, not only for bragging rights but for money as well. Authorities were getting fed up with the hassle of trying to bust racers, and were really trying to crack down on the sport. Most of the time, built up muscle cars was typically a lot faster than the police cars themselves; this made it considerably difficult to catch racers as well. The authorities then came up with the idea to have cars run legally down a quarter mile track, and they would be timed to see who really was the fastest. This worked for a little while, as many racers would take to the track instead of the street. However, there was still and abundance of people who after the track would go back to the street and would race. The typical muscle car was a V-8, with bigger tires in the back which led to controlled stability. Also, some racers would have a blower on their vehicle. A blower sat on top of the carburetor, and when the blower was opened it would force a great amount of air into the engine, were the engine could then open up a new door for speed as well as times. During this era thousands of people were meeting up to go race in a disclosed area away from police. Soon the eighties rolled around and a new breed was discovered.

Smaller more compact vehicles with only four cylinder engines were being produced which led to the result of lighter vehicles, as well as higher gas mileage which was good because like today, gas prices were on the rise. These smaller vehicles were cheap and easy to produce, one of the most popular producers which still is highly rated today produced mass amount of these vehicles, we know them as Honda. Honda would soon be known for producing the most amount of vehicles world wide. Many street enthusiasts turned to Honda vehicles because they would handle much better than American V-8's. Although these four cylinder engines were not capable of the torque and horsepower American cars had, they still packed a punch. Honda manufactures were highly unique in making their vehicles built for more than one purpose. These front wheel drive vehicles were already low to the ground so air resistance was not as great as a vehicle sitting high off the ground. Interchangeable parts made it easy to find parts that would produce power and still keep gas mileage at a high. An example of this would be changing the entire head on a Honda and replacing it with that of a newer engine, it made it very easy to swap out stock parts with newer engine parts that would still match up under any condition. Producing over a million Hondas in the late eighties and early nineties, several took the sporty look of these import cars. Some performance parts that were added to increase airflow which led to more horsepower