Street racing is a form of auto racing that takes place on public roads, either during normal traffic or during empty hours of traffic, often within the industrial areas of cities. It is illegal, as such driving is prohibited by many traffic regulations.
Henry Ford introduced the automobile to the masses with his less expensive vehicles built on an assembly line. Once cars were being used widely, it was only a matter of time before the human love of competition took over. Dry lake beds and two lane strips of roadway became the first places to test your vehicle against another driver. These non-sanctioned events were essentially illegal drag races that took place throughout the country. A few fans of this growing competition began developing rules and regulations that have led to the NHRA or National Hot Rod Association that we know today.
Speed demons were able to break the 100mph barrier on the Muroc dry lake bed in California’s Mojave Desert, but it was not until 1950 that a man by the name of C.J. Hart was able to open the first official drag strip for racing. As soon as people saw the opportunity to race in safer and well-timed events the sport of drag racing was truly born. This first drag strip ran races until 1959 and by that time the NHRA had multiple national events taking place throughout the United States.
The NHRA has become a larger success than anyone could have imagined and now comprises 80,000 members. Wally Parks was the associations first President and once noted, “we did have ambitions of its becoming a national sports entity. We weren’t planning or marketing geniuses or anything like that. Things happened and we went with our instincts.”
Hit the jump for more details on the History of Drag Racing
Red Bull has more than a few ways of giving us a good ’ol morning jolt. The people of downtown Atlanta can attest to that.
Recently, the energy drink / racing team brought two of their esteemed drivers - Rhys Millen and Ryan Tuerck - to Atlanta for a smoke-inducing drift session as part of Red Bull’s Peachtree Drift Battle. While it wasn’t entirely a head-to-head duel between Millen’s Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Tuerck’s Pontiac Solstice Coupe, the two did provide a highly different way for commuters to start their day.
It’s not every day you get a chance to see rampaging drift cars plowing through Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. And as one commuter will attest, we’ll never look at Peachtree Street the same way ever again.
Check out the video for all the pulse-pounding and - in this case, morning-jolting action - as Millen and Tuerck give the innocent bystanders of downtown Atlanta a different kind of wake-up call.
Goliad, Texas – this town is home to one of the purest motorsport events of the year and it’s called the Texas Mile. People from all over the country travel to this location for three days of gasoline fume induced chaos on an abandoned air strip. Nothing makes for a better all-out speed track than a place where jet-fighters used to take off so the organizers have arranged a sort of extended drag race for any participant who wants to sign up.
Since 2003 people have been able to let loose in their motorcycles, trucks, and sports cars on what is essentially a one-mile stretch of open highway. Sure, driving down the historic Route 66 in your classic 1969 Ford Mustang is fun, but being able to put your foot to the floor on a stretch of road where no police officer will do anything about it is the ultimate rush.
Last year, the event was packed and this year it has already sold out so you better be ready when registration rolls around for the next one. Cars have been known to go well beyond the 200mph mark and even crash on the ½-mile slow down stretch, but it’s all about how far you want to push yourself.
Hit the jump for more details on the Texas-Mile Event.
Nothing grips us at TopSpeed more than a seriously dangerous car chase scene while munching on popcorn and sipping on a cold one. Be it special effects or balls to the wall stunt driving, the action entertainment factor is undeniable and just another reason to love the movie industry. They get to do things we mere mortals only dream of doing with cars we only dream of woning. Every new blockbuster brings faster, harder, and more dangerous antics than before, keeping us glued and wanting more.
This collection spans more than thirty odd years proving that older movies with real stunts and no CGI still get our blood pumping, especially when you consider the dangers faced by stuntmen all those years ago. There are hot women, exotic metal, loads of tire screeching, crashes, and huge jumps to reminisce about. Here then, is our tribute to the best individual car stunt scenes Hollywood has to offer.
When talking about supercars, there aren’t a lot in this world that can come close to matching the prestige of a Pagani Zonda or a Bugatti Veyron. And if you want to push the exclusivity level up a few notches, try having a Zonda Cinque and a Veyron Sang Noir join forces in one unforgettable street race.
The two cars were spotted in the streets of London where they were joined by a number of other supercars that, apparently, are all owned by a strapping number of wealthy Middle Easterners that are a looking to have a good time.
And as it turns out, their idea of ‘having a good time’ involves racing their multi-million dollar machines without a care in the world and probably knowing full well that in the unlikely event that they wreck these cars, they could just as well afford to replace them with something else in a few days.
And as far as how this supercar race between the Zonda Cinque and the Veyron Sang Noir went, well, you can check out the results by clickity-clacking on the video.
Unless you’re dealing with a high-powered, tuned-up Audi, a race between a Lamborghini Gallardo and an Audi S4 is about as fair as a two-legged horse participating in the Kentucky Derby. Fortunately, the Audi S4 shot in this racing video in Somalia had enough power to remain competitive against a Gallardo and even managed to stretch the Gallardo’s legs with an extra passenger on board.
To be fair to the Gallardo, its driver looked like he wasn’t even trying and if it did decide to pound the throttle, it probably would have left the modded Stage 3 Audi B5 S4 eating its thermoplastic dust.
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of taking a leisurely drive along Mulholland Drive, you should know that the place comes with a lot of history. A lot of street racing history.
Ever since its creation, it was to be a scenic road with the sole purpose of attracting drivers of all speed intents. Since its build back in the 1920s, Mulholland Drive has become a quite popular attraction for tourists and local Angelinos alike.
Check out this particular video that was made a few years back chronicling the history of Mulholland Drive and how it came to be - from generation to generation - quite arguably the most famous stretch of pavement in Los Angeles.
Yes, in our eyes, it’s more famous than Beverly Hills.
We are all excited with the Honda HSV-010 GT racer, and more than that, curious about a street version of the car. Due to the harsh financial situation, Honda does not plan to produce such a car in 2010, but we can hope for one later on, as the HSV was intended from the beginning as a street-racing duo and is a suitable concept for production. We can imagine an eventual street version as being of course less wide, with minimum ground clearance, more discrete spoilers and smooth flowing lines. The street-version engine could be based on the racing V8, but with a slight displacement increment (from 3.4 to 5 litres) and a little revved down.
Full story
If you are looking for a way to show off your mad skills driving at high speeds make sure you try and get an invitation! Spectre Performance is bringing back road racing in the 1st annual Speed by Spectre 341 Challenge. The race will bring together muscle, import, and exotic cars in a race against the clock at the Nevada Highway 341. This exclusive invitation-only event will test the skills of all of its participants by liberating them on of the most challenging mountain roads in America. Winner of this challenge will be crowned King of the Hill. The race is a two part event with qualifying on June 25, 2010 and racing on June 26, 2010.
Check out the rest of the story plus a full press release after the jump.
Just like in boxing, a car race boils down to a number of things: speed, power, wits, and a desire to knock someone out...or in this case, leave them eating your dust.
Over time, we’ve seen some pretty good races involving exotic cars but in this video that was shot in a highway in Abu Dhabi, we found two supercars that have yet to come across each other. On one corner...err...lane we have the venerable Bugatti Veyron, a car that is a veteran of these types of racing and for the most part, has won a lot of them.
