Roughly 100 racers made their way to Tucson’s far east side Saturday night for Tucson Dragway’s first “Take it to the Track” night, an initiative that encourages street racers to compete in a controlled, safe environment.
The “grudge races” took place at the top end of the track, dubbed “Beyond 1320.” The stretch is meant to simulate a real street race, with asphalt, flashlight starts and water burnouts.
Saturday’s event drew mostly new faces, according to track manager Matt DeYoung, along with representatives from the Tucson Police Department, Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Rural Metro Fire, Corona de Tucson Fire District and AMR Ambulance.
Part of the goal of the program is to “put faces to the badges” and help racers realize that first responders are more than just the flashing blue and red lights, DeYoung said.
Before it even launched, “Take it to the Track” had already gained the support of local business owners and law enforcement, especially in light of a recent uptick in illegal street racing.
One sponsor is encouraging racers to post “call-outs” on the Tucson Dragway website and challenge their friends and competitors to race.
For those who call-out, Larry H. Miller Dodge Ram will pay half of the racer’s $40 track pass. The race’s winner will get a free racer track pass for the next Wednesday or Friday night event.
“What can you go to in town and pay $20 to go do? That’s 4 hours of running down the drag strip,” DeYoung said.
Dragway officials have been talking to street racers for some time now. Racers told them they often spend hours driving around town looking for places and people to race.
“That’s what really made us really think, ‘Hey, we need to do this,’” DeYoung said. “But the question was, how do we make this something they’re going to want to be involved with? And that was our thought, if we do a call-outs page, there’s an incentive.”
It was an easy sell for Larry H. Miller general manager Stacy Barnett, who has been a racer his entire life.
“I love racing. And I have raced on the streets before,” Barnett said. “But I’m 52 now and I’m a little older, so I shouldn’t be doing that anyway.”
Law enforcement officers, many of them gearheads, were on hand for Saturday’s drag races. They clocked the racers using their radar guns.
Barnett knows first-hand how dangerous street racing can be. He has lost friends to street-racing crashes.
The dragway is safer by comparison.
“There’s a safety crew there, it’s on a regular street and there’s a flashlight start just like you’re on the street,” Barnett said. “If you go off the road, you hit a little barrier. It’s not like you go off the road and hit a tree or another car.
“You don’t want to ruin your life racing and injuring someone, especially an innocent bystander,” Barnett said.
Saturday night’s “Take it to the Track” event saw TPD officers delivering those flashlight starts, with sheriff’s deputies standing by to clock speeds on their radar guns.
“It was nice to see the racers and law enforcement all together,” DeYoung said.
“The racers enjoyed knowing that the officers were there to just support, and had no other intentions.”
Most of the first responders that showed up are gearheads themselves, DeYoung said, and the dragway already has a sizable law enforcement following.
“These are really just guys that like cars and racing, too,” DeYoung said.
The next Take it to the Track event is scheduled for March 19. Details can be found on the Tucson Dragway’s website.
