Published: September 11, 2009 08:52 am      

‘Street Racers’ sought for strip

FORT GAY — After seeing a growing number of auto enthusiasts challenging one another on the streets of Louisa and Ft. Gay, Mark R. Maynard and friends decided to provide a safer alternative with all the same thrills and action.

“Nationwide there is and has been a growing epidemic of illegal street racing,” Maynard said. “It is very dangerous because there is no controlled environment. Law enforcement officials do their best to curtail these impromptu ‘events,’ by issuing citations and dispersing the onlookers, however this does not curb the desire for individuals to participate in these happenings.”

Event coordinator and promoter Maynard wanted to create an atmosphere that would closely resemble an actual street race, but be within the confines of a secure “drag strip”, with a goal of making the Tri-State community’s streets safer.

“All efforts have been made to make it as authentic as real street racing but not on the street,” he said.

Car owners will gather in the staging lanes and choose their opponent as in street racing and discuss the details of the race and negotiate if one or the other gets a starting line advantage by “spotting” one or more car lengths or heads up. Normally at the drag strip, cars are started with a “Christmas Tree”, however to make this authentic as possible, cars are started with a flagman that points to the drivers to start each race.

The event will be held at Tri-River Dragway at Fort Gay, W.Va., on Sept. 11 and another final race will be held on Oct. 23. A cruise-in will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the track for show and drag cars. The races start at 8 p.m. At the end of the night there will be a fastest street car shoot out, heads up, with a $500 purse split between two classes — Real Street (regular street tires) and Super Street (non-D.O.T and D.O.T. drag tires).

Gate fees will go to Hannah Baptist Church in Harts Creek, W.Va. For more information call Mark R. Maynard at (304) 272-3030 or James Watson at (606) 475-0044.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.