OK, there are literally no drag racing headlines today that don’t involve Justin Bieber. So while he has captured the media’s attention and drag racing has been in the headlines this week, I’ll expand on a few thoughts that I shared yesterday on Cole Coonce’s NITRONIC Research group on Facebook.
Many of my legitimate drag racing friends (racers, track owners, etc.) hate this media circus and cannot stand that news outlets are calling what Bieber did “drag racing.” They would prefer it be referred to as “illegal street racing,” which it certainly is. But let’s face it — it’s also “drag racing.”
Despite 60 years of organized drag racing competition, it’s awful hard to get the genie back into the bottle on this one. The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean weren’t always singing about sanctioned drag races, after all. And the fact is, the actual laws in most jurisdictions call it ‘drag racing’ on the books. So when folks complain about this, they are asking reporters to editorialize on our behalf by changing the name of the activity actually listed on the moving violation. The reporters don’t know or care what the legitimate racing community thinks about this. They are just, well, reporting.
Since I don’t think we are ever going to make inroads on changing the term “drag racing” in these situations, I think we instead should see every such incident as an OPPORTUNITY to promote safe, sanctioned drag racing.
Whenever something like this hits the wider press, every drag strip owner in the world should be on the phone to his or her local media outlet to explain how they have a place to race that is fun and safe. The NHRA, IHRA, ANDRA, FIA, and other bodies should similarly be on the phone with the world and national media.
And fans, instead of complaining to the non-racing media about the use of a term that is, in all honesty, accurate, we should redirect and refocus that energy to saying, “Yeah, he’s an idiot for drag racing on the street. Here’s where the REAL racers do it.” And then give the media the name and location of your local drag strip.
This is viral, folks. You can’t BUY advertising like this. We should seize the opportunity to grow our sport every time we have the public’s fleeting attention.
