Racing for Peace

By Dave Kerr

The changing times that we are living in today have prompted me to write this letter. This is a lesson about Drag Racing and how it all brings us together no matter what Race or Nationality we are. It was August of 1965 in Long Beach Calif. It was a Saturday and it was hot. The Watts Riots had just started days before and as the weekend approached, I didn't know what was going to happen to the races that were supposed to take place that night at Lions Drag Strip. 

CJ Hart, the Manager of Lions, decided to go ahead and hold the Drag Races. As I arrived that Afternoon at Lions, I could see the smoke from the fires in the distance. The Howard's Cams Special arrived from North of the I-5 freeway with bullet holes in its trailer. People were arriving that night with baseball bats not knowing what to expect. Lions Drag Strip draws a crowd of many colors and nationalities and at the end of Saturday Night's racing, there was not one incident to report. Just like Woodstock years later, the fence did not fall and CJ Hart became in my eyes the manager off all time. 

This goes to prove that Drag Racing brings us all together no matter what. It's too bad that we can't revive the Drag Racing Safari, take it to Baghdad, and make new friends and share new ideas. 

As for me, well I'm going to watch only Drag Racing, Comedy, and Music on TV for awhile. It seems like the best thing to do right now is to watch Jimi Hendrix pick his guitar with his teeth to the tunes of Purple Haze, watch Seinfeld and tapes of the Reunion from Bakersfield, and to hope for a peaceful end to this situation. PEACE. 

Dave Kerr
Nitrokerr@aol.com