Street Racing: Run what you brung!

The road is dark, very dark. Streetlights are luxury items, none in sight. The road narrows suddenly, the result of luxuriant vegetation, their rate of growth unchecked by overburdened state agencies. As the flora reaches out to the windows and tickle the fenders you would be forgiven if you thought you were in a scene of one of Wes Craven’s classic horror movies. But this is not Hollywood and I am not lost, in fact, I am a few minutes from my destination. As I was about to venture on to this rather bumpy surface I was passed by a ‘Kingfish’ (Toyota Corolla). The driver was obviously in a hurry. My Nissan Bluebird wasn’t up to the challenge and having accepted defeat I was left to bounce along, alone, on the dark, bumpy road.

Comforted by the fact that I was familiar with where I was going, I continued. The road got a little better, it got a bit wider as the vegetation receded and as I rounded a corner, in the middle of nowhere, my headlights confirmed that there were easily 50 cars parked on either side of the road. Is this some kind of party? Yes. Is it illegal? Yes.

Street racing is illegal everywhere in the civilized/developed world. Import magazines tell stories about the characters/the cars involved, movies are made about it and it appeals to a wide cross section of individuals.

For those who are addicted to speed there is only one sure fix. Racing! Official events are held at tracks for example, Jamwest Speedway and Dover but, they are held with an extensive downtime between events. So the generation which produced films like the Fast and the Furious, will put the pedal to the metal on a straight, wide section of roadway, one that they can ‘close’ for a while so they can quench their thirst for speed and feed their hunger for unrestricted acceleration.

I arrived at the location rather late and there was a pause in the proceedings as the local law enforcement agents were doing their routine check. Negotiations ensue and unofficial permission is granted. Here the rules are simple, ‘run what you brung’.

There was a sport-bike duel in progress but it was clear to everyone who the better rider was and interest waned as the crowd wanted to see cars and not bikes.

The cars eventually came out and when the turbocharged and nitrous devouring beasts  rolled out, the spectators were thrilled. The cars lined up and with a drop of the hand they left rubber behind and went in search of the finish line. The cars, both in very high states of tune were crackling and popping, with fire exiting their exhausts as their ecu’s grappled to ensure the delivery of safe but powerful mixtures. Both cars attacked the darkness with unreal velocity, which electrified the spectators who were now making more noise than the cars, as they shouted, whistled and ‘buss shots’ to show their approval.

Street racing in Jamaica is as illegal as marijuana (use, trafficking etc), but like marijuana, it is entrenched in the culture. It is dangerous, but arguably a highly entertaining experience.

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer