Take it to the Track

Submitted by chrissy on Tue, 2007-02-13 12:17.

Teenagers today are obsessed with the way their cars look, sound, and run. They want their cars to be the “fliest,” says Ari S., an OCHS sophomore. They want their car’s stereo system to go boom. The thing is that that’s not the problem.

Street racing is the problem. Street racing is when you go and race your cars illegally. According to Tony S., the president of the Career Development Center’s race team, Triple Threat Racing, “Street racing is immature, irresponsible, and flat out stupid.”  If you have the “need for speed,” said Ed Day, an automotive teacher at CDC, take it to the track.

            Take it to the Track is an event that the Colorado State Patrol made to try to reduce the amount of street racing. This organization lets teenage drivers who have the need for speed to go and race at a safe and legal environment. For example, Bandimere Speedway, where in 2006 around 5,000 teenagers went and raced at for High School Drags, is a popular place to race.

            Bandimere is a place teens can go and race in a quarter mile to see how fast they really are.  If you are interested in getting into the whole racing scene then get involved in an automotive class at CDC and get onto the race team. If you really don’t want to go through all that then just get registered to race your cars at Bandimere.

            It costs $30 a car if you have plan to race. If you just want to be a spectator then it will cost anywhere from $10-12. That’s a lot better then the cost of an accident due to illegal street racing.

            I have been to Bandimere and it is an amazing place. At High School Drags, teams from different schools come from all around the state to see who gets the bragging right to say that their cars are the best. It’s also a huge social event where you get to meet new kids from all over. You can also see whatever kids do to their cars.

            So please if you are reading this and you are a street racer, take it to the track. You're not only indangering yourself but many others. Just think: in 2001, 290 teens died due to street racing. That number is growing each year. If you really have needs for speed, take it to the track. You can be saving yourself or an innocent man or woman.