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CNN Live Sunday

Track Gives Californians Legal Place to Race

Aired September 09, 2001 - 16:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: In California, folks with a drive for street racing no longer have to flirt with breaking the law. A new and legal drag car race track just opened up to satisfy the fast and furious, and hopefully save lives.

CNN's Hena Cuevas has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENA CUEVAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Motors running, tires burning. A new outlet set for $10 lets anybody with the need for speed see how fast they can go. The only thing needed is a valid California drivers license, registration, insurance and, if they're under 18, a parent's consent. Every driver must sign a waiver releasing the organizers of any liability.

(on camera): This new track is a quarter of a mile long, allowing drivers to reach higher speeds. Some cars here have been going over 100 miles an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five-thirty-two will be your number.

CUEVAS (voice-over): 22-year-old Tyler Ives drove two hours from San Diego to test his brand new 2002 Subaru, this time legally.

TYLER IVES, RACER: You're not going to have to worry about the police, the cops, because that's a definite threat every time you go out there on the street.

CUEVAS: After getting his car professionally inspected, Tyler is ready to race; his competition: an officer of the California Highway Patrol.

This time, Tyler outruns the police.

MICHAEL LINDQUIST, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: I haven't lost, because I've got to talk to a lot of people and hopefully they understand that this is the place to race, and not out on the street.

CUEVAS: Illegal street racing is what organizers of this program are trying to prevent. And although there are no national statistics on the number of accidents resulting from illegal racing, many law enforcement agents say it happens all too frequently. SGT. KEN FITZPATRICK, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Not only do they kill themselves, but they kill innocent people who have no part in the street race or no knowledge that it's even going on.

CUEVAS: This kind of racing has been popular with teens, immortalized in movies like 1955's "Rebel Without a Cause."

More recently, L.A. police say they issued nearly 500 citations the weekend the street racing movie "The Fast and the Furious" came out. Organizers say their No. 1 goal is getting racers off the streets.

BILL MILLER, PRESIDENT, CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY: These are teenagers and people that really want to drive fast because they don't have an outlet. And we have the ability to provide the outlet.

CUEVAS: An outlet Tyler says he'll be taking advantage of.

IVES: As long as there's petroleum and cars, I'll be doing it for the rest of my life.

Hena Cuevas, CNN, Fontana, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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