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NHRA drivers, state patrol join fight against street racing

Sports Writer

One of the worst things Larry White has had to do as a Minnesota State Patrol officer is tell a parent their child has died in a car accident as the result of illegal street racing.

That's a big reason why White, along with Mille Lacs Tribal Conservation Officers Shaun White and Mike Taylor, started the Fast Cop program.

The goal of Fast Cop is to get kids to race in the controlled confines of a race track instead of on the street, as well as to educate them about the dangers of street racing.

The NHRA, the predominant drag racing organization in the nation, has also joined in the fight against illegal street racing.

Christine Hurlbert and Brian Hildahl, both of Northfield, reacted as Phil Burkhart punched the throttle of his NHRA Funny Car Friday to conclude a Checker-Schucks-Kragen Racing Team and Minnesota Fast Cop program to curb street racing. Brainerd Dispatch/Clint Wood

On Friday at the 23rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, about 30 young people gathered to listen to Checker Shucks Kragen Funny Car drivers Del Worsham and Phil Burkart talk about the negatives of street racing.

"The NHRA is the model of what drag racing is all about and they set the standards," Emily Police Chief John Reed said. "NHRA's involvement lends a lot of credibility to what we're trying to accomplish."

Worsham, currently third in the point standings, and Burkart, who's eighth, lend big-name credibility to the Fast Cop cause and spread the message that there are opportunities to make drag racing a profession.

"It's all about showing the kids there's an opportunity for them to come out to the drag strip and test their cars," Burkart said, "but also to show them there's an opportunity for them in the future to possibly have a career in drag racing."

According to Larry White, when the Fast Cop program started, only four to five cars came to race at BIR. Now, between 150-250 cars show up every Wednesday night along with 300-400 spectators.

"Kids and cars are so much a part of our American culture," White said. "If they have a car that says 130 mph on their speedometer, they're going to use it. We know that kids have an interest in speed and what a better place to test that than at BIR."

Eric Medlen launched down the track en-route to winning the Funny Car title Sunday at the NHRA nationals at BIR. Medlen, like every NHRA driver, is a professional and keeps this kind of driving on the track, not on the streets.

The popularity of street racing has skyrocketed, especially with the release of movies like "Fast and the Furious" in 2001. Cars are getting faster and accidents are on the rise.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of fatalities from street racing rose from 72 in 2000 to 135 in 2001. The NHTSA also reports the leading cause of death in people ages 16-20 is motor vehicle accidents. Nationwide statistics show that 49 people are injured for every 1,000 who participate in illegal street racing.

"I'm sickened by the popularity of street racing," said Burkart. "It is such an unsafe thing to do and the streets are becoming more and more populated, which makes it that much more dangerous to do."

What worries Worsham is that more times than not, it's the innocent bystander walking or driving down the street who is the one who gets injured or dies.

"We just want to get kids to understand that racing on the street is dangerous and can get people killed," said Worsham. "The biggest thing I tell kids is they're not really endangering themselves but rather my family and other innocent people that are out on the street."

TROY GUNDERSON can be reached at troy.gunderson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5865.

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