Street Racing

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Term Paper- Illegal Street Race Culture


“When the sun goes down, another world comes to life”

Ever since there have been cars driving the streets of the world, there has always been
one thing that makes a persons heart race, racing. There are many kinds of automobile racing
throughout the world, Nascar racing, Indy car racing, rally racing, and many others. There is one
kind of racing that stands out more than any other, the world of import street racing. The reason
that this racing stands out more than any other is actually for many reasons. First off, it is illegal,
and secondly, it has its own totally unique lifestyle. This paper will attempt to explain the world
of illegal import street racing by using movies, documentaries, magazines, newspaper articles,
and my own first hand experience. These sources will help to explain some major areas of this
culture: the cars, the race, the lifestyle, and the dangers.

The Cars
Due to the many Movies and shows that have come out in the last few years, such as the
movie The Fast and the Furious, illegal import street racing has found itself in the spotlight, not
just for its dangers, but the cars. These cars, most of which are imports(thus the name import
racing) are mostly little Japanese compact cars. Many of these cars, such as Honda Civics,
Acura Integras, and Nissan Sentras, are often thought as little “grocery getters” in their stock
form. This is due to the small size of the car, and the little economical engine underneath the
hood. With a little money and some expert tuning, these cars become “rice rockets” as they are
known. These are the cars of choice of the modern day racer, due to the fact that these cars are
known to be reliable, and do not cost a fortune. In the article “Racer X”, by Kenneth li, he
describes the cars as “tricked out low buck Japanese imports such as Civics or Integras, covered
in stickers, stro...