NHRA vs Street Outlaws!

So there's a good chance if you're into the modern racing scene especially grudge/street racing - you're probably familiar with all the buzz around the NHRA's bout with participants in the Discovery Channel's Street Outlaws series.

On February 13th, the NHRA sent out letters to racers featured on the Street Outlaws show who also possess NHRA racing licenses. These letters essentially threaten to revoke these licenses due to their involvement in promoting illegal street racing. The same letters were received by all who have participated. 

See the letter below:

The NHRA has received massive backlash from the racing community over their choice of action. Many of those who have received the letter have scoffed at it and basically issued a "Do your worst" to the NHRA. Others feel under pressure in a tough spot wanting to keep their licenses and ability to race at NHRA sanctioned tracks.

It's important to remember the NHRA's core mission. The NHRA was founded by racers who predominantly raced on the streets and recognized a need to work together to promote official tracks being established and maintained for a safe fun place to race. Thus the NHRA was born and many tracks came about. Over the years the NHRA has evolved into the primary authority when it comes to drag racing all around the country with a huge number of NHRA sanctioned tracks.

The backlash over the NHRA's shot at Street Outlaws comes with many people saying the NHRA is overstepping its boundaries and authority. It has been pointed out that the NHRA's Mello Yello racing series featured on ESPN is pulling in barely a fraction of the ratings that Discovery's Street Outlaws series has been generating.

One thing to keep in mind as well is that in recent years there has been a huge spike in popularity for grudge, no prep, or "run what you brung!" styles of racing which often end up involving racing on the streets as well as racing on a track. 

Is it possible that people are just getting bored with the often predictable styles of racing that the NHRA promotes? People are enjoying the thrill and unpredictable nature that come with grudge/no-prep/street racing. The NHRA does have a market in any of these and thus as their fan base grows the NHRA's shrinks.

 

 

So, as many have raised the question - is it about money? Is the NHRA bitter that they are losing not only money but also the "control" they've had over much of the drag racing community over the years? 

Thom Taylor, over at HotRod.com, wrote about a call they had to Geno Effler, the head of PR for the NHRA, to get some feedback about the whole situation. Geno laughed when asked if it was about the poor ratings of their show vs Street Outlaws and said it just boiled down to the fact they felt that Street Outlaws was reflecting poorly on them and their mission about being against street racing.

It's also important to keep in mind that on Street Outlaws - while the racing action is set up to look like illegal street racing, it is common knowledge even among all the fans that it is staged. The racing itself is very real. However the show receives permits to use the sections of road/highway that is being used for racing. Off camera they do also have tech inspections for vehicles and on-site medical/fire staff in case of emergencies.

So granted there is no actual street racing going on - however the NHRA maintains that the way the show is presented in the end still promotes street racing. It's easy to see their point from that end as when the show is aired it is presented as illegal street racing.

 

Many fans and recipients of the letters believe the NHRA is stepping out of bounds with these actions. Racers have stated that they aren't going to let the NHRA tell them what they can and can't do when they aren't at an NHRA sanctioned track.

Either way it's safe to say that from the reactions of fans and many of the participants in Street Outlaws that the show isn't going anywhere. Many are calling the NHRA's bluff and even if they do follow through and revoke licenses - many have claimed they simply don't care.

 

It's highly unlikely this battle is over yet and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

What is your opinion? Is the NHRA overstepping their boundaries? Has Street Outlaws gone too far in their promotion of street racing? Tell us what you think!

R6 runs and escapes from the police, and still gets busted! Shocking footage!

They say you can't out run the radio - but it seems that this guy did just that!

Though can you talk about bad luck? 

Three police within about a 20 second span at the beginning of the video where the chase begins!

As you can expect, our rider speeds off after he sees the first car pull out after him. He seems to have a hard time putting distance between the cops and himself at first. It's worth mentioning he's on a 99-02 R6 - not the fastest of the 600cc bikes in this day and age. Still plenty of speed to get yourself into trouble with - which is exactly what happened here!

Through he was arguably driving fairly recklessly, it's what got him away from the fuzz. 

But... he still got caught!

Derek Kellett was arrested by the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and charged with five counts of reckless driving.

Where did he go wrong? Well he ignored what we would like to think is common sense!

What did he do right after his escape? He uploaded the chase footage from his helmet mounted GoPro onto his YouTube account.

Now, we aren't taking sides or saying that we're condoning this sort of behavior. However it seems like common sense that you shouldn't upload chase footage right after escaping, under your own YouTube account. 

An anonymous tip to the Sheriff's Office led them to the video and quickly discovering that it was Derek Kellett who recorded and uploaded the footage. Though unconfirmed by an official source - buzz on social media claims he was also bragging about it and self-promoting the video.

He has since been released on bond. Hopefully he learned from this life, or better, common-sense lesson!

Watch the original chase footage below.

Ford Focus replacing the Evo in the US market?

Ford's recent announcement to bring the AWD Ford Focus RS to the US market 

has generating quite a lot of buzz among auto enthusiasts!

Ford has kept a lot of its 4 cylinder performance tech out of the US in the past.

One of the most popular examples would of been the Ford Escort Cosworth RS that to this day maintains a legacy that sits up there with kings such as the early Evos, Rx7s, supras, and others.

Let's talk about what is probably one of the most interesting concept to us enthusiasts: the hunk of metal that is going to be housing all the explosions that power this beast!

Details are not finalized/released on the 2016 RS but we do know it will use the

 same 2.3L ecoboost motor being used in the 2015 Mustang. Using this information we can make some fair guesses at its power output. The 2.3L ecoboost is advertised to put out 310bhp and 320lb-ft of torque in the 2015 Mustang. So it'd be fair to guess that it'll make at least those numbers in the Focus RS which even if left at that would make for one fun packed ride!

This leads to a prime question that many auto enthusiasts have been debating.

Up until the announcement of the revelation that the Evolution will cease production - the Evolution and Subaru's WRX/STi were the head of the 4 cylinder AWD enthusiast market.

With one of the kings of the 4 cylinder and AWD automotive world taking its leave of the market - many are questioning if Ford's AWD Focus will help fill that void at least in the US market. The 2015 Mitsubishi Evolution from the factory is rated at 291 horsepower and 300 ft-lbs of torque with a curb weight around 3500lbs depending on which trim you're looking at.

The current Focus ST comes in at a curb weight around 3200lbs. 

It's safe to say we will see that go up to around the Evolution's weight numbers with the AWD drive-train. This is not to say there could be weight increases or reductions in other areas of the car since there's a lot changing besides just its drive-train. It's probably safe to say though that with the additional power the 2.3L is making that it already has the Evo beat in that regard.

There are many other key factors though that play a part in overall analysis of the quality of cars besides factory stats though - at least to we enthusiasts who modify our cars. Some of these being such things as durability, how easy the vehicle is to work on, the cost and availability of aftermarket, and more. One thing people loved about the Mitsubishi Evolution was how much power it could reliably make on the stock block and turbo with proper supporting mods and tune.

If the Focus RS AWD could nail all these and maybe even do them better - is it possible that it will fill the space in the enthusiast market that the Evolution is leaving behind?

What do you think?