The operation launched late Sunday around midnight, but really, 2 hours into Monday morning, near West Imperial Highway and Broadway when sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers swooped into the area and trapped about 250 to 300 cars that had arrived for illegal street races, the Sheriff’s Department said.
Authorities had been monitoring smaller local races from a helicopter and saw the vehicles converge on the area about 12:30 a.m. Monday, but the operation had been planned for about a week, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies arrested 44 people for warrants or drug-related crimes
cited 209 others for driving without a valid license,
and towed 54 vehicles.
The only legal dragstrip (until it becomes a shopping center next year) in Orange and Los Angeles Counties is Irwindale. The next closest is Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. What we need right now is a new Mickey Thompson carving a dragstrip out of the hundreds of empty warehouse districts near Long Beach, just like Lions Dragstrip in 1955 -1972... but that was closed through a poltical boondoggle to root out the dragstrip so the real estate could be profitted from.
The abandoned track location sat fallow for over 10 years until it was eventually developed into the mega container facility by the L.A. Harbor Commission. The surrounding area still remains largely industrial to this very day with much the same residential borders that were present in the early 1970's
Lions was the dragstrip used in the corny "get the kids to stop street racing" episode of Adam 12 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/02/who-won-get-kids-to-stop-drag-racing-on.html
43 years later - street racing is still the only way to enjoy drag racing cars, BECAUSE corrupt politicians and universal greedy developers have connived to kill every dragstip in Southern California. Not a single governor has seen the wisdom in setting a dragstrip park as an off limits to developers piece of land, for drag racing in perpetuity, and operating it as a state park. California Drag Racing memorial park. Where else is drag racing's roots and evolution as fixed?
The perfect location? Orange County Great Park, formerly El Toro Marine Corps base. Doug Herbert has a safe driving course for teens there, and it's an enormous paved and flat area that doesn't need much for a dragstip. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-variety-of-cars-at-2013-run-to-cost.html
Unfortunately, the ballsy bastards that once let it all hang out are senior citizens, or dead (Mickey was murdered by a greedy business associate, Big Willie died of age and infection in 2012) and though some are rich, not rich enough to pull off creating a 1/4 mile, or even 1/8th mile drag strip in So Cal.
Not even the tribes that are getting casino profits are willing to create a 1/4 mile epic dragstrip on the res, and out of the reach of US lawmakers. The only dragstrips on a res that I know of are Barona 1/8th mile. 30 miles East of San Diego. http://www.baronadrags.com/ and the sand drags at the Soboda res, in Hemet 85 Miles North East of San Diego http://www.socalsanddrags.com/
Beeline Dragway was on a res... http://www.ghosttownaz.info/beeline-dragway.php and was a famous dragstrip in Arizona from 1963 to 1980's... but nothing remains but the graffiti and timing tower
this is just one week after this article: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Police-Seek-Regional-Alliance-to-Combat-Street-Racing-Scourge-299294281.html
"Amid a resurgence of deadly street racing crashes, and the looming closure of a sanctioned dragstrip that has provided a safer alternative to street racing, the Los Angeles Police Department is spearheading an effort to create a "regional alliance to combat these deadly events."
Or they were just bullshitting the news people and getting the plan together for this sting.
Did you know they made it a law that you will be arrested for being a spectator?
So much for "The United States Constitution explicitly provides for 'the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances'" in the 1st Ammendment.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_assembly
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution
prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion,
impeding the free exercise of religion,
abridging the freedom of speech,
infringing on the freedom of the press,
interfering with the right to peaceably assemble
or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-south-los-angeles-street-racing-20150420-story.html
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/South-Los-Angeles-LA-Street-Race-Racing-Sting-Arrests-300643601.html
http://ktla.com/2015/04/20/at-least-12-arrested-dozens-of-cars-towed-in-south-l-a-street-racing-sting-operation-lasd/
For the facebook page of the International Brotherhood of Street Racers https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brotherhood-of-Street-Racers-International/186827491333109
Authorities had been monitoring smaller local races from a helicopter and saw the vehicles converge on the area about 12:30 a.m. Monday, but the operation had been planned for about a week, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies arrested 44 people for warrants or drug-related crimes
cited 209 others for driving without a valid license,
and towed 54 vehicles.
The only legal dragstrip (until it becomes a shopping center next year) in Orange and Los Angeles Counties is Irwindale. The next closest is Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. What we need right now is a new Mickey Thompson carving a dragstrip out of the hundreds of empty warehouse districts near Long Beach, just like Lions Dragstrip in 1955 -1972... but that was closed through a poltical boondoggle to root out the dragstrip so the real estate could be profitted from.
The abandoned track location sat fallow for over 10 years until it was eventually developed into the mega container facility by the L.A. Harbor Commission. The surrounding area still remains largely industrial to this very day with much the same residential borders that were present in the early 1970's
Lions was the dragstrip used in the corny "get the kids to stop street racing" episode of Adam 12 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/02/who-won-get-kids-to-stop-drag-racing-on.html
43 years later - street racing is still the only way to enjoy drag racing cars, BECAUSE corrupt politicians and universal greedy developers have connived to kill every dragstip in Southern California. Not a single governor has seen the wisdom in setting a dragstrip park as an off limits to developers piece of land, for drag racing in perpetuity, and operating it as a state park. California Drag Racing memorial park. Where else is drag racing's roots and evolution as fixed?
The perfect location? Orange County Great Park, formerly El Toro Marine Corps base. Doug Herbert has a safe driving course for teens there, and it's an enormous paved and flat area that doesn't need much for a dragstip. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-variety-of-cars-at-2013-run-to-cost.html
Unfortunately, the ballsy bastards that once let it all hang out are senior citizens, or dead (Mickey was murdered by a greedy business associate, Big Willie died of age and infection in 2012) and though some are rich, not rich enough to pull off creating a 1/4 mile, or even 1/8th mile drag strip in So Cal.
Not even the tribes that are getting casino profits are willing to create a 1/4 mile epic dragstrip on the res, and out of the reach of US lawmakers. The only dragstrips on a res that I know of are Barona 1/8th mile. 30 miles East of San Diego. http://www.baronadrags.com/ and the sand drags at the Soboda res, in Hemet 85 Miles North East of San Diego http://www.socalsanddrags.com/
Beeline Dragway was on a res... http://www.ghosttownaz.info/beeline-dragway.php and was a famous dragstrip in Arizona from 1963 to 1980's... but nothing remains but the graffiti and timing tower
this is just one week after this article: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Police-Seek-Regional-Alliance-to-Combat-Street-Racing-Scourge-299294281.html
"Amid a resurgence of deadly street racing crashes, and the looming closure of a sanctioned dragstrip that has provided a safer alternative to street racing, the Los Angeles Police Department is spearheading an effort to create a "regional alliance to combat these deadly events."
Or they were just bullshitting the news people and getting the plan together for this sting.
Did you know they made it a law that you will be arrested for being a spectator?
So much for "The United States Constitution explicitly provides for 'the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances'" in the 1st Ammendment.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_assembly
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution
prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion,
impeding the free exercise of religion,
abridging the freedom of speech,
infringing on the freedom of the press,
interfering with the right to peaceably assemble
or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-south-los-angeles-street-racing-20150420-story.html
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/South-Los-Angeles-LA-Street-Race-Racing-Sting-Arrests-300643601.html
http://ktla.com/2015/04/20/at-least-12-arrested-dozens-of-cars-towed-in-south-l-a-street-racing-sting-operation-lasd/
For the facebook page of the International Brotherhood of Street Racers https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brotherhood-of-Street-Racers-International/186827491333109
The NHRA has the funds and the political prowess to do something in SocAL, WHY THEY DON'T DO IT IS BEYOND ME. I worked with Willy in the 80's to get something in the Valley for racers have a place with lots of backing. We had a place and the support of Long Beach Grand Prix for barriers and assistance with insurances at the end of Sepulveda blvd at Rinaldi where we had been racing for years. It was a big developer then that was leasing property adjacent to the street who put a stop to it then as well. Why there is a universal hate of drag racing in the birth place of it is beyond me and it seems like anyone with a drag car in their garage is destined to let it rot or change the car to another type of vehicle or just part it out. It's madness and has ruined a lot of enthusiasts lives.
ReplyDeleteDitto me too. Long Beach is a pretty good place... that shipping center is a decent location for racing on the paved roads, if they could get the damn port authority to back it. But NO one is willing to run an operation where driving could result in the driver wrecking, is my opinion. NHRA has zero to do with racing. It's all about millionaires toyboxes and ESPN coverage. The NMCA was running drags at Fontana a month ago, I covered it. NHRA? Not there in any way I could see. I doubt the NHRA has any desire to get into making a dragstrip, all the people that ever had balls in the NHRA (organizationally) are dead. Wally Parks had the balls to get it done, and no one since has wanted anything but to ride the gravy train, get old, fat, and rich, from his organization. Might as well call it the Roman Empire. It rose, and fell. In a nutshell, no profit in it, no NHRA involvement
DeleteRiddle me this... why aren't the Pedregons, Garlits, Ivo, Bernstein, Force, etc getting together, making an organization, and building a dragstrip. They know all the world about drag racing. If they aren't interested, it's for a good reason like it's impossible, or that its for too expensive. Hell, if there was any money to be made at it, investors would be on it like ants at a picnic
Delete