Beiber needs a pace car

          Your loyal blogger is not fully sure exactly who Justin Beiber is.

          The first time his name reached the conscious level of Leeway cognition, I thought his name was Justin The Beaver and that he was a cartoon character.

 

         Well, it turns out he is a cartoon kind of guy. Only a daffy beaver would be stupid enough to do what this young man has reportedly done recently. According to published reports, Beiber has been accused of driving while under the influence of both alcohol and pot.

          Your loyal blogger is told this guy Beiber is not old enough to legally purchase alcohol. And, if he consumed pot, which is an illegal substance in most places, that’s another activity at variance with the law.

          Leave it to Beiber to make things worse. He wasn’t just trying to sneak home in his car so he could sleep off a night of stupidity. No, he reportedly zipped his car around the streets of Dade County, in Florida, at high speeds.

          The headlines of the published reports generally say Beiber is accused of drag racing and here we have a point to make: Drag racing is done on a race track. There is a starting line, a finish line and a set of safety rules.

          The National Hot Rod Association, the world’s largest sanctioning body for drag

racing, has worked for decades to make the sport a thrilling variety of family entertainment. You want fancy cars, lots of noise and high speeds? Head for your local NHRA track and have yourself a look.

          Wanna drive fast? There are plenty of run-what-you-brung drag racing meets at actual race tracks all year long around the country. It does not cost a great deal of money to get involved with the sport at that level and it is legal to do so.

          Street racing is not drag racing. Street racing is terribly dangerous and not only for the participants. Everyone in the area is in danger when there is street racing. The roads themselves are not designed for that type of use and can pitch a speeding car out of control. Anyone in the neighborhood can become an innocent victim. Public property, private property, pets and wildlife are all in serious trouble when threatened by street racing.

          Now, cards on the table, your loyal blogger loves cars. Show cars, hot rods, race cars and even high-performance grocery getters are fun to look at and listen to. They are fun to drive.

          Two pals of mine let me race their stock cars years ago, once on a dirt track and once on a paved track. Another buddy used to let me drive his racecar to the scales for the pre-race technical inspection. Cars are cool, racing is really cool and drag racing is especially cool.

          Street racing is not drag racing. It isn’t cool. It’s really just dumb.

          Thanks for reading.