A child celebrity grows up and rebels into a hard-partying, wild mess just a few stumbles away from court-ordered rehab?  Its seems its the current tried-and-true formula for the current day child entertainment star.

Justin Bieber Street Racing Arrest

Justin Bieber’s latest shenanigans have roped my favorite sport, NHRA Drag Racing into the mix with his arrest in Miami Beach on January 23rd that the media has once again referred to as “Drag Racing”.

First of all, let me get on my soap box for a minute.   He was doing 60 in a 35.   I’d hardly call that break-neck racing speeds.   Illegal though it may be, a vast majority of soccer mom’s have done just that or worse running late to soccer practice, maybe after a mimosa or two.   He’s an idiot to be driving drunk.  And he’s an idiot for speeding in a residential area, but is this really worth a week full of headlines about *gasp* drag racing on a public street?   There are so many better things we could be talking about like,  I dunno, more important topics of healthcare and the economy?  <end soapbox>

Like every other illegal street racing activity that results in trouble, the media loves to title every headline with the term DRAG RACING as this dark, evil act of complete mayhem.    The problem is, what Justin and all of these other people were doing isn’t Drag Racing, its street racing.   This isn’t a new problem either.  Same thing happened when Nick Hogan (Bollea) was responsible for severely and permanently disabling his passenger during an illegal race in Pinellas, FL  back in 2007.

Besides the fact that the term is used incorrectly, by continuing to allow its use, people are associating drag racing with criminal activities instead of the sport NHRA has cultivated.    To the point that when you tell the average person that you are a drag racer, they respond with “Isn’t that illegal?”   That kind of reputation will pretty much kill any hope of corporate sponsorships wanting to get involved.

Why then, if you are NHRA, would you allow your image and your brand to be continually attacked and tarnished in this manner, instead of using it as the perfect opportunity to educate the mass media and become guardian of the sport and its roots as the safe alternative to illegal activities.

Competition Plus, posted a similar editorial on the issue, but also received a response from Graham Light of NHRA.   (Graham Light addresses NHRA’s actions after Bieber arrest- Competition Plus).   Basically, after a canned letter to the Miami and AP media outlets asking that they refer to the incident correctly as an illegal street race instead of a drag racing event, they were essentially told that “drag racing” was the terms used specifically in the police report, and that it was reported as such.    Graham goes on to tell Comp Plus that  “It is another challenge and a bigger challenge to try and communicate with all law enforcement agencies around the country. It’s an on-going process.”    So, does the effort stop there?

A two-minute Google search turns up all of the Florida Statues in relation or infractions that citizens can be charged with.  The one I could come up with was FS 316.191 RACING ON HIGHWAYS.    I was very quick to judge that the term “street race” would be a closer identifier than “drag race” in the illegal context, so naturally, the keyboard jockey in me wanted to say that it would be fairly easy to ask Miami to use racing on highways as the media reference instead of drag racing.

Except that when I actually read the full statue http://archive.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.191.html, it DOES indeed call it Drag Racing.   There is lengthy talk about a race, whether premeditated or spontaneous, and the spectators and participants.   The very bottom of the statue states in what is the equivalent to the fine print, that it doesn’t apply to  licensed or duly authorized racetracks, drag strips, or other designated areas set aside by proper authorities for such purposes.

“Drag race” means the operation of two or more motor vehicles from a point side by side at accelerating speeds in a competitive attempt to outdistance each other, or the operation of one or more motor vehicles over a common selected course, from the same point to the same point, for the purpose of comparing the relative speeds or power of acceleration of such motor vehicle or motor vehicles within a certain distance or time limit.    FS 316.191

So it is us racers who are wrong.   It IS called Drag Racing as a legal definition.   So what can we do to protect the sport from the black eye that is illegal street racing?

NHRA needs to really push the community service angle here.   Yes, a drag racing event illegally was held on the street.   So NHRA can respond accordingly:

Okay major media covering Justin Bieber Street Racing, here’s the nearest facility in YOURTOWN, USA.   They offer open time trials or “street” style racing on X, Y, Z days.     These are the safety precautions that make legal racing safer, etc.   B.R.A.K.E.S. is a program that was designed to teach and educate youth about this.      LEGITIMIZE the sport to the media.   SHOW them that NHRA cares and is fighting the good fight to make sure that we have a safe and legitimate sport.   Its your brand, you have to control the image.

There is no such thing as bad press…. if you can spin the coverage to your favor.    The best example I could come up with is UFC Fighting.   Fighting in the ring as a sport?  Legal.   Fighting in the street?   Criminal Battery/Violence.

What other ideas could help put the sport NHRA Drag Racing in the spotlight for the RIGHT reasons?