Street racing proposal merits consideration

A local group of racers want to bring organized street racing to Campbell County next summer, and it’s an intriguing prospect.

It can’t hurt to take a look at this. And that was the feeling Campbell County Commissioners had this week, when they directed the group, 307 Outlaw Streets LLC, and county staff to work out some of the details, such as insurance policy.

It has to be structured, it has to be safe and it has to be not that much of a nuisance to the surrounding landowners, and the group ensured commissioners that all three of these elements will be satisfied.

The road isn’t heavily used right now. It’s straight and in pretty good shape, based on the times I’ve run out there on those wide shoulders. When I went out to that section of road Thursday afternoon, I could see burnout marks all over the asphalt, so it’s clearly being used for racing already, albeit in a non-sanctioned manner.

I’ve never been to a drag race, or any motorsport event, for that matter, unless you count the one time I went out to the Powder Basin Motocross track this fall.

The concept of street races intrigues me. An eighth of a mile is not very long. In fact, it’s quite short. To put it into perspective, that’s one lap around the indoor track in the Rec Center’s field house.

But people are willing to drive hundreds of miles to compete in these short races. If they want to come to Campbell County and spend their money here, it merits consideration.

The noise concerns are warranted. There are some homes not that far away from where the group is proposing to hold these races. The group has said it wants to work with the surrounding landowners, and we hope this is true. Sure, for a few times in the summer, it will be somewhat of an inconvenience.

But perhaps having an organized outlet for men and women, young and old, to speed down the road will cut down on the late night street races that are already going on in that area.

The whole reason that part of road is now Old Highway 59, or Little Powder River Road, is that years ago, it was moved north about 4 miles to make room for 120 million tons of coal to be mined. I’m sure that when the decision was made, no one was thinking that a decade later someone would be eyeing that piece of road for an organized street race.

At some point in the next few months, the group will be back before the commissioners for a final decision. We’ll be watching with great interest to see what happens.