X204 Project

Street racing. It’s been deemed dangerous, unlawful, and irresponsible by nature. For most of you, the only time you may have heard about street racing will probably have been for one of two reasons. The first being that when the news covers a tragic accident usually involving teens or younger people. A few years ago, on Christmas Eve this was the case in Indianapolis when a young man was street racing against a Corvette after a night of thunderstorms and he lost control and went into the oncoming lane killing three. Also in 2016, there was a street racing accident in LA County, California where the driver of a mustang lost control and killed two spectators. This was covered on the news even here locally as the other person in that racing had been on the show Street Outlaws. Which brings up the second place you may have heard of street racing. In the summer of 2013 Discovery channel’s hit tv series “Street Outlaws” debuted. The show was spotlighting the life for Oklahoma city’s 405’s (zip code) street racing activates which has been going on since the late ’70s. The first season of the show displayed the members of the show street racing each other to get to the top of their famous top 10 list. It didn’t take long before the illegal aspects of the show were no longer filmed and the races were moved to a closed permitted road for filming. Some say this show has fueled other to participate in illegal activities that often end with innocent bystanders getting hurt or worse. But I’m going to cover a different aspect of street racing. YouTube channel “Street Race Life” has been doing a podcast to discuss their street race doings and other material dealing with their local racing.

The Street Race Life podcast is exactly what you can imagine from the title. It’s mainly about street racing but not the type you hear on the news and it’s almost what the tv show “Street Outlaws” tried to show. For instance, the first podcast talks about a “Cash Days” style race that was held in upstate New York. The father and son duo talks about their trip and how they did while providing info about the race and its outcome. They also talk about their trip to New Orleans to street race on a road called “Da Pad” which has been given heavy spotlight since the tv show “Street Outlaws New Orleans” due to the fact that is where the show is filmed. The second episode of the podcast takes more of a serious tone as they ask for prayers for a local street racer whose daughter passed away from an illness and they follow up by discussing a controversial New Year’s Day race that took place in Philadelphia where there was a clip that got out on the internet about a race between two high powered vehicles and one of them lost control on the end of the road and was mere inches away from hitting oncoming traffic. They talk about how that race could have ended badly and what was done wrong. Street racing to this caliber has to be a highly organized event. There need to be spotters that are letting the flagger know when traffic is clear and it is safe to race. They also point out examples of people who do it properly and how one accident can have a legal effect on every street racer across the country. The rest of the episodes generally carry the same theme discussing racing but mostly street racing and the events that unfolded.

The primary audience for this podcast would be for those who drag race and also those who street race. It allows them to stay in the know with the ins and outs that don’t get broadcasted across social media. This audience is very much intrigued in the information that the podcasts are relaying be that they may be talking about an upcoming race or they may be reviewing a weekend of racing and discussing any controversy that may be come up.

Street Race Life has branded itself. They have clothes, stickers, and they also sell tire prep (Skinnies Skrecret Sause). I believe this podcast series is another way for them to reach out and attract fans that they don’t already have who will in return buy some merchandise. The tire prep that they sell also is one of their racing sponsors. At the beginning of each podcast, there is a short commercial displaying the product and it mentions a few times on the show and a logo is even on the duos laptop so their sales game is strong!

As for a secondary audience, I believe that is just anyone who is interested in racing. Some of their content is about a race that they will hold and it’s a unique race. They also talk about the changes that they are making to their cars during the winter and it seems that a lot of people are drawn in because of the talk of always chasing horsepower. It also doesn’t help that they appear in many other racing searches such as 1320 Video and the Mexico Racing League.

In conclusion, while the podcast is mainly about street racing it does offer their listeners other content that does not involve illegal activities but I would say that is also what brings in the majority of their followers. An important thing to note is that real street racing is insanely organized. Safety is always the number one goal and even more so for innocent bystanders. These races do not happen on busy city roads or other areas where people are likely to get hurt but they happen in areas such as country roads and industrial complexes. While many will not understand street racing it brings racers together and allows racers to settle their issues with their cars and not other means. Street racing is bigger than you would think. And that is why you very seldom hear any bad news about legit street racing.