While the entirety of the organized and legal racing world was on lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic this spring, street racing unsurprisingly soldiered on in its place…just another weekend for some, and an outlet for racers in the absence of closed courses for others. To say ‘Mexico’ was a busy place — perhaps a bit busier than normal even — would be understatement, and one of the big-money races that went down featured a whole plethora of big-tire cars and pickups racing at a cash-days event in early April.
Controversial as street racing is and always will be, one certainly can’t deny the patience, the versatility, the tuning and driving prowess needed to be successful and keep oneself alive in this underground scene. On this particular night — a visibly chilly night, at that — the racers who made it to the late rounds were forced to pack up their stuff and move to three different roads in a span of one night after visits by law enforcement officers. And these are no pancake-flat roads like a track out here — the first spot had a natural arch in the middle large enough for the cars to nearly and briefly disappear out of view. Between the mental demands of staying up and on your toes all through the night and into the next morning, the nerves of imminent visits by the police, tuning the car for each individual road without so much as a test hit, and trying to navigate the road and turn on the win-light…err flashlight….and it’s easy to see why many consider this drag racing in its rawest, most hardcore form. Even if it’s not exactly on the up and up.
Kudos, of course, to the gang at 1320Video, who likewise pulled an all-nighter moving from spot to spot to capture this real-deal racing.
This race was particularly notable for a couple of gnarly machines that showed up: a stock-block, twin-turbo, Ford Coyote-powered Galaxie, and a twin-turbo, LSX-powered Chrysler Conquest. In the end, those guys made a nice showing, but neither won the cash. Who did? Well, we won’t ruin it, but the finale, held well after sunrise, was worth the wait.