Famoso Nights: Legal Street Racing in the Heart of California
When it comes to drag racing spots on the West Coast, Auto Club Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield is a sacred place. Not only is it the site of historic events like the March Meet and California Hot Rod Reunion, Famoso has also stood the test of time — continuing to thrive long after most of Southern California's other drag strips have vanished.
But last Saturday it wasn't Funny Cars or vintage nitro machines that were running deep into night — it was street cars, hundreds of them to be exact. Welcome to Street Tuner night.
Rather than full purpose-built race cars, Street Tuner night is all about cars wearing license plates, with domestics, imports and even motorcycles welcome to do battle down Famoso's 1,320 feet of sticky pavement.
The track has been hosting monthly Street Tuner events for a while now — but in the summer months, when temperatures in Bakersfield regularly top 100 degrees, the events are held at night, with racing beginning at 8pm and going until 2am.
Even on an abnormally hot Saturday night where the temperature hung around 90 degrees well after sundown, the pits and staging lanes were still packed with racers — and at 11pm they were still lining up at the gate to get in.
Rather than being a "real" race competition, the Street Tuner series is about as close as you can get to sanctioned, legal street racing. Some drivers simply came out to see what their cars could do, while others came to settle a grudge match.
And at just $40 to enter your car and race all night, nobody can use the excuse of legal racing being too expensive. That's less than the price of a dinner for two at most decent restaurants, and your date might end up having more fun at the drag strip.
Racers could choose to have their ETs displayed on the timing boards, or they could elect to simply have a light go on to show which car got to the quarter mile mark first.
This secrecy was necessary because some of the racers who came out had money on the line — just like at the the street races where there are no timeslips to be found.
In terms of the vehicles themselves, there was everything from showroom stock daily drivers to serious street machines packing big power adders, and a couple of thinly disguised drag machines that were just streetable enough to have license plates and registration.
Despite the scorching weather, spectators also came out in big numbers. And with so many different types of cars taking to the track there was something for everyone.
Whether it was front-drive Hondas or over-boosted Evos and WRXs, imports were well represented.
There were also vintage American muscle cars — like this Oldsmobile 442 which was putting down ETs in the 11.4 second range despite the less than ideal temperature.
Other racers went with more of a homebuilt approach, like this Mazda RE Pickup which was forced to retire early in the night due to mechanical trouble.
The largest numbered group though were the late model American machines. The LS-powered Camaros and Corvettes, Coyote-powered Mustangs and plenty of modern Mopars. Some were sporting light bolt-ons, while others, like this Charger, were quite serious in their approach.
There were several pickup trucks getting in on the action as well, with powerplants of both the gasoline and diesel variety.
One of the most crowd-pleasing vehicles was this boosted Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 from MPR Motorsports. There's just something about seeing a boxy SUV screaming down the quarter mile at speeds that would put most sports cars to shame.
It's impossible to overstate the consequences of illegal street racing for both drivers and spectators, and that's why it's great to see tracks like Famoso stepping up and hosting a monthly event like this.
Based simply on the number of cars in the staging lanes and the number of spectators sitting in the grandstands, it's safe to say that these Street Tuner events have been quite successful for Auto Club Famoso Raceway. They even broadcast the racing live online for those who can't make it out.
For a responsible car enthusiast and speed junkie, it's impossible not to approve of and enjoy this legal, safe and affordable way for racers to put their machines and driving skills to the text.
