CR Dispatch Article????

[Casper]

Does anyone have a copy of the Dispatch article about columbus racing? I need this for a school project.

[MrMeanGreen]

I do.

[Casper]

sweet

[MrMeanGreen]

It's downstairs in the den by my web PC. Call or PM Tina and make arrangements to get it if you need to borrow it. Someone else on CR just returned it, same reason.

[Dr. Pomade]

I'd like to read that article. Any way of posting it up here?

[Science Abuse]

ditto. Is this the one involving a certain orange crx owner?

[Rotarded1647545491]

Built for speed: Racer’s world is all things cars

Monday, July 28, 2003

Alayna DeMartini

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

 

JAMES D . DECAMP | DISPATCH

Kris Waters’ license plate advertises his passion.

 

In the near-empty parking lot, a car stereo blasts a pulsating bass and young men hover under car hoods, talking horsepower.

 

With a pen flashlight, a guy scans the engine of a 1991 Honda CRX and considers the $5,000 that Kris Waters invested in it so he could race on a quiet stretch of road.

 

Waters doesn’t know how fast the car will go. The speedometer can go to 120 mph. It has been there several times.

 

His license plate reads WNA RCE.

 

‘‘People will pull up on the freeway, rev their exhaust, and they’ll look over," he said. ‘‘They’ll scoot their seat up and put both hands on the wheel."

 

Those are the signs Waters has come to recognize, the signs of someone ready to race.

 

Nearly every day he street-races with someone, but he has never wrecked a car or been arrested during or after a race, he said.

 

To Waters, that’s part of the thrill: not getting caught.

 

It’s not simply luck, he said, but ‘‘survival of the fittest."

 

‘‘All you’ve got to be able to do is outrun the guy because the cop is going after the slowest car."

 

Speeding tickets are another matter. Now 25, he figures he has racked up 40 to 50 tickets, many in other states where he has lived, and $3,000 to $4,000 in fines.

 

More than the adrenaline rush of racing, Waters relishes the challenge of taking a car like a Honda Civic with a standard engine and beefing it up enough to outpace a sports car.

 

‘‘Any toothless redneck with a Jeg’s (High Performance Center) catalog can make a V-8 go faster," he said. ‘‘It takes intelligence to build a four-cylinder engine just as fast or faster."

 

When he loses a race, Waters goes home and tinkers with the car to achieve more speed.

 

He prides himself on what he has done with the CRX he bought for $7,000 in 1996. The car is on its third engine and second transmission. Next is a roll cage.

 

‘‘I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours have been put into that car," he said.

 

He also has a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice, a 1990 Honda Civic and a 1998 Ford Ranger. He says he spends more each month to improve his cars than the $300 he pays to rent a small apartment in Millersport.

 

Sometimes that catches his dates off guard when he invites them in.

 

‘‘They’ll think just because my car is really nice that I live in a really nice house and have a lot of money," he said.

 

His apartment also serves as a garage of sorts. He often rolls out a tarp on the living-room floor, then spreads out the parts of an engine.

 

Sometimes, when a car problem stumps him, he takes inspiration from the tattoos on each of his forearms. Scripted in black, one says ‘‘focus," and the other ‘‘faith." The way Waters sees it, any challenge can be met by applying both.

 

Cars are his world. Owning a car-customizing business and working part time at an autobody shop, Waters spends most of his waking hours working on cars. And several times he has fallen asleep working under them.

 

On weekend nights, he meets other aficionados in empty parking lots to check out cars. Some race from there, but Waters refuses to do that. The crowd draws police attention, he said, and the risk of being arrested is high.

 

These days, Waters mostly races on freeways, on city roads between stoplights and in shopping-center parking lots, mostly in Heath and Lancaster. Although he occasionally comes to Columbus to hang out and check out cars, he doesn’t usually race in a big city where, he pointed out, it’s easy for a police cruiser to hide in heavy traffic.

 

Police concede that it’s tough to nab drag racers.

 

‘‘The only way we’re going to catch them doing it is if we’re seeing them, and they watch for us as much as we watch for them," said Sgt. Steven Mahl of the State Highway Patrol.

 

Waters knows that many would consider him a hazard on the road, but he distinguishes himself from reckless drivers.

 

He’s confident about what his car can and can’t do, so he can drive fast without losing control, he said.

 

But that doesn’t take into account obstructions on the road, other cars along the way and how those drivers might react to his high speed, Columbus Police Lt. Jeffrey Blackwell said.

 

‘‘Take it on a private course that doesn’t have a minivan with kids in the back seat," Blackwell said.

 

Waters wants to do just that. He plans to compete in autocross racing sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America. But first, he’ll have to squirrel away some money and attract a sponsor to help cover his costs.

 

Until then, he said, the highways and streets suit him just fine.

 

 

ademartini@dispatch.com

[Orion]

dammit ben, everytime you post, all i do is store at that girl in your avatar.

 

yeah, that article is funny shizzle.

[Rotarded1647545491]

Ben, Isn't that a pic of 1460's Stat Girl Emily? She used to bartend at the Polaris Texas Roadhouse?

[Science Abuse]

I forgot how gay that article was.

[Dr. Pomade]

Thanks for posting that, Mike.

 

So, I take it, the Waters guy was on CR at the time the article ran?

[Guest Removed]

It doesnt even say anything about CR? WTF

[Jelloman4571647545499]

Thanks for posting that, Mike.

 

So, I take it, the Waters guy was on CR at the time the article ran?

 

he was shortly i thought.

[Jelloman4571647545499]

Waters mostly races on freeways, on city roads between stoplights and in shopping-center parking lots

 

best line in the entire article

[MrMeanGreen]

That's only part of the article. There's another, bigger aticle covering Columbus street racing, and mentions CR specifically to sign up for racing.

 

But some people don't realize that was the start of getting out of the scene around here. Too much hype and publicity.

[Science Abuse]

too many hordes of stupid kids.

[wnaplay1647545503]

2 fast, 2 deadly

 

The race ended at a tree. The front of the blue Geo Tracker crumpled like construction paper. The windshield caved in, a spider web of glass.

 

Some teens had just been goofing around on a country road, Phillip Carter told police. He and the other driver, Timothy Magers, wanted to settle an argument about whose car was faster: the Geo Tracker or the Toyota Celica.

 

The teens never expected the result. Two of Carter’s friends were killed, both passengers in his Tracker.

 

Just six days after that May 2002 crash in Licking County, two youths in Hocking County watched their speedometers reach 100 mph as they raced along a rural road north of Logan. One car spun out of control and hit a tree, killing the driver, 21-year-old Jacob Guay.

 

He and Shawn Overly, 21, had gone about 5 miles when Overly looked in his rearview mirror and saw Guay’s Mazda RX-7 swerving.

 

‘‘At the time, I didn’t think about danger," Overly said.

 

Summer is prime time for young people taking that risk, finding back roads and highways to let off steam.

 

‘‘For someone to go out . . . and race like that over public streets when other people are using the road, it’s not only senseless, it’s criminal," said Michael Hunter, who recently retired as a lieutenant with the State Highway Patrol.

 

Street racing never really went out of style since its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, say participants and police. Movies such as The Fast and the Furious, released in 2001, and this summer’s sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, have added to the attraction.

 

On clear-weather weekend nights, especially during the spring and summer, teens and 20-somethings gather in empty parking lots of stores or strip malls to check out one another’s cars.

 

They hang out, and sometimes a challenge goes out, and all or part of the group sets off to race on a quiet street or stretch of highway. Motors rev and, minutes later, brakes screech.

 

In other cases, people go online to a local racing Web site, such as columbusracing.com, to set up a meeting place. Or two drivers spot one another at a red light or on a freeway. One decides to floor it, the other takes the challenge.

 

Last year, 45 people in Franklin County were charged with drag-racing, a firstdegree misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and 180 days in jail. So far this year, 19 people have been charged, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records.

 

But dragsters often elude police. Even the siren of a chasing cruiser doesn’t always stop the speedsters, who often outrun the officers, said Columbus Police Lt. Jeffrey Blackwell.

 

‘‘They have the cover of darkness in their favor, and obviously they have very fast cars and very little common sense."

 

A quarter-mile race takes a minute or two, and then drivers and spectators disperse.

 

‘‘If I get a call about a drag race 15 miles away, it’s going to take the officer at least 15 minutes or so before he gets there, and the guy could be 15 miles away by that time, or home," Hunter said.

 

Even if an officer happens upon a race or clocks a car or motorcycle going more than 130 mph, the officer seldom can go fast enough to outrun the motorist, Blackwell said.

 

‘‘It’s become like a game to some of these kids. They know the chances of getting caught are very, very slim," he said. ‘‘Our only hope is if they see the lights from the cruiser behind them and stop — and that never happens."

 

In Columbus, racing motorcyclists are more of a problem than car dragsters, Blackwell said. The cyclists, usually in groups, reach speeds of 130 to 150 mph, often on I-270 after midnight, when traffic is light and few officers are assigned to patrol the freeway, he said.

 

From years of experience investigating crashes, Franklin County Deputy Steve Fickenworth understands the attractions of drag-racing: the thrill of competition, the rush of danger.

 

‘‘They’ve got to show off their bravado," he said. ‘‘They’ve got to strut their stuff."

 

The danger isn’t just that the drivers could kill or injure one another and their passengers, but they could crash into another car or a pedestrian.

 

In 1999, Merle and Evelyn Spies were driving near Hart Road and Harmon Avenue on the South Side when their car was struck by a Camaro driven by James Borders. He was drag-racing at the time, according to court testimony later.

 

The crash collapsed Mr. Spies’ lungs and broke a thigh bone and ankle. He died six months later at age 77. His wife recovered from a broken neck, legs and pelvis.

 

Borders, then 22, and the 19-year-old he was racing, Andrew O’Dell, were convicted on two counts each of aggravated vehicular assault and sentenced to 2½ years in prison.

 

A less-serious crash helped sideline Sean Stewart. The 20-year-old said his car-insurance rate went up after he was in a wreck while racing on I-270 in December 2001 and was arrested a few months later for drag-racing at Easton.

 

The Far East Side resident said his 1994 Eagle Talon needs $6,000 in repairs, including a new engine, because of wear and tear and is now in a friend’s garage.

 

In some ways, it’s good he can’t afford to fix his car right now, Stewart said. ‘‘I know if I get it back together I’ll go and play."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if you want to race...

 

 

I found this one

[Total Sign]

Remember walters sold that car to start a business or something in Fl. He had a reserve of 8k and max bid was like 2500.

 

I also remember CR registration being closed for a few weeks...

[Jelloman4571647545499]

Remember walters sold that car to start a business or something in Fl. He had a reserve of 8k and max bid was like 2500.

 

I also remember CR registration being closed for a few weeks...

 

cause it went from 1900 members to 3800 in less than a month. shit was crazy.

[evan9381]

orange CRX in millersport? does it have a goofy ass hood on it? my friend lives out there, i think ive seen it before

[wnaplay1647545503]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/wnaplay/20030728-Pc0070300.jpg

 

 

Is that wna rice

 

or race?

[wnaplay1647545503]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/wnaplay/20030728-Pc0010900.jpg

[byhi]

wow, i remeber that newspaper. I couldn't stop laughing...

 

ps- nice wing^ , does that prevent your back wheels from slipping on you rwd crx?

[BDHG940]

I forgot how gay that article was.

+1, I forgot about the toothless redneck quote

[Jeffrey]

If I remember correctly Walters wasnt even on CR until after the article was run, or atleast wasn't a very active member.