Fast, furious street racers a danger in Fresno. City should create new place for thrills

This was to be the fall that Allison Chang started college. A year ago, she was a senior at Sanger High School and was an editor on the campus newspaper. She wanted to become a dental hygienist.

But over Christmas break last December a young man racing his Mustang at 100 mph crashed into a small truck carrying 17-year-old Allison, her 21-year-old cousin Linda Chang, and Christopher Vang, a 27-year-old friend. The collision, at Palm and Bullard avenues, killed the three along with the 18-year-old speeding driver.

It was a tragic example of the dangers posed by street racers who use Fresno roadways for thrill seeking. Just before the crash, the Mustang driver had been racing a Chevrolet Camaro.

“She (Allison) was just driving the day after Christmas and was killed,” said Mike Karbassi, the City Council member representing the area where the crash occurred. “Her funeral has not left my mind.”

Fresno is not alone in having street racing and “sideshows,” those seemingly spontaneous events where souped-up cars of mostly young people take over an intersection so drivers can do doughnut circles on the pavement with tires screeching and smoke belching from burned rubber.

The “Fast and the Furious” movie franchise has made such motorized behaviors cool, and more pervasive. Sideshows are a particular problem in the Bay Area, but the illegal activity has spread across the nation.

In Fresno, the primary method of dealing with illegal street racing has been to assign more police officers to key roadways on the weekends to catch speeders in the act. Such enforcement does get results: Police Chief Paco Balderrama says his officers have impounded 268 vehicles so far this year and issued more than 200 citations.

But Balderrama does not have enough motorcycle officers to keep a steady lid on street racing. The motor unit staffing, at 40 officers, is about half of what it was 20 years ago. Earlier this year, when gun violence became a bigger problem, officers had to be redeployed to help quell that activity.

Adding officers to the Police Department is a regular quest when the City Council takes up the annual budget. It is not easily done, given that the PD already takes more than half of the general fund and there are other competing demands.

A new idea has emerged that is worth a serious look.

Legalized racing

Mayor Jerry Dyer, along with council members Karbassi and Luis Chavez plus top city administrators, have been researching the possibility of the city creating a motor sports complex consisting of a drag strip and race track.

A consultant is helping the early planning, and Dyer said the city is about ready to do an environmental study to determine if the concept is feasible.

The complex would be located on 120 acres of city land at West Central and South Hayes avenues, in the far reaches of southwest Fresno near the PD’s regional training center. Dyer said the closest home is more than a half mile away.

“The long-term issue is about getting young adults off the streets” and offering them a safer place to pursue their racing ambitions, Dyer explained.

“We know there is a huge demand for it, and we need to meet that demand.”

A projected cost has yet to be determined, but the city may be able to use private funding for some of the expenses. “I have met with folks in the racing community who are interested in contributing,” Dyer said.

If the motor sports complex comes about, Fresno will be the only city in the Valley to have such a facility, the mayor added.

Limit impacts

Much work remains to be done to make the motor sports complex a reality. A key factor will be ensuring that the quality of life in southwest Fresno is not adversely impacted; that part of the city already suffers from heavy pollution, health problems and lack of retail services that the rest of Fresno takes for granted.

Assuming minimal impacts can be achieved and the city can afford to operate a motor sports complex, such a facility would likely improve street safety in Fresno by diverting drivers who want to race on weekend nights. For that reason, the City Council should give it due consideration.

This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.