I was driving down South Council on Saturday night around 11:45pm and encountered a large group of drag racers occupying that intersection and racing north up Council. I would say there about 30 cars parked on the side of the road, in the cemetery and in the grass. Cars were lined up and sent on their way like something out of 'Two Lane Blacktop'. Kids, mostly.

Is this a regular thing on that street? Looked like quite a group of hot shots.

There is a huge underground network of illegal street racers in OKC.

Every weekend there are usually several races going on. Once the police bust one, they all fragment out and form smaller races in other parts of town.

A few months ago, a friend of mine who is more connected to the vices of OKC invited me out and we went out on a cruise and attended some races. It was pretty fun.

The cruise is set up to distract the cops with all the shiny cars driving the speed limit and stopping at Sonic for a slushee, while the serious racers go hard in the paint elsewhere. Once the cops came and broke up the cruise, everyone split up. About 30 minutes later, the word gets out on where the smaller races are and everyone slowly migrates to those. It's funny how bad the police are, we were at one race for almost an hour before the police even discovered it. And what..150 cars versus 3 squad cars -- all they are doing is moving the problem around....they aren't going to be able arrest everyone.

I remember not so far back in the day when you could do this on 39th street and Air Depot.

I the late 60's early 70's , 39th was the place.. It even made 60 minutes. I'm just wondering though, with the condition that the streets were in last night, how were they able to pull off street racing?.

I remember not so far back in the day when you could do this on 39th street and Air Depot.


I the late 60's early 70's , 39th was the place.. It even made 60 minutes. I'm just wondering though, with the condition that the streets were in last night, how were they able to pull off street racing?.

Is that why they have signs on 39th forbidding U-turns during the overnight hours on weekends?

Is that why they have signs on 39th forbidding U-turns during the overnight hours on weekends?

The U turn signs came along in the late 70's to discourage the cruisers and keep traffic flowing.

Dave Cook, I'm sorry I misread your original post. For some reason I was thinking last night, not Saturday.

The U turn signs came along in the late 70's to discourage the cruisers and keep traffic flowing.

Dave Cook, I'm sorry I misread your original post. For some reason I was thinking last night, not Saturday.

The signs might have been put up in the late 70s but I can recall cruising there in the early-mid 80s. There was no destructive behavior that I can recall for the most part it was basically kids just having a good time. Shame it has been pretty much outlawed, the poor kids today are missing out on a lot.

Some of us still go out to 39th. On nice spring and summer nights, there are some really nice cars out. Only the morons try to race on 39th though. They get caught constantly. Low hangin' fruit for the police.

And the street racing scene here is pretty nuts for a city of this size. The Street Outlaw guys aren't even the craziest.

Some of us still go out to 39th. On nice spring and summer nights, there are some really nice cars out. Only the morons try to race on 39th though. They get caught constantly. Low hangin' fruit for the police.

And the street racing scene here is pretty nuts for a city of this size. The Street Outlaw guys aren't even the craziest.tell me about it

And the street racing scene here is pretty nuts for a city of this size. The Street Outlaw guys aren't even the craziest.

Seconded.

Before I left OKC, I learned that one of my co-worker's in-laws in very much into the "scene" here. While he stated that the actual action shots of the show are clearly staged, they are based on what really happens and, according to him, fairly tame in their portrayal.

This has been discussed here previously and is appropriately in the entertainment area instead of sports.

http://www.okctalk.com/arts-entertainment/34205-street-outlaws.html

The signs might have been put up in the late 70s but I can recall cruising there in the early-mid 80s. There was no destructive behavior that I can recall for the most part it was basically kids just having a good time. Shame it has been pretty much outlawed, the poor kids today are missing out on a lot.

In the earlier days, a couple cars would pull out and block traffic at Meridian, and the two competitors would then pull out and then nail it west towards Ann Arbor. Or they would do the same thing going east bound from around Ann Arbor towards Meridian, or from Meridian towards Tulsa and back to Meridian. There was a gas station on the southwest corner of Tulsa & 39th, where that car lot is now, that sold racing fuel, and the owners themselves had race cars. This was back when Putman City and NW Classen were huge rivals and guys would come from the southside, Moore and MidDel area to race.

The signs never stopped the cruising, they were ment to control it. The U turn points were places of congestion all along the roadway. There were a lot of complaints from the business along 39th who's parking lots were getting jammed with people sitting in/on their cars in their parking lots and not patronizing their establishments, and at the same time, blocking the way for those that wanted to come in a do business, and also because of the trash that was left behind every night. And yes, there was destructive behavior, fights and vandalisim. As young kids, we didn't see this, but it was a major problem for the businesses..

The U turn signs came along in the late 70's to discourage the cruisers and keep traffic flowing.

Dave Cook, I'm sorry I misread your original post. For some reason I was thinking last night, not Saturday.

There were no signs along 39th in the early to mid 80's because that's when I worked fast food restaurants in my teens on that street and we'd cruise every weekend. The signs popped up in the late 80's to put a stop to the cruising because it was getting out of hand.

Back in high school I attended but never participated in several races on sarah road and reno from I-44 to portland

There were no signs along 39th in the early to mid 80's because that's when I worked fast food restaurants in my teens on that street and we'd cruise every weekend. The signs popped up in the late 80's to put a stop to the cruising because it was getting out of hand.

Sorry brother, but they were there before the 80's . I grew up in Warr Acres less than a mile from there and remember approximately when they went up.... Late 70's. Around '79-'80 I got a ticket by OKCPD for "cutting through a service drive to avoid a u turn" at Westsridge and 39th, as was fashionable to do after the signs went up. There used to be a gas station on the northwest corner of that intersection, just east of McDonalds, and the cops would sit there and bust the u turn violators. When people started just making a left hand turn there and pulling through the old gas station, they started busting for that too. I was one of them. I still have that ticket somewhere.

Back in high school I attended but never participated in several races on sarah road and reno from I-44 to portland

We used to go out on Wilshire west of Council from time to time, or on south Portland east of the airport.

I'm not sure about the signs, but I can vouch for the fact that enforcement on NW 39th was nearly nonexistent in the mid-late eighties and then there was a dramatically stepped-up effort by law enforcement - covered widely in the news at the time - that all but killed the tradition.

There is a lot scene here, as many have said before.

I used to drive from NW Oklahoma to attend on Saturday nights after I got off from work. Stay until 4 or 5 in the morning.

I've raced on Reno and Meridian, mostly watched though. I didn't like to run when there were a lot of people because I was afraid of getting caught. We went out to Council quite a bit and also near the Xerox plant.

I can confirm getting a ticket on 39th in 79 for making an illegal U-Turn. I think it may have been Ann Arbor. Driving a souped up 65 Mustang Red with 351 3/4 racing cam. I can not remember if there was a sign there or not but there must have been if they gave me a ticket. I am thinking that they might have just been installed.

Seconded.

Before I left OKC, I learned that one of my co-worker's in-laws in very much into the "scene" here. While he stated that the actual action shots of the show are clearly staged, they are based on what really happens and, according to him, fairly tame in their portrayal.

I'm not talking about those guys. There are other groups, that aren't on TV, that make them seem fairly tame, if you can believe that.

I can confirm getting a ticket on 39th in 79 for making an illegal U-Turn. I think it may have been Ann Arbor. Driving a souped up 65 Mustang Red with 351 3/4 racing cam. I can not remember if there was a sign there or not but there must have been if they gave me a ticket. I am thinking that they might have just been installed.

I worked at Roy Rogers and Monterey House (on 39th) around 84-86 right there by 39th and Ann Arbor, it was a huge cruising spot then and I myself cruised that section. It was right after I got my license that they shut it down with the no u-turn signs. Maybe they were up in 79 and then taken down. No idea. But they weren't up when I was working and hanging out in the area.

I'm not talking about those guys. There are other groups, that aren't on TV, that make them seem fairly tame, if you can believe that.

we ran into a group of these folks about 15 years ago in a certain area and this was going on. It was pretty intense and these cars they were racing were ridiculously fast.

The racing out along the Memorial area say from Council back toward Rockwell (or vice versa) is unbelieveable on the weekends. You can hear the cars revving from a mile away. Not sure of the exact location but every once in a while you can see the cars grouping up and driving up and down around Memorial which is one way each way our there prepping to race or matching up or something. It's been going on for a number of years late on Friday or Saturday nights.

The racing out along the Memorial area say from Council back toward Rockwell (or vice versa) is unbelieveable on the weekends. You can hear the cars revving from a mile away. Not sure of the exact location but every once in a while you can see the cars grouping up and driving up and down around Memorial which is one way each way our there prepping to race or matching up or something. It's been going on for a number of years late on Friday or Saturday nights.

that seems like an obvious stretch of road, surprised they don't get busted. The area i was talking about was a bit more remote.

There are tons of great areas for this. The southside has hidden gems all over. I don't want to name anything on here to ruin it for people, but there are some pretty good stretches around the metro.

In the summertime you can hear those monster engines echoing around Mustang every now and then.

In the summertime you can hear those monster engines echoing around Mustang every now and then.Wow. I'd never speed in Mustang after what happened. One of my friends dad's used to live in Mustang and he had a Lotus. So one night, he was out of town and he called me and I went out there with a friend. He knew I love driving fast, so he let me drive the car and I gunned it. Afterwards, he made me get out and I guess I inspired him because he went fast. Not as fast as me, but he got busted for doing 117 in a 35. The police officer went nuts jumping and down screaming I hate you over and over. He said multiple times we're all lucky he doesn't throw every one of us in jail. Granted, this was awhile ago, but I still will never speed through Mustang. Way too many cops out there. I'm surprised people do that there. I've been near there and played around a bit,

More out west and north of Mustang. I've lived here since 1980 and wouldn't speed. It's a source of revenue for Mustang. HiPo's also and Canadian Sheriffs then add OKPD outside our little bubble.

The racing out along the Memorial area say from Council back toward Rockwell (or vice versa) is unbelieveable on the weekends. You can hear the cars revving from a mile away. Not sure of the exact location but every once in a while you can see the cars grouping up and driving up and down around Memorial which is one way each way our there prepping to race or matching up or something. It's been going on for a number of years late on Friday or Saturday nights.

Only the retards race on 39th or Memorial. The smart(er) ones usually meet up in a couple of spots to set it up, then they head out to [REDACTED] to do the actual racing.

Only the retards race on 39th or Memorial. The smart(er) ones usually meet up in a couple of spots to set it up, then they head out to [REDACTED] to do the actual racing.Saw a couple of ricers racing on NW Expressway the other night and they apparently were running up and down that bitch because when I finished eating an a hour after I saw them, sure enough, there were 4 cops that had pulled over those exact two cars right by Hefner Parkway.

A lot out tonight NW OKC. Probably 10 cars headed up Council north of NW 122nd toward Memorial. Not racing but running along there around 60-70 MPH. Warm up i guess:mad: