NY Times called it a "drag race"...but it makes no difference 7 people died last night and more were injured.
Yup we've all done some stupid things behind the wheel, I'm sure. When I was in HS in the mid 60's we'd often participate in or watch the nightime grudge drags that we're run just outside the city limits on a county road(thus under the jurisdiction of the Sheriffs Dept.and least likely to incur the rath of the law as the city police at that time had no jurisdiction outside the city limits), as far as I can remember there were no tragedies back then though a few guys did lose control and ended up in the barrow pit on one side or the other of the road. But no one lined the road to watch most everyone stayed behind the starting line and a few watched from the finish line.
Always sad to read or hear about something like this happening