These Are Your Dream Street Race Locations

It’s impossible to deny the novel spectacle of an organized street race. The sight of fast cars hurtling around an exotic locale is always stunning. NASCAR held its own ostentatious affair at Naval Base Coronado last weekend. The stars of the Cup Series bashed bumpers on a circuit built between helicopters and fighter jets. There was even a contingent of sailors watching from a grandstand erected on an aircraft carrier’s flight deck.

We asked our readers last week where they would love to see a street race. I was happy to see commenters let their imaginations wander and throw out ideas for incredible venues. There were several recommendations for mountain passes that would be truly awe-inspiring. However, it would be a logistical nightmare to organize if the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is anything to go by. Without further ado, here are the public roads where you want to see cars go flat out:

San Francisco, Lombard Street and the street in Bullitt, Taylor Street.

Submitted by: greg r

Back in the mid-90s, my friends and I would wake up around 3 in the morning and, not race, but drive really fast around San Francisco. I had a sublet apartment up near the top of Twin Peaks (a studio apartment that had a balcony overlooking the hill all the way to the bay, with one car garage underneath, for $650 a month, can you believe that?), so we’d start from there and back. There was a short stretch of time super early in the morning when the city was near empty. We still collected a few speeding tickets though. That was a lot of fun. One of us was this Japanese dude who had an old 200SX turbo, he had to go sideways everywhere like that was his nature. Good times.

Submitted by: JBJB

Stelvio Pass hill climb. I had the good fortune to have ridden it (on a rented Moto Guzzi Stelvio of all things). Terrible idea, of course, and sure it’s not a circuit, but would be crazy entertaining (and dangerous). Tail of the Dragon is my bonus answer.

Submitted by: Joshua

This place I used to drag back in high school, there was a railroad crossing exactly a quarter mile from a stoplight.

On green, we would go.

Submitted by: JaredOfLondon

Every time they replace that crossing gate, someone hops the tracks and breaks it.

Submitted by: Chuck Upped

US-12 From Yakima to I-5. 137 miles of paved mountain pass. Lots of elevation change and very deep drop-offs. Close it from the semis and RVs and have a WRC event! I’ve driven it many times (albeit not at speed) and survived just fine.

One can dream…

Submitted by: Scourge of Richland

Alexandria, VA. There’s a giant wide road there with a stoplight on every block. Or at least I assume it’s still there. This should be the main straight. But with a twist. The lights are active.

Back when I was in high school, at say midnight in Alexandria, if you enter that section at exactly 25 mph and maintain 25 mph, the lights will magically turn green for you just before you get to the intersection. It’s easy to just idle down that long straight and get a green light at every intersection. You can also do it at 50 mph, but you have to be extra brave because that light isn’t going to turn green until less than a second before you get to it and the next intersection will be switching to yellow just before you get there. However, if you can get to 50 mph exactly and hold it there and not lose courage, you can get all greens at 50 mph. Story is that the best driver in school managed to get all greens at 100 mph.

Now that would be the challenge for the F1 drivers. Could they actually get all green lights and not have to stop at a red light at 200 mph down that long straight? The real challenge would be that they would want to be going a bit faster to gain an advantage on their competitor, but run a red light and you need a 3-second stop and go in the pits.

Submitted by: hoser68

Younger days… we all used world-famous Mulholland Drive for our twisties fix with our lightweight sports cars and coupes. Too many people now, too many mansions spilling traffic in all directions. Other suitable canyon roads still exist in the area, perhaps a European-style hillclimb is in order. None of the above would hold enough suitable prime real estate for spectators.

Submitted by: Rick C.

Nauru. A race around the entire perimeter of a country. It only takes 30 minutes to get around with casual driving so each lap should take less time at race speed.

Submitted by: Giantsgiants

Carmel-By-The-Sea. Up and around Pebble Beach and down the Pacific Coast. It could be the American Monaco.

Submitted by: Michael Tonelli

It’d be an absolute calamity for the region, but shut down Atlanta’s 285 loop. It’s 63 miles, so make it three laps, so it’d take about an hour at 180 MPG. I may have raced someone for one lap around 285 back in the 1990s in the wee hours of the morning. It’s pretty flat.

Before it was (rightfully) partially removed, downtown Rochester, New York’s inner loop would have been pretty cool.

Submitted by: Chuck Upped