Racing is bred into the American psyche, from the first bootleggers to today’s NASCAR legends. Street racing has even been idolized in movies like The Fast & The Furious and American Graffiti, but that still makes it a bad idea all around. It’s not just an American problem either. Sweden has a huge affinity for American muscle, and illegal street racing as well.
Jalopnik found this video of Sweden’s largest annual illegal drag race, and this year it came down to two highly modified Camaros. How fitting.
Sweden is actually world famous for its street racing, thanks to video series like Escape from Stockholm, where illegal racers fly through city streets, trying to avoid Stockholm’s persistent police force. And despite the police’s best efforts, the annual illegal drag racing event has rules, organization, and a huge crowd of rabid fans that only the Europeans could pull off.
For one, there are a number of false starts and the final location of the race is only settled upon minutes before it happens. There are also race cars driving around to throw people off the scent of the real race. This year, the final two combatants came down to two classic Camaros. It’s an incredibly interesting video to watch, with lots of illegal racing action. As cool as this video is though, illegal street racing is still a serious health hazard, putting lots of innocent people in danger. Keep it to the tracks, gentlemen.