Detroit Street Racing

An article from the Detroit Free Press:

Detroiter makes documentary on street racing
BY MIKE BRUDENELL • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • January 8, 2009

Paul Humphries Sr. wants Detroit's street racers off public roads.

Humphries, 46, also known as "The Chevy Doctor," competed for money and pink slips on the service drives of the Motor City from the late 1970s through the mid-'80s before quitting.

Now, the father of four sons and a daughter is hoping to convince the city's street racers to take their cars to places like Milan Dragway to get their kicks.

Humphries, a refrigeration operator and mechanic at Detroit Receiving Hospital, has funded his own film, "Motor City Street Racers" in an effort to educate the younger generation about the dangers to themselves and others of street racing, where speeds can reach 130-140 m.p.h.

The 63-minute documentary, which cost Humphries countless hours to shoot and edit and about $11,000 of his cash, was shot entirely in the Detroit area and traces the story of street racing here in the '70s and '80s and compares the sport to street racing today. Humphries will screen the film Friday at Artist Village Detroit and has invited members of the Detroit City Council to attend.

"We need to get the kids off the street," said Humphries, who was introduced to street racing as a 10-year-old who would sneak out of his house to check out cars at the legendary White Castle street racing hangout on the corner of Livernois and Warren on Detroit's west side. "We need to convince them how dangerous it has become today and see if we can't encourage the city to build a drag strip in the Detroit area where drivers can race safely."

Humphries started street racing a '67 Chevy along the service drive to I-75.

"We tried to make it as safe as possible," said Humphries. "We blocked off the streets, we had a set of rules and kept spectators under control. Around 1985, things got out of hand -- crowds were getting in the way, speeds were getting faster and street racing seemed to become less organized. It was time to back off. I wasn't willing to lose my car, my life or someone else's."

Humphries estimates that on any single weekend in Detroit, weather permitting, street racing may be conducted at up to 10 locations around the city.

The activity is illegal in Michigan, as it is across the country, and those caught racing face getting ticketed, losing their licenses, having their cars impounded and possible jail time. Spectators at races also can be ticketed, said Humphries.

In November, 55-year-old Detroit Public Schools education technician Delthea Bryson was involved in an accident along Dequindre Road in Detroit when the car in which she was traveling was struck by a 2005 Mustang GT, which police believe was street racing. Bryson was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where she died less than an hour later.

"We got to get people off the streets. I got off," said Humphries, who is a regular competitor these days at Milan.

Melvin Coney, 50, of Romulus, now runs at Milan, too. A friend of Humphries, Coney was a regular street racer in and around Detroit into the '90s. He stopped participating after being nabbed by the police racing in Hamtramck.

"The cops caught us, and I went to jail for 4-5 days," Coney said. "Today's street racers are going way too fast. I used to have 10 races a night in the '70s along the service drive on I-75, from 7 Mile to the Boulevard. Now I do my racing at Milan, and I don't have to worry about the police."

Coney called Bryson's death a "fatal mistake."

"It was very tragic," he said.

Humphries hopes streets racers will emerge from their underground world and compete instead at sanctioned drag strips.

"We want to get kids under our wing," Humphries said. "We want to see them come out to Milan and have fun with their cars at the track. Street racers are welcome to come see the film."

Contact MIKE BRUDENELL at 313-222-2115 or mbrudenell@freepress.com