MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Whether it is the social media posts, or the tire marks the day after, it is hard to ignore street racing. Illegal races have become a growing concern in Memphis and in cities across the country.
A new law was just signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee May 21, changing drag racing from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony. Still, people continue to look for solutions.
ABC24 reached out multiple time to the Memphis Police Department to talk about its efforts to combat street racing, and while those requests have been seen, they have been left unanswered.
Seeking solutions, ABC24 reached out to a police department that would answer our questions.
“It has changed dramatically over the past few years,” said Lt. Mike Gilliland with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
After MNPD began cracking down on drag racing down the Tennessee interstates, Gilliland said this caused a shift into what communities see today. Illegal racing began to pop up more frequently on city streets and intersections.
In a press release, State Rep. John Gillespie said, during a six month period in 2022, MPD reported more than 300 arrests for drag racing and reckless driving. ABC24 asked MPD for updated numbers, but we were told there were not any updates.
According to Gilliland, social media played a role in expediting the issue. Groups continued to chase views and notoriety, which often led to "pits" forming in the streets, disrupting business and putting people's public safety at risk. This eventually led MNPD to use social media to their advantage as well to break up the groups organizing the gatherings.
“We decided, 'Well, we’re going to treat it just like gangs,' and it’s kind of dwindling down to where nobody wants to rise and be the top dog because they know we’re coming for them,” said Gilliland.
The Lieutenant said HB2814, sponsored by Gillespie, will further help police departments across the state crack down on illegal racing by putting additional financial and criminal pressure on the drivers.
However, coming into the latest general session, others like Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) were hoping for a different approach.
“I hope that we can allocate funds to open up a speedway or getting police to dedicate and shutdown streets on certain days of the month, so people can safely engage in drag racing,” the senator told ABC24 back in January.
To many Memphians like Martavian Jones, the solution comes in reopening the Memphis International Raceway in Millington.
“The people who have been asking for a pit deserve a pit, because if they had one to go to then they would definitely come off of the streets,” said Jones.
Following the 2022 closure, complaints began to emerge saying this severely limited any local outlet for legal drag racing.
“You would see them going racing on the weekends, and they were definitely not in the city as much,” said Jones.
“It just matters if there is an investor who sees any value in there,” said Jon Cave with Cars on Main Memphis.
Since 2020, the exotic car group has hosted car shows to raise money for St. Jude. However, as street racing continued to grow throughout the Bluff City, Cave told ABC24 this began shining a negative light on all racers as well. Now, Cave thinks that even if the track is reopened, that will only solve part of the problem, and there will always be those people chasing those views and notoriety in the city.
“It could help a little, but I don’t think it will help cut down what we’re seeing at intersections,” said Cave.