Chris Vliek

UWRIT1102
11/1/15
Inquiry: CMC and Street Racing
I remember the first Fast and the Furious movie pretty vividly. The high octane film from
2001 told the story of Dom, portrayed by Vin Diesel, and Brian, played by the late Paul Walker,
and their increasingly dangerous underground street racing syndicate and subsequent infiltration
into a criminal smuggling operation. Now at 7 movies deep and more on the way, these movies
now have become convoluted to the point that it would take an encyclopedia sized book to
explain all the insane plot points and story twists. While the story of these movies was never the
high point of the films for me, the true stars of the film to me (and to most) were and are the cars.
Doms 1970 Dodge Charger and Brians 1994 Toyota Supra Mark IV are iconic in car culture.
These movies inspired a whole new generation of gearheads. Combined with the popularity of
the BBCs Top Gear, car clubs and racing culture is widely accepted and in the forefront of
popular culture. Car clubs and/or meets can be found in just about every city. However, this
newfound focus on speed and power is not without its critics. Street racing, while not
encouraged officially by the Charlotte Motorist Club that meets right here on the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte campus, is becoming a problem in the Charlotte area, as well as the
surrounded areas. It is difficult dispute that the group could easily be contributing to the illegal
underground racing circuit. However, the members of the club think otherwise.
Upon moving to Charlotte last August, I found a job working on cars. While Ive always
enjoyed car related things like the Forza Motorsport and the aforementioned Top Gear, I never

considered myself an authority on cars. However, a few of my co-workers were and are crazy
for automobiles. Since I knew no one in the state, besides my fiance I moved here with, I began
attending car meets with my co-workers. Conveniently located at the university I was attending,
the Charlotte Motorist Club was more a social club for me, rather than car club.
Combined with the luxury cars of Tega Cay, South Carolina that Id been working on,
some of the cars Id see at these meets were fascinating to me. I began see beyond the purely
aesthetic merit to vehicles of all manner, from the futuristic Tesla Model S to cars that made
Mater from the Pixar movie Cars look pristine in comparison. We are an endangered species,
you and I. We lovers of speed. We devotees of power, performance and noise.. A communal
celebration of horsepower, torque, grip, leather, technology, beauty, states noted car enthusiast
and former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson in his introduction to Forza Motorsport 4. While
the CMC meets began as way to meet people, its culture began to become a part of my own and I
finally understood Jeremeys monologue.
The Charlotte Motorist Club is an automotive enthusiast club run and founded by
University of North Carolina-Charlotte students. Started in 2012, CMC is one the largest student
run groups on campus. While some may scoff at the need for registration of members vehicles
and other hoops CMC requires members to jump through, the numbers do not lie: the group is
5,000 strong and counting. Meeting at the CRI Deck from 6pm to 9pm on Sundays during
normal school semesters, members are encouraged to bring their car, truck or bike to meets,
regardless of age, make or model. The Facebook page is full of members asking for automotive
advice, selling parts and people posting funny car memes. While the atmosphere at meets are
loose by nature, the rules are not.

Members are required to register vehicles even to attend, including listing license plate
numbers. Non-register members are turned away. Burnouts, drifting, excessive engine revving,
speeding over 15 mph or other obvious street laws are enforced harshly by the officers of the
group, as well as police officers who patrol the meets and are located nearby. Rule violations
typically are followed swiftly with banishment from the group permanently. A positive and
accepting, respectful attitude of others opinions and their vehicles is encouraged. The meets are
for fun and a gathering of mutual interest, not to judge others. ("Charlotte Club for
Motorists." Ccmc.userboard.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.)
While meets are policed mostly by the members and officers of the group, its not perfect.
As with most gatherings of college age humans, alcohol and drugs are occasionally present at
meets. Despite rules against such behavior, it is not uncommon to walk through a cloud of
narcotics or see someone sneaking a Bud Light on a tailgate. Going to my first meet, my coworkers pointed out a particular group and informed me that if I ever needed weed, those were
the individuals to haggle with. Even something as simple as bringing a friend or guest who isnt
registered results in problems. However there is a more pressing issue in my opinion. While
organizing and participating in street racing is prohibited and is literally rule number one, it still
happens and has caused accidents, including the deaths of members of the CMC community,
among other innocent bystanders.
Street racing is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: racing in the public streets.
Spectators and racers typically meet up in a common area and hammer out details of who is
racing who, when, where and what, if anything, will be the reward for the victor. Once the
racing are arranged, the participants typically head out, convoy style, to a 1/8 or mile section
of road is marked off, signaling the starting and ending point of the race. Other similar activities

include speed trials, where participants try to beat a time on a certain stretch of road set by
others, and a practice known as the centipede, where drivers play a dangerous game where
they attempt to pass each other while increasing speed like a game of follow the leader.( Peak,
Kenneth J, and Ronald W. Glensor. Street Racing)
While an official racing scenario typically features a big divide between the viewing
public and the racers, spectators of these illegal functions have no such safety precautions and
tend to get as close as their bravery allows them to get to the action. In addition to the dangers to
the spectators, the drivers are not necessarily trained or even competent drivers, unable to control
their own vehicles on streets that are not closed off to the public and their vehicles. These races
put other drivers at risk, since unknowing drivers on the road could make one wrong turn and
end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In a city like Charlotte with a population of over 800,000, there are a lot of drivers on
road susceptible to accidents. ("Charlotte (city) QuickFacts from the US Census
Bureau." Charlotte (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau) Mecklenburg County has
considerably more automotive accidents than the surrounding counties, despite increased
patrolling officers looking for illegal racing circuits. The fact that the Charlotte Motorists Club
hosts its meets in the city only strengthens the argument that the club encourages unsafe driving
practices, including street racing.
With increasingly advanced technology in radar detection and communications made for
public consumption, an organized street racing community is able to conduct their races and
evade capture and punishment, much to the chagrin of law enforcement. Despite strict
punishments such as vehicle seizure, fines, loss of license and even jail time, races still occur.

One former Charlotte street racer, who had been caught and arrested, stated that despite jail time
and the loss of his vehicle, it was worth the risk. Others racers not arrested in the incident stated
that they were being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and were just chilling, nothing else.
(Former Charlotte Street Racer Says Losing Car Is Worth The Risk." Former Charlotte Street
Racer Says Losing Car Is Worth The Risk. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
As previously stated, the first rule on the master list of rules for the Charlotte Motorists
Club is no organizing or participating in street races. However, these types of events occur
frequently. I personally have seen multiple races that were planned and executed by members of
the CMC. Its not surprising considering the nature of the meets. CMC meets are known to
house a bit of showboating. The competitive side of automobiles is no secret. In a state that
houses the NASCAR Hall of Fame, racing seems almost like a given. I-485, a common site for
underground racing, has even been dubbed by some as the Mecklenburgring, a reference to the
iconic Nurburing racetrack in Nurburg, Germany. With these factors, it would seem like the
CMC encourages street racing almost just by existing.
Despite all logic pointing to the previous conclusion, members insist otherwise. Facebook
posts about races are immediately taken down by admins of the page. Even posts about legal
racing locations like the Carolina Motorsport Park are met with a bit of skepticism. Members
have been known to question the legality of the sites and motive behind the meetups. Like the
aforementioned Fast and the Furious films, these events can lead to sketchy situations involving
sketchy people. Still, the racing persists.
My first exposure to the racing community was from the same person who introduced me
to the club to begin with. My former co-worker Adam, who wished to have his last name not
included, has been an active member of the Charlotte Motorist club for the last 2 years. Adam

has been working on vehicles since he was 12 years old and his life is dominated by cars. He
drives almost every night, not to simply go from point A to point B, but to drive and says he puts
around 10,000 miles a month on his car. Even after crashing his motorcycle and breaking both
legs less than a year ago while racing, he is an active participant in the car culture of the
Carolina, including street races.
While Adam has strong opinions on the car culture and the thrill of racing, the world is
trying to make vehicles safer across the board. Cars are being made less for fun and power and
more for efficiency and practicality. Vehicles are now being produced with safety precautions
like back up cameras, blind spot awareness warnings, and even in some cases, parking assists.
Manufactures like Tesla and Google are trying to make cost effective vehicles that emphasis
safety and reduce harmful emissions. These vehicles are not popular among the racing
community. Common vehicles like the Honda Civic and the Toyota Camry, two of the highest
selling vehicles, are not seen as a respectable cars to have in car enthusiast circle. Theres
nothing there. Its a people carrier. Pedestrian. A car for people who dont know anything about
cars, Adam replied when asked what he thought of a Honda Civic.
Driving a modified 2012 Volkswagen Golf with straight piped exhaust, (illegal in the
state of North Carolina)stretched tires on custom rims and a lowered suspension that stands
barely an inch off of the ground, Adam often tells me stories about the cars he sees and races him
and his other friends participate in. A great car has personality. When I see a slammed
(lowered suspension) vehicle like mine, I usually want to talk to the driver. I want to see the
mods (modifications) theyve installed. I want to hear the engine, Adam said about his car
community. While races are not during meets, Adam admits that the races are indeed
occasionally set up while at CMC meets or similar car club meets ups like the NC/SC meets,

which have a similar set of rules and procedures. He believes the meets do not encourage the
racing.
The officers and high ranking members do a good job of policing members and keeping
everything cool, but they can only do so much. When you have so many people together with a
similar hobby that is such an intense love, people are going to talk trash about your car or make
or model you like. Its usually in good humor but it gets to you and sometimes you have to put
your money where your mouth is. At the end of the day, I want the thrill. The speed and power
make it worth the risk. When we race, we make it as safe as we can, but the unpredictable nature
can make the races more exciting. Adams response to my question of why he feels the need to
race wasnt a shocking answer. You dont buy a $30,000 car and modify it for speed to cruise
around in.
Outsiders of the car culture do not seem to understand the need to race, let alone have a
car that isnt practical. Born and raised in the Motor City of Detroit, Michigan, Brittany
Maffesoli, aged 23, doesnt get the culture at all. To me it seems like an exercise in vanity. I
dont see the point of spending absurd amounts of money to make your car less practical.
Driving just to drive seems ridiculous to me. Im just trying to get where I need to go, not make
a spectacle of myself, Brittany said when asked about the car club culture. As a person who
rarely drives at night, let alone for fun, Brittany did not see the appeal of the CMC.
Brittany, who drives a 2008 stock Honda Civic, is not the demographic the Charlotte
Motorists Club typically attracts. When asked about the racing community, she had fairly strong
opinions. Racing in the streets to me is a selfish act. People who are just trying to go about
their daily commute or trying to get home at night shouldnt have to worry about someone
dangerously driving on purpose. Typically the people who have modified or powerful cars seem

more entitled to drive aggressively and believe they have more of a right to be on the road that
the rest of us. Movies like Fast and the Furious encourage and fetishize unsafe driving habits
and could influence more to drive in a similar manner. When I asked her if she would want to
be in the University area around or during the time of the meets, she said that she try to avoid the
area and would feel unconformable if caught during that timeframe, knowing members would be
on the road with her.
Despite being a fan of the CMC car meets, I believe that the meets to encourage street
racing to an extent and should be monitored more closely by law enforcements. With the
amount of horsepower available to this kind of group, dangerous activities are sure to follow.
Like Brittany, I am uncomfortable driving around the time after the meets, especially on 485.
Even though most of the drivers I know that participate in the CMC meets are safe, defensive
drivers, it still makes me nervous. There are always those who feel the need to show off and
make problems for everyone.
A similar issue was present with what is generally considered the most famous car
club/street racing group, Middo Naito Kurabu, better known as the Mid Night Club, not to be
confused with the popular videogame franchise. Formed in 1987, members, whose vehicles had
to meet certain parameters (uncommon for public clubs) like the ability for the car to go over
160mph in order to evade law enforcement. Eventually, the club was shut down due to the
dangerous racing, despite the groups best effort to have a safe environment, and the attention the
group received from Japanese gangs after large Mid Night Club accidents (Nostalgic
Wednesdays: Middo Naito Kurabu, Aka MID NIGHT CLUB."Mayday Garage).
Measures are being taking to prevent racing. Popular racing areas are being closed
during typical racing hours and restricts the traffic during those times. Law enforcement officers

are encouraging the public to report unsafe driving. Surveillance cameras are being utilized
popular racing areas in order to try to break up and/or monitor illegal racing circuits. Sting
operations in some situations are used to infiltrate these types of groups as well. Concrete
barricades and others obstructive objects may be erected to deter would-be racers. (Peak,
Kenneth J, and Ronald W. Glensor. Street Racing.) Even within CMC, legal races on legal tracks,
sponsored or member created, are advertised on the CMC website and Facebook page to
encourage members to get their racing fix in a safe and legal manner.
Upon reflection, the Charlotte Motorist Club is a bit of a contradiction. Heavily governed
by members, it encourages safe and courteous driving. However, gathering together such a large
group of drivers together could also encourage the members to flex their figurative muscles.
How can anyone be surprised that large groups of cars would lead to illegal street races? Despite
many rules and regulations, the races still occur. Even though the group may have a few bad
eggs leading them down a destructive and dangerous path, the group is taking steps to improve
their reputation and continue to provide a safe environment to show off their prized vehicles.
Hopefully in tandem with law enforcement, they can work to reduce the number of street racing
accidents here in Charlotte.

Bibliography

Peak, Kenneth J, and Ronald W. Glensor. Street Racing. Washington, D.C: U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2004. Internet

resource
"Mecklenburg County, NC."Accident Data Center. N.p., 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Nov.

2015.
Nostalgic Wednesdays: Middo Naito Kurabu, Aka MID NIGHT CLUB."Mayday Garage

RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

"Charlotte Club for Motorists." Ccmc.userboard.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
Former Charlotte Street Racer Says Losing Car Is Worth The Risk." Former Charlotte Street

Racer Says Losing Car Is Worth The Risk. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015

Chris Vliek

11/24/15
Uwrit102
Annotated Bibliography

Peak, Kenneth J, and Ronald W. Glensor. Street Racing. Washington, D.C: U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2004. Internet
resource
-This document that I found via Atkins Library was very helpful throughout my inquiry.
It had a lot of information about the law enforcement side of street racing. It was a good
source of laws and documented the racing structure of the meets, as well as the

tendencies of the drivers

"Mecklenburg County, NC." Accident Data Center. N.p., 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Nov.
2015.
-My source for the statistical data for Mecklenburg County. Although not as
comprehensive as I mightve liked, gave me the accidents (reported at least) numbers in

the county. These were as recent as I could find.

Wells, Helen. The Fast and the Furious: Drivers, Speed Cameras and Control in a Risk
Society. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2012. Print.
-I checked this out from Atkins Library but it ultimately didnt lead to anything I could
use in the paper. The book was about mostly the idea of how speed cameras can help
and hurt the enforcement of road safety. It was not very helpful to me and I was fooled

by the title in thinking it was about racing.

Miller, Daniel. Car Cultures. Oxford: Berg, 2001. Print.
-This book was a little bit helpful. It mostly talks about the history of car culture from a
social aspect. While the majority of it is about the car culture rather than the racing
culture, it provided a little bit of the history of showing off your car. This would
indirectly lead to the formation of car clubs.

Packer, Jeremy. Mobility Without Mayhem: Safety, Cars, and Citizenship. Durham: Duke
University Press, 2008. Print.
-This was another source that I thought would be very helpful. While it did give some
safety and regulation information, it was mostly about the fear associated with driving as

well as a little bit about defensive driving. It was not really all that helpful for me.
Nostalgic Wednesdays: Middo Naito Kurabu, Aka MID NIGHT CLUB."Mayday Garage
RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
-This resource gave me information about the former car club/racing syndicate known as
Mid Night Club. Because the society was pretty closed off, there was not a ton of
information on it. However this source had a pretty good amount on a society that

prided itself on being a secret.

"Charlotte Club for Motorists." Ccmc.userboard.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
-The CMC forum pages gave me a lot of material to work with. It provided me with a lot
of rules of the clubs, links to other clubs as well as the registration website. This was
very helpful seeing as having a concrete list of dos and donts was really nice to

reference to when during the first part of my paper.

Former Charlotte Street Racer Says Losing Car Is Worth The Risk." Former Charlotte
Street Racer Says Losing Car Is Worth The Risk. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
-This news article was about a street racer being arrested and losing his car during a
police bust. It gave my paper an additional source of info on how the racers feel about
the racing, even after theyve lost their vehicles. It was a bit old, but it made points I
used in the paper seem more realistic rather than a guess at what may happen. A
firsthand account of the downsides was nice to have.

Chris Vliek
11/24/15
Uwrit102
Inquiry Reflections
This inquiry paper was a struggle for me. The vague nature of this assignment conflicted
with my typical writing style and the way that I complete my assignments in general. With that
said, Im surprised at the ease of the assignment once I got started. Once the ball started rolling,

I had no problem filling in 8-10 pages. While not easy, the inquiry assignment will probably
influence the way I write in the future.
My initial struggle was perhaps my biggest problem with the assignment in general. I
had only been living in North Carolina for 1 year at the beginning of the class. With my friends
and family 800 miles away in Michigan, I hadnt had much time for finding groups or
communities to be a part of, besides work. When we moved to Charlotte, the only people I knew
down here were the people (and pets) I moved with. As an admitted homebody, I pretty much
am either at school or at home. This made the list for our communities a very short one for me.
Despite my initial panic due to my lack of communities, I managed to narrow down my
choice to either work or the CMC. Clearly the latter would have a bit more substance. Once I
had this idea in mind, a basic shape started to form in my head. While driving home from class I
noticed all the accidents all across i485 and i77. This led me to my initial idea which consisted
of writing about all the terrible driving I saw on those highways and what caused it. After my
proposal was considered too report-like, I began to panic a bit. I became unsure about what
angle I could possibly use for the rapidly approaching first draft. Things seemed dire.
Eventually, the class started to use the library to research. I talked to with my peers and
settled on a topic that seemed to fit the criteria necessary. The library provided me with a lot of
good resources research my topic of CMC and the street racing community. I checked out a few
books (which I now realize I havent turned in) and began to conduct and compile my research
and perform my interviews. Upon talking to my two subjects (Adam and Brittany), I could see
the angles that would form a decent size of my paper. I attended a few meets with Adam and
notated all the things I saw and even attended a race put on by a few members.

I felt pretty good about my first draft. Ive always considered myself a strong writer and
am pretty good at having my voice reflected in what I write. Our peer review went well for me
and everyone seemed to want to read my paper. That did not make me feel as good as I thought
it would. I began to worry that my paper was too casual and not filled with enough information.
With my peers having critiqued my paper, I began my 2nd draft.
I refocused on my inquiry by adding a few paragraphs and tightening up the grammar. I
also added my own opinion on the subject, seeing as my peers thought that it would give my
paper some clarity. With those revisions intact, as well as a few other minor ones, I submitted
my 2nd draft.
After receiving last minute suggestions for my final draft, I added a few more adjustment
like an example of another car community that had a similar problem (Mid Night Club) and how
that community dissolved. I actually learned a lot about that community and their strict rules.
The extreme and sneaky ways that the members set up races, via newspaper codes, I found
incredibly interesting. With a few more sources and other tweaks. I finished the inquiry paper,
albeit a far cry from my original inquiry proposal.
While I shared my criticisms with the class of the assignment, I do see the merit. The
ability to think and research deeply about a subject is not a set muscles Ive ever felt the need to
flex often. Despite my initial struggle, I feel like my paper is clear and is an interesting insight
into the CMC and its struggles with street racing.