Shop owner aiming
for organized races

George Nitta hopes such events
will keep racers off the streets
and on the track

Racers unfazed by HPD crusade

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

A Honolulu businessman who started a drag-racing program to teach teenagers vehicle safety wants to organize team-racing events with cash prizes that would encourage young adults to race on the track rather than on the streets.

"When I talk to these kids about racing on the track, they say it's boring and their cars cannot pick up that kind of speed on the quarter-mile," said George Nitta, owner of Nitta's Auto Repair. "That's why they do it on the street."

The "kids" he is referring to are drivers who race their cars on island highways.

Police believe one of the cars involved in an Aug. 26 fatal crash on the H-1 freeway was racing. To prevent street racing, police this past weekend employed decoy cars and a helicopter.

Drivers of modified cars said police have also been citing them for failing to have reconstruction vehicle permits.

Rather than cracking down on street racers to prevent highway fatalities, Nitta prefers working with the racers by making organized events at the track exciting.

"Instead of letting them go on their own, they go to the track under NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) rules, race for money, and it's safer," Nitta said.

He has scheduled a meeting Saturday with would-be racers and sponsors to gauge interest in his plan. The meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Moanalua High School cafeteria.

Nitta envisions teams of at least five members. Each participant would put $25 into the pot for each event.

They must also pay $10 to race at Hawaii Raceway Park. Races would be held once a month on Saturdays.

At the end of the day, the driver who accumulates the most points by winning races would claim the jackpot.

The team that garnered the most points would win money pledged by sponsors.

So far one company, Royal Purple Lubricants, has pledged $500 for each event, and others are interested, Nitta said.

Drivers would bring their own cars. They must meet NHRA safety standards, which Nitta said are more stringent than those required to get a state reconstruction vehicle permit.

He said cars that are not street legal should be towed to the track rather than driven.

Nitta in 1993 organized Junior Dragsters Hawaii for intermediate and high school students.