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A drag race of their own
By Phyllis Sides
KENOSHA COUNTY - When Larry Henning started drag racing 35 years ago there weren't many places blacks could race their cars.
"It was basically street racing when I started out," he said. "It was hard for blacks to get their cars passed at the strips because of technical reasons. The cars were sort of pieced together."
However, blacks felt they were discriminated against in the sport they had been involved in from its beginnings, so they began to hold their own events and form their own organizations. These first events were bragging rights meets that evolved into "Black Sunday" in the 1980s.
Originally, Black Sundays were designed for African American racers from around the nation to meet and compete but now they're open to anyone regardless of race. They're annual events, Henning said.
Great Lakes co-owner Marcel Kuper said the event "kicked butt."
"Everybody had a good time," he said. "We raced 'til 8 and we usually stop at 5. Attendance was 70 percent over the previous year. We had about 5,000 people in attendance and over 700 vehicles in the pits."
"This is our most successful Black Sunday yet and we're looking forward to next year," he said.
"It's a family thing," Henning said. "People bring out the grills. It's a fun day of racing. People come from all over. You can run the family car. It doesn't have to be a race car. You can drive a Toyota. You can drive a Chevy."
Henning, 56, has been racing at Great Lakes Dragaway, located in the Town of Paris, since 1968. He got involved after attending a Black Sunday event six years ago in St. Louis and came home determined to organize a Wisconsin chapter of the United Black Drag Racers Association. Currently, the Wisconsin chapter based in Milwaukee has about 50
members.
The United Black Drag Racers Association, which began in St. Louis, was officially established in 1994 and has grown into a nationally known organization with a chapter in Wisconsin and two brother organizations in Memphis and New Orleans.
"It was all black," Henning said. "I went and I was so impressed I came back and got organized.
"Our goal is to eliminate street racing. A drag strip is the perfect place for them to be because the cars are getting too fast for the streets."
Great Lakes has street drag nights the third Thursday of the month for street racers to come to the track to race their cars, Henning said. The events have helped take some racers off of city streets, where the contests are illegal.
Police throughout the state have been struggling to control the races, which found new popularity in recent years due, in part, to the blockbuster 2001 motion picture "The Fast and the Furious." A sequel, "2 Fast 2 Furious," was released this year.
Police in some Milwaukee suburbs have been battling street racers for about a year. There have been relatively few problems in Racine, said Sgt. William Macemon, of the Racine police department. While there have been a few incidents on the city's north side, he said, there have been few others this year.
There is a state traffic statute against drag racing on city streets. If a ticket was written for drag racing in Racine it would be $288 plus the driver would lose six demerit points on their license, Macemon said.
Henning said the Great Lakes Dragaway, and organizations like the United Black Drag Racers, provide a safe way for people to race their cars without worry of the police.
"Getting them off the streets is a positive thing for racers, and they can race safely without hurting anybody," he said.
For more information on United Black Drag Racers of Wisconsin, call (414) 372-8059.
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