It’s happened to me more times than I can count. I’ll be driving along, minding my own business when out of nowhere some moron in another sports car (generally not another Porsche) will pull up next to me and try to engage me in some sort of race while driving on the highway. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never given into the urge to hit the gas and leave them behind, but I’ve mellowed as I’ve aged and now just let them blow right past me. In fact, most times I think of them as decoys or bait for speed-traps up ahead. With an idiot like that on the road, the Troopers are sure to be busy writing a big ticket when I drive on by at a brisk, yet much more reasonable, pace.
Unfortunately, that’s not what happened in this instance. According to the report we read, the driver of the Porsche was injured (a broken leg and internal injuries) and the driver of the Camaro he was racing is in custody while the crash is investigated as a vehicular assault.
The Camaro that was apparently racing the Porsche
We reached out to the the Washington State Police and Trooper Chris Webb told us, “it was a 2001 Porsche 911. He [Porsche] was racing with a newer Chevy Camaro when he veered off the road and rolled several times before coming to rest on its top. The 911 caught fire but it was extinguished by passing motorists.”
It sounds like things could have been even more serious than they were as a third car, not involved in the race, was struck and damaged. No word on if the Porsche driver will be charged. Based on the pictures, I’m guessing his 996 is a total loss. Hopefully, he’ll recover fully and quickly. Remember, keep your racing to the track!
Other Porsche Blog Posts You Will Enjoy
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A Porsche 911 Races Four Parkour Athletes
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Emergency Responders Cut Top Off 1967 Porsche 911 To Rescue Driver
[Photos printed with permission of WSP Trooper Chris Webb)
View Comments (6)
You are correct it is not worth it to endanger lives racing on the highway. I also love to see these highway racers zoom by me as I know they are the HP sweep ahead of me. I'm fortunate enough to live close to Sears Point where they hold open drag races on Wednesday nights so when someone challenges me on the street I invite them to meet at the strip to duel it out under safe conditions. Haven't had any takers yet.
Ron,
Let us know if you ever get any takers. Sounds like it would be a great story! Glad you agree about racing on the highway. We had someone today (a Honda Civic no less) wanting to go at it. We let them go ahead as "bait". :-)
I look at sportscar driving on the roads as an exercise in restraint. We must think of this often.
Hmmm...Let's make a few observations of this incident and the obvious lack of maturity of the drivers just based on the photographic evidence. While I could be wrong, some insight about these drivers could be inferred.
Issue # 1- Why on earth would you race a late model Camaro ZL1 with upwards of 580HP against a 2001 300 HP 911? I mean really????
Issue# 2- Anyone who buys and drives a near 600hp street car should be approached with caution. If for no other reason because you can't be sure about their skills as a driver.
Issue# 3- The Porsche appears to have aftermarket wheels of questionable quality (and dubious taste in color ugh!). They appear to be more for the "bling factor" than for any serious performance reasons. The tires on said custom wheels may be of poor quality as well and may have been fitted solely because of how they look.
Issue# 4- The Camaro ZL1 is fairly new and is in probably a pretty safe condition. Was the older 911 also in similiar safe operating condition? For example: proper tire pressure and allignment etc. If issue # 3 holds true, poor maintanance and unsafe modifications were probably performed on this car.
Issue# 5- Nevermind the law was broken. Both drivers displayed extreme recklessness and disregard for public safety and obviously let their egos get the best of them.
The totality of the circumstances as I see them show how on the wrong day, on the wrong road, the wrong drivers driving the wrong cars for the wrong reasons came together to create the perfect storm and totally wreak havoc. These drivers are very fortunate they or worse, totally innocent people were not killed. 15 to 30 years in prison would have made them very, very for regretful for their actions.
This incident exemplifies the obvious need for more high performance driver improvement courses and for more track days to be available to the performance minded enthuthiast that make up the core fans our hobby.
In the performance motorcycle world, poorly trained riders, wearing little to no safety gear, riding poorly maintained bikes are known as "Squids." We all know there are similar individuals in the four wheeled world.
The serious driver will always be a properly trained, participate in track days/ dragrace in the safety of a track, with a properly maintained/modified vehicle and will never, ever give in to the temptation of racing some reckless moron ("Squid") on a public highway.
Pass the word, be safe and most of all have fun with your Porsches!
While pondering the meaning of this incident, I also think about the number of idiots who hang mini-cameras on their dashboards and quarterpanels, engage in high-speed antics on public highways, and then post the videos on YouTube to show how cool they are. Last week we saw the story of the clown in NYC who set a "record" for racing around Manhattan, and of course, there's the guy on the west coast who has gained a certain amount of notoriety blasting through freeway traffic in his hot rod 911s. No wonder LA cops have a certain, shall we say, lack of respect for the rest of the Porsche community. In some Canadian provinces, scofflaws like these are at risk of not just arrest, but of having their cars forfeited. Grow up, you guys.
In my experiecnce it is always the Mustangs and Camaros that want to challenge/engage me on public roads. The temptation can be tough to resist, but I do.