Like other cities in California, Watsonville has a very unique 
nightlife, full of roars and thunder. When the sun goes down and the 
sky turns black, lightning strikes in the streets It all goes down at 
what teens call “the runs.” It’s exciting, it’s dangerous, and it’s 
getting big.

This is no roller-coaster attraction; it is the controversial and 
popular street racing scene. It all starts off with a cat-and-mouse 
chase and ends with the rush of a sixty-mile- an-hour race that lasts 
only a few seconds.

It’s a quiet Friday night and the dashboard clock just turned to ten 
p.m. Suddenly, you hear a white Mazda RX7 Twin Turbo pipe out. You 
look in your rearview mirror, and  the next thing you know, it’s at 
your side. It’s gone in a flash. You’re thinking whether to go after 
it and drop a challenge. So you pipe your Nissan Skyline and tease 
him for a while. 

For the next five lights, it’s a game of cat-and-mouse. You ease in 
front and hear his brakes. With a roar, he’s at your side, then 
cutting you off. The game goes on. Glances are exchanged. The 
challenge has been thrown.

The last light turns green. He accelerates and starts bobbing and 
weaving the cars. So you think, “Oh, shit.” You shift your gear to 
second, then third, and go after him. The speedometer reads 45, and 
it’s a 25 mile an hour zone. 

Once you get to an empty street, you go for it. It’s just a couple of 
seconds, but the RPMs are moving past 60. You grind your gear at 
third. You’re dogged. Then your cell rings. It’s Carlos. He says 
there’s runs in the flats, and you’re ready for redemption. You find 
Carlos at “the” corner. There’s about nine different cars behind you. 
They park and talk about what route to take. 

Now it’s follow the leader to the spot. You all get there and someone 
says, “Turn off your lights.” Everyone gets out of their cars. The 
pearl white Mazda pulls up where you’re standing. He rolls down the 
window and says, “Let’s do this.” You jump in your car and pull up to 
his side while everyone gathers around. You see the Asian flagger 
girl in a tank top with daisy dukes holding up her bandana. You 
hear, “Ready, set, go,” and her hand goes down. You skip a gear and 
go to second, third, fourth – you’re neck to neck, and you go shift 
to fifth, and suddenly, you have your lead. You slide in front, flick 
on your hazards and everyone cheers. Coming back, you’re full of 
relief. You won.

Drag racing goes on every weekend in the Central Coast. Teens do it 
for the rush, the challenge and the power. But what about the risks? 
Although Sergeant Brown with the Watsonville Police Department, told 
ShouOut that there is no drag racing in the city, a spokesman for the 
Monterey County Police Department told us that racing is a problem in 
Pajaro and other parts of North Monterey County. But it’s hard for 
police to stop it, “we can try to catch kids in the act,” says Sgt. 
Brown. “But that usually only happens if an officer gets lucky or 
someone gets hurt.”

The kids say it’s going to keep happening. But in some towns, like 
Fremont, locals officials are looking for ways to legalize street 
racing in certain locations and at certain times so that it can be 
made safer. Some racers in the Watsonville area think the airport 
would be a great place to have legal drag races.