Drag racing is a sport wherein two vehicles compete at the same time to see who reaches the finish line first. Needless to say, this type of sport attracts a whole lot of spectators and enthusiasts since it is relatively easy to learn but hard to master. A few years ago, the drag racing sport "died" locally when the legal races suddenly stopped in Cebu. Teams had to travel to Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Batangas or Clark, just to name a few places, to get their dose of quartermile runs. These were the times where illegal drag racing occurrences spiked as new enthusiasts had nowhere to go and there was no local community to effectively mentor them.
But thanks to a few "drag addicted" individuals, legal drag racing made its comeback to Cebu with the Drag Wars series that was initially held at SRP. The event was met with enthusiasm from racers all over the Visayas region as they finally had a legal venue to strut their stuff and test their cars. Drag racing was finally back in Cebu.
However, hosting the event is not without it's challenges as the last leg, which was held on August 5 to 6, was moved to Bogo City due to the Cebu City government disallowing the use of the SRP baywalk area for car drag races citing safety concerns as the reason. Although it was weird that motorcycle drag races were still allowed. I was able to ask one of the organizers on the reason for the move and he mentioned something along the lines of corruption being rampant in the city to the point where getting your event venue approved needed a little "grease money." This prompted the organizers to look for another home for the series.
The good news is they found a home in Bogo City, around 100km north of Cebu City. And what a home it is as the situation in Bogo was the exact opposite. The mayor, Carlo Martinez, himself welcomed the organizers and racers with open arms and was kind enough to allow the use of the newly paved city hall road which is around 1.1km of straight flat road goodness.
I was able to visit the event venue and I have to say that was the best Drag Wars to date. Safety was better for the racers and for the spectators and since the road was wider (4 lanes) it allowed for more room for error. They were also able to hold simultaneous events like the test drive of the Can-Am UTV. With the space they have, there can even be an autocross race while the drag race is ongoing.
Even if the venue was a good 1-2 hour drive from the city, that didn't stop racers from all over Cebu from participating as well as racers from neighboring islands. Topping the event was Jesus Tanpinco from BMS (Bacolod) who won the Quick 8 Open, Quick 8 All Motor and Pro Class. For the Expert Class, it was Vincent Navalez of Dubcity who came up on top. The Sportsman Class saw JrMonilar of AMO getting the win while Ritchie Matarlo of Classic Autoworx dominated the Hotstreet Class.
This is the first ever drag race to be held in Bogo City and the racers and spectators that were there will forever be part of Cebu's rich motorsport history. Congratulations to Bogo City and to Cebu Horsepower and Events Promotions (CHEAP) for a successful and safe race weekend.