Street Racing Comes to Pay-Per-View in `Street Legal'
25 June 1998
Street Racing Comes to Pay-Per-View in `Street Legal' It's 'American Muscle' vs. 'Japanese Speed', Detroit vs. The Imports
In First-Ever Live Street Drag Racing Competition
NEW YORK, June 25 -- "Street Legal"(TM) gets the green light!
SEG Motor Sports (SEG) has formed a strategic alliance with Sport Compact Car
and Popular Hot Rodding magazines to produce and promote this first-ever, live
pay-per-view auto racing event on August 2, it was announced by SEG President
and CEO Robert Meyrowitz and President of McMullen Argus Publishing, Inc.,
Bill Porter. What makes "Street Legal" unique is that it takes the modern
urban street racing phenomenon -- a hip-hop, hybrid, underground racing scene
marked by souped-up, high-tech imports -- and brings it to a legitimate
1/4-mile drag strip where it meets the muscle car culture of the 60s and early
70s.
"This is really a show for and about people who love cars," says Campbell
McLaren, the Race Director for SEG Motor Sports and Executive Producer of the
event. "Spanning different generations and backgrounds, it's about
competition -- car vs. car, cubes vs. revs, rock vs. hip-hop, baseball caps
frontward vs. baseball caps backward, culture vs. culture -- the things that
America is about as we approach the millennium."
"Street Legal" will be aired live from Sacramento Raceway at 3:00 p.m.
(ET) on August 2, 1998. To be carried by every cable system and satellite
provider in North America, the cost for the event is $14.95. In addition to
the live broadcast, there are multiple replays scheduled on pay-per-view
systems throughout the month. (Contact your local cable company or satellite
provider for dates and times.)
The first "Street Legal" event will present a field of 16 drivers -- eight
in domestic cars, eight in imports. Elimination rounds will determine a
winner in each division. Then, the two division winners will race each other
head-to-head in the greatest 1/4-mile in drag racing history: Detroit vs. The
Imports.
"Street Legal" will feature 24-year-old Adam Saruwatari, one of the
undisputed leaders in import drag racing. Recently, Saruwatari's Mazda RX-7
posted a 9.63-second 1/4-mile run at 139 mph, making it the fastest stock
chassis RX-7 in the world! Speaking about "Street Legal," Saruwatari said,
"This is a chance for me to race in front of people who don't know how fast
the imports really are."
The event also will feature female phenomenon Michelle Leo, a 20-year-old
driver from Westbrook, Maine. She drives a black and pink '64 Chevy Corvette
that runs a 9.6-second 1/4-mile at 138 mph. Michelle's car (which is 14 years
older than she is) was built and maintained as a race car ever since it was
made. About "Street Legal," Michelle says, "This is a perfect opportunity to
show everyone -- especially import fans -- how powerful a Chevy really can be.
It's also a perfect opportunity to prove that women really are the best
drivers!"
In addition to the feature races, the August 2 event also will include a
celebrity exhibition race and a demonstration by the powerful, new Japanese
rocket bikes (capable of reaching speeds of 170-180 mph in the 1/4-mile).
Other elements in "Street Legal" include various segments that explore the
many facets of our modern car culture, including the long-standing and always-
passionate rivalries between Chevy and Ford, Honda and Mitsubishi, etc., plus
beauty contests, sports car challenges, and more.
All "Street Legal" events are sanctioned by the Street Legal Racing
Association(TM) (SLRA). Under the leadership of SLRA Safety Commissioner
Joseph Andujar, Jr., (a former policeman who has led the effort to curb
illegal street racing in New York City), the SLRA is responsible for all
standards and safety elements of the race, including driver and car
qualification.
The August 2 race will be the first in a series of scheduled "Street
Legal" events. The second is set to air in November, 1998, with a third event
to follow in February, 1999. While the inaugural event is set to air in the
United States and Canada, plans are being developed to launch the program in
Japan, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. Ultimately, "Street Legal"
will be developed into a national -- and international -- circuit with
sanctioned races held at local/regional tracks throughout the country and
around the world.
McMullen Argus Publishing, Inc., a division of Primedia, Inc., is
publisher of 32 specialty consumer magazines, with a combined circulation of
2.3 million and over 19.2 million adult male readers. Primedia, Inc., is a
leading company that publishes 170 magazine titles and 170 business and
consumer information products, operates 25 video networks, and offers more
than 100 websites, with a firm value of over $3.4 billion.
SEG Motor Sports is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Semaphore Entertainment
Group (SEG), a full-scale and highly innovative television and production
company that conceives, develops and markets creative entertainment
programming, including music, sports and comedy, for pay-per-view, cable and
network television. Among its most notable programs are HBO and Cinemax
specials, Cable Ace Award-winning concerts, talk shows and comedy specials,
and the 10-part PBS series, "History of Rock & Roll." Semaphore Entertainment
Group also produced "Reel Street: The American Independent Film Festival," the
acclaimed independent film festival for home viewers, and the "Lifetime
Television Film Festival" for the Lifetime Television Network. In sports
programming, the company has achieved success with the "Battle of the
Champions" exhibition tennis match and The Ultimate Fighting Championship(R)
mixed martial arts competitions.
