Edmonton street racers urged to take 'dangerous' need for speed to track

Austin Ogonoski is the four-time sport compact defending champion in Alberta with deep family roots in racing.

He gets all the thrills he needs on the track, which is why he shakes his head at the videos on social media showing sportscars and motorcycles whipping through traffic on Edmonton streets.

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"Wow, you pushed the pedal down and you steered around grandma. That's all I see in them. I don't see technique, I don't see the line choice, I don't see ... the mechanical faults you're having to drive through," Ogonoski told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

Ogonoski knows of about a dozen tracks in Alberta designed for people to scratch whatever speed itch they may have.

Rad Torque Raceway just south of the city next to the Edmonton International Airport alone offers three different track types.

Chevy Reeves, the general manager of the raceway, says it offers a 2.7-kilometre road course, a quarter-mile drag strip and a 3/8 clay oval.

"We just have a lot of space to come and play," Reeves told CTV News Edmonton.

Rad Torque Raceway offers semi-professional and amateur racing at all levels, even an open challenge for speedsters to test their skills on the track against a former police officer.

Retired Sgt. Mike Wynnyk says he dabbled with street racing as a teen before becoming a cop. The member of the Blue Line Racing Association, a non-profit organization run by a volunteer group of police officers to promote responsible driving on streets, understands the desire for speed and what it actually means to drive as fast as the videos claim.

"At 200 kilometres per hour, you're doing almost a football field every second," Wynnyk told CTV News Edmonton.

"Do you really think you can drive and control yourself on a street like that with people who have no clue? This isn't a video game. There's no reset button."

Some of the videos and comments on social media say speeding through traffic is "therapeutic," with drivers claiming to enter some kind of zen state when all their focus is on maintaining control.

Wynnyk isn't buying it.

"It's just a real dangerous, selfish attitude to have to say 'Oh, I need to have this.'" he said. "Come out here (to the raceway). You're gonna have this all day long until you're exhausted."

Ogonoski says he thinks most dangerous drivers on Instagram aren't interested in race tracks and safety.

To him, it boils down to showing off for internet clout and possibly a bit of cash.

"A lot of these guys start filming themselves cutting and weaving in and out of traffic, because if a view count goes up, eventially these social media platforms do give you a cut of the ad revenue,. and it can be kind of lucrative," Ogonoski said.

That's why he thinks penalties for excessive speeding need to be stiffer in Alberta.

Right now, police cannot seize a vehicle or suspend a licence roadside for speed alone.