Parry officially opens Drag Racing Strip
Drag Racing now legal in Nevis

By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Premier Hon. Joseph Parry

Lewis was optimistic that Drag Racing on the strip would place Nevis on the world map and noted “there will be no more complaints about drag racing”. 

Nevis Premier the Hon. Joseph Parry yesterday officially declared the Drag Racing Strip open amidst cheers by enthusiasts of the sport discipline, government ministers and members of the public.

Hon. Parry said the Drag Racing Strip had cost the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) a total of $3m. He envisaged that $1m would be raised on Friday, September 19 when the maiden race is held. The Drug Racing Strip is located in St. James Parish between Butlers and Zion.

Premier Parry said money raised through the race would be injected back to enhance other sports. He cited cricket and said the sport was at its lowest ebb. 

He noted that prior to the NIA making the decision to build the Strip, drag racing enthusiasts used to race on the street. He said last year on September 19 the police had stopped the race and said it was illegal: “They stopped it in the daytime but not in the night-time.”

He told drag racing critics that the land utilised for construction of the Strip had been idle, and called on the youths to desist from taking drugs or alcohol during the race. “No misbehavior…just come and enjoy,” he said.

Experts on drag racing at the ceremony held at the Strip described the venue to have met international standards. They also said it was a safe ground for racing. A Nevisian neural surgeon based in Jamaica, Dr. Geoffrey Liburd, told drag racing enthusiasts that he is a registered racer.   ~~Adz:Left~~

He said motor racing was one of the biggest sports in the world in modern days. He is the doctor on call in Jamaica when racers require medical attention. He said drag racing had been tainted by road racing: “Street racing is dangerous; you cannot tell who has taken drugs. You cannot tell who has taken alcohol and you cannot tell which cars have been maintained.”

He said drag racing guarantees safety for participants and thanked the NIA for providing racers a safe environment where they would enjoy the sport. Drag racing, he said, takes place under a controlled environment and associations of this particular sport are obsessive about safety.

He described the Nevis Drag Racing Strip as the best in all of the Caribbean countries.  “It means that our leaders here are social conscious.” He also said it would create economic activities. He said by attracting youths to modern sports, the island was protecting its human resources - young people. Dr. Liburd opined out that drag racing would enhance sports tourism.

Minister of Youth and Sports Hensley Daniel told Nevisians that the NIA is determined to change the entertainment culture and drag racing is a component of the changing culture.

The Hon. Robelto Hector, who has been passionate about seeing drag racing a reality on the island, said the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) had delivered on its promise and noted “NRP is a party of young people,”. 

He said the persons involved in drag racing on Nevis are in their early twenties and this sporting activity would keep them away from crime. Hector said the venue for drag racing would in future become a hub of economic activities.

The President of the Nevis Drag Racing Association, Vaughn Anslyn, said, “From here we can only go forward. We can only get better.”