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ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. -
A man was killed Saturday night after he crashed a car built for drag racing along a stretch of road popular among street racers.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol said James Strange was testing his late 1980s Ford Mustang along U.S. Service Road 29 when he lost control, hit a tree and died.
"It's a perfect straightaway, fairly level, isolated," said First Sgt. Ray Gibson. "A good place to try it."
The highway patrol knows people race or test their cars on the service road located just outside the town of Ruffin, but it's difficult to patrol the rural road away from homes and businesses.
"They will have spotters at every entrance and exit to this road, and anything resembling a law enforcement vehicle, (they'll) pick up the cell phone and they are gone," said Gibson.
"I hope they decide drag racing is not a safe thing to do on these roads. It needs to be done in a controlled environment and this is not a controlled environment for racing," he said.
The highway patrol said it continues to investigate the accident in hopes of determining if other drivers were on the road when Strange crashed.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol said James Strange was testing his late 1980s Ford Mustang along U.S. Service Road 29 when he lost control, hit a tree and died.
"It's a perfect straightaway, fairly level, isolated," said First Sgt. Ray Gibson. "A good place to try it."
The highway patrol knows people race or test their cars on the service road located just outside the town of Ruffin, but it's difficult to patrol the rural road away from homes and businesses.
"They will have spotters at every entrance and exit to this road, and anything resembling a law enforcement vehicle, (they'll) pick up the cell phone and they are gone," said Gibson.
"I hope they decide drag racing is not a safe thing to do on these roads. It needs to be done in a controlled environment and this is not a controlled environment for racing," he said.
The highway patrol said it continues to investigate the accident in hopes of determining if other drivers were on the road when Strange crashed.
