Levi Holmes ran mostly Camaro’s during his reign as Newark’s “Blacl Knight”, but this Chevy Nova earned its share of A/Modified Production and Pro-Stock wins in the Northeast’s tough NHRA Division 1 racing. Levi’s second career was as one of the notorious NYC-NJ “pro street racers”. He also ran professionally built, Pro-Stockers on the street. Levi raced competitively in Modified Eliminator and Pro-Stock, during the early 1970’s. Holmes spent time atop the peaks of two vastly different types of drag racing activities. On the mean streets of Newark and NYC, many remember Levi Holmes as one of the many drag racing legends both cities spawned. The remaining “legal” track, at Englishtown, New Jersey, is also a drive from The Big Apple and Newark. In those days the closest tracks were the now-defunct New York National Speedway, a considerable drive out Long Island, at Center Moriches. Today there are no drag strips found on any map of Newark, or NYC.

Yet Newark and New York were once the epicenter of intense drag racing contests, all highly illegal and featuring competition for wildly inflated cash “purses”! There were no “lists”, “call out’s” or “spots”, just huge cash wagers and racing under risky conditions.

Newark, New Jersey and New York City hardly rank as notable venues for motor racing. In great contrast to this, the 60’s and early 70’s Newark and New York City street race scene was significantly bigger, and vastly richer! Of course, strict safety standards are mandatory to satisfy DSC-TV’s insurance requirements and demands of local law enforcement. This success is in spite of their “street races” being staged on totally controlled street surfaces with the same safety provisions of a sanctioned drag strip. The Discovery Channel’s “Street Outlaws” series is enormously popular, and one of Discovery’s highest rated shows.

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