About 100 car enthusiasts gathered at the state Capitol yesterday to urge drivers to refrain from using O'ahu roadways as racetracks following the recent closure of the Hawai'i Raceway Park.

"Many racers share the worry that H-1, H-2 and H-3 will become the new racetracks, and we're here as a group to ask everyone to drive safely on O'ahu's streets," said Chad Jones, an organizer of the rally and vice president of Paradise Cruisers.

In the past, people would visit the raceway park in the Campbell industrial area on Fridays and Saturdays to legally satisfy their "need for speed," Jones said. But with its closing, many fear that some racers will race illegally on city streets.

"This is not acceptable to us and we cannot sit by without speaking out," Jones said.

Lining Beretania Street in front of the Capitol, many held signs urging people to drive safely, while racing enthusiasts circled the block, revving their engines and honking.

Jeanette Grace, a member of Save Our Raceway Track, said street racing has picked up since the raceway's closure earlier this month. She cited as evidence "burn-rubber marks" on the H-1 Freeway's straightaway from Makakilo to Waipahu. "These are the kinds of people who cause accidents," Grace said. "But this is what happens when people have no other place to race."

O'ahu's racing community is divided over whether to support creation of a tax credit to draw investors to a new motorsports complex or a city purchase of the existing racetrack.

Stock car drivers who race on a dirt oval have rebelled against Mike Oakland, president of the Hawai'i Motorsports Complex, because he will not guarantee that a new motorsports complex will have a dirt track. Dirt-track fans want the city to purchase the existing race track from the Campbell Estate and make improvements to it.

But despite the disagreements, fans from both sides came together yesterday to ask racers not to race on the roads.

"We're not in support of the tax credit bill, but we're here to support the racers and the safety of our streets," said George Grace, a member of Save Our Raceway Track. Grace and his wife own Paradise Lua, a sponsor of more than 20 racers.

Michael Kitchens, of race sponsor Hawaiitalks.net and a supporter of the tax credit, said most racers do not condone racing on city streets. "We need a new place to race, and regardless of how that happens, (the racing community) is unified under that concept," he said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.