Sand Racers Pull Races out of Soboba Due to Violence

The National Sand Drag Association has pulled its races from the Soboba Indian Reservation, citing safety concerns following a series of fatal shootings by deputies that left three tribal members dead.

The Arizona-based organization, with a membership of more than 500, decided in June to pull its events off the reservation and instead will hold its races at a new facility near Mystic Lake west of San Jacinto, said Alfonso "Chachy" Zavala, one of several organizers.
"We didn't feel safe going back there," Zavala said Tuesday. "We didn't want to put anyone else in danger. It was better for the racers, organizers and spectators to hold it somewhere else."