UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007 | 7:19 a.m.

Midnight Mayhem is open to any licensed driver with proof of insurance and a street-legal car, truck or motorcycle. Minors must present a signed parent consent form, available by calling 632-8213.

Alcohol is not allowed and beer is not sold at the track during Midnight Mayhem. Each Midnight Mayhem runs from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. and features car shows, midway attractions and DJs. Admission is $10 for drivers and $5 for spectators.

Remaining 2007 schedule for Midnight Mayhem at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

Sept. 14

Sept. 28

Oct. 19

Nov. 2

Nov. 9

Nov. 30

It was a classic case of life imitating art, only with deadly consequences.

The year was 2001 and the release of the blockbuster movie "The Fast and the Furious" sparked a nationwide surge in illegal street racing. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, street racing was a factor in 135 deaths that year - more than double the number reported the year before.

With street racing accidents and fatalities in the Valley becoming more common at the time, officials at the drag strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway decided to open their gates a couple of nights a month to provide street racers a safer alternative in the controlled environment of a professional drag strip.

The program , dubbed Midnight Mayhem, allowed anyone with a street-legal car, truck or motorcycle to make timed passes down the quarter-mile strip on select Friday nights. Now in its sixth year, Midnight Mayhem attracts an average of 350 participants who make as many passes as they can from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The program has been successful in steering some illegal street racers into the track's weekly racing series, but it mostly allows young adults (minors of driving age can participate with a signed parent consent form) an inexpensive way to spend a Friday night away from the "other" Strip.

In addition to attracting flashy nitrous-burning import cars, Midnight Mayhem often draws teens in their mom's minivans or their dad's front-wheel drive sedans as well as drivers of all ages in everything from classic American muscle cars to diesel pickup trucks.

It also has proved to be the perfect place for at least one Las Vegas couple to advance their courtship.

After initially meeting online on a forum for Mazda owners, Juan Pereda and Adrienne McPherson have spent occasional Fridays at Midnight Mayhem tuning their identical white Dodge SRT-4 Neons. They now are engaged .

"We had matching Mazdas when we met and we traded those in and on the same day we bought two of these," 25-year-old McPherson said, proudly pointing to her shiny 2005 Dodge.

Although McPherson's SRT-4 remains pretty much as she drove it off the dealer's lot, Pereda said he has invested about $5,000 to beef up the performance of his - and it shows when the two make side-by-side passes at The Strip.

"Right now, mine's running 13 (seconds in the quarter-mile) and she's in the 14s," Pereda, 21, said after a 103-mph pass during a Midnight Mayhem event last month.

"His is faster," McPherson acknowledged, "but I'm trying to beat him at least once so I can always say, 'Ha, ha, I beat you.' But mine's almost completely stock."

Although Pereda admits it is tempting to race his SRT-4 on the streets, he and McPherson said they confine their high-speed dates to Midnight Mayhem.

"We keep the racing out here," McPherson said, "where it's safe and legal."