Summernats organisers have cried foul over what they see as special attention received from ACT police, questioning their decision to issue a press release after just one driver was caught doing street burnouts.
"I would ask the police that if someone gets a speeding fine on the way to a V8 Supercar race, do we do a press release about that?" Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez said.
"I wanted to make that point. I found it unusual."
Police issued the media release to pre-empt hooning in Canberra during Summernats, highlighting the temporary seizure of one high-performance vehicle after a 24-year-old male driver was caught conducting burnouts in Civic on the festival's eve.
Mr Lopez said while the street machine festival loved working with ACT police, he found their media strategy "interesting".
"In terms of anti-hooning, Summernats is providing an outlet for people to drive their cars the way they want," he said.
Last year's burnout champion Mark Schwirse, who will compete in the Burnout Masters this year, said while he may have done the odd burnout in street cul-de-sacs when younger, he no longer did as the motoring community's image was more important.
"Most of us guys know what the rules are. Definitely no public areas. You try to be smart about it otherwise you won't have your car," the 36-year-old said.
"Young guys can give the industry a bad name, but with our cars and the reputation that we've got, we keep it in the right environment."
Once infamous for rowdy crowds, wet t-shirt contests and adult entertainment, Summernats has received a family friendly make-over since changing owners several years ago.
In a further attempt to boost the festival's revamped image, car culture identity Bruce Morrison spoke to journalists during day two of Summernats on Friday to argue that the "hooning" image associated with street machine lovers was blown out of proportion.
"It's the same as the cricket, or the football, or somewhere else, where something goes wrong and somehow the whole crowd is branded as anti-social," the managing director of automotive company MotorActive said.
ACT police on Saturday said there had been no further incidents of hooning since the January 1 incident in Civic.
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