I've never played the game.... but many do
Drug money changed a lot of the street race code of - You lost, you paid. Sometimes guys would be bitches about, but they knew the word would get out they welched and didn't want that on them. The true jackasses started showing up, lose badly and pull guns, etc. F that. I'm not getting shot over a race.
I never told the truth, but I didn't ever race for bragging rights. I'd shoe a bunch of cars because the owners were afraid of them. Having a true 9 second car on the street in the mid 80's took some doing. There was a stable of cars that we could roll out from 9.40 to 11.50 on any night and every one would hook in a sandbox.