What is the is the hit in street racing?

Answer 1

just like most things exciting, the adrenaline rush....for some its the idea of having fun & breaking the law, & another part of it is the cars. having your own personalized 'work of art' or something to invest (most say waste) your hard earned $

Answer 2

It's a type of handicapping. It requires one car to wait at the starting line, until they see the other car (that gets "the hit") to start moving before they are allowed to leave the starting line.

In Drag Racing this is controlled by the tree instead.