Tracking legal, legislative, and regulatory developments impacting the racing and performance industry.

PRI’s Washington, DC-based legal and advocacy teams work continuously to protect and support motorsports venues, sanctioning bodies, and businesses around the nation. We are tracking several initiatives this month, including an update on key legislation designed to protect racing businesses, a new law aimed at impeding sales of counterfeit goods, how connections from December’s PRI Show will fuel the industry in 2023, and more. 

Update On Status Of RPM Act

The 2021–2022 Congressional session has ended without the passage of the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act despite strong Congressional backing and extraordinary support from the racing community.  

“We wouldn’t have made it this far without this incredible effort by so many of our members,” said SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola. “The RPM Act was one of the most bipartisan bills in the 117th Congress, with over 165 lawmakers co-sponsoring the legislation. SEMA and PRI are leveraging the momentum we built during the 2021–2022 congressional session, assessing the current challenges the industry faces, and will be charting a path forward for the industry’s advocacy efforts at both the federal and state levels.”   

SEMA/PRI will continue its advocacy work to bring needed certainty to the racing community and protect a great American pastime and hundreds of thousands of jobs in communities throughout the country. For updates, visit saveourracecars.com.  

New Law Takes Aim At Counterfeit Goods

A new law has been passed that will help protect consumers from bad actors peddling counterfeit and stolen goods. The PRI-supported INFORM Consumers Act is critical in helping law enforcement, manufacturers, retailers, and online marketplaces of all sizes shield buyers from unscrupulous merchants selling knock-off and potentially unsafe products.

“PRI celebrates passage of the INFORM Consumers Act, which protects the intellectual property of motorsports parts manufacturers and helps to prevent the sale of stolen and counterfeit products,” said Eric Snyder, PRI’s Senior Director of Federal Government Affairs. 

For more information, including key provisions of this new law, contact Snyder at erics@sema.org.

Tracks, Sanctions Strategize At PRI

Motorsports facility owners, event organizers, promoters, and professionals from across the nation gathered at the most recent PRI Trade Show to create dialogue, share information, and make new connections.  

“These conversations between tracks and sanctions give racers more consistent and quality racing. We’re moving toward race teams being able to tune to what they ran at the last track or race they attended,” said Kurt Johnson of Petersburg, Indiana-based Total Venue Concepts. “Safety is also paramount. It’s not just a competitive advantage—we’re also providing safer tracks countrywide thanks to the conversations [here].”   

During the three-day Show, more than a dozen breakout sessions took place in the TOPS (Track Operators, Promoters, and Sanctions) Workroom & Lounge presented by MyRacePass.com, including a special drag racing day that covered topics on track prep and maintenance and getting the most out of track equipment, plus an all-star panel of promoters discussing what makes an event successful. 

“We all have to remember that no matter what type of motorsports you’re into—drag, oval track, road racing, you name it—the track owners and promoters are the baselines for our entire industry,” said Josh Holt, co-owner and co-founder of MyRacePass. “Having a [space] where promoters can ask questions, hang out with their peers, and learn some of the new tricks of the trade is a fantastic addition to the PRI Show.”  

The meetings also allowed tracks and promoters to align their goals—and racing schedules—to benefit race teams, fans, and the entire industry.   

“Being able to meet in person strengthened our relationships,” said National Speedway Directory’s Timothy Frost, who oversaw roundtables on road course and off-road racing. “Promoters coordinated schedules with other facilities and sanctioning bodies,” which will lead to more opportunities for track time for racers, fuller car counts, and better racing.  

“Anytime you have the opportunity to communicate with others, be it your next-door neighbor [track] or somewhere across the country, it can help; it opens the dialogue that helps foster relations,” agreed Joe Skotnicki of Racing Promotion Monthly (RPM). 

PRI Rally Raises $40K For Advocacy

Some $40,000 was raised to help elect lawmakers that support motorsports during a fundraising event at the recent PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis. Thousands of industry members took part in the “Save Our Race Cars” rally at Lucas Oil Stadium presented in conjunction with PRI’s Performance Racing Political Action Committee (PAC).  

Emceed by Johnny D, “the Motivational Cowboy,” the event featured appearances by members of Discovery Channel’s Street Outlaws, as well as Sage “Donkmaster” Thomas, Brent Leivestad from PFI Speed, and others.

For more information or to help support the Performance Racing PAC, visit performanceracing.com/pac.