Race tracks and motorsports\nbusinesses continue to contribute to local economies even during the challenges\nof the last year. This month we will\nlook at how municipalities and governments support their efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the state level, racing is a\nkey part of the fuel that drives the North Carolina business engine. It is the\ncentral hub for the stock car industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposed North Carolina\nstate budget for 2021 \u2013 2022 includes $51 million that would be directed to the\nmotorsports industry. Parts of these funds would part of the American Rescue\nPlan that states received from the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This includes $45 million for\ninfrastructure projects that would benefit three race tracks: Charlotte Motor\nSpeedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway and The Rock Speedway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The largest amount, $20 million\nwould be for water, sewer, and infrastructure upgrades for the area around North\nWilkesboro Speedway. Wilkes Country\nwould receive the funds and coordinate with local governments for work related\nto the track that has been closed since 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cities of Concord and\nRockingham would get $10 million each to improve areas near their respective\nracing venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An additional $5 million is\nfunding for grants that local municipalities could used for increasing\nopportunities for racing events. These\nvenues would have to be sanctioned by NASCAR, NHRA, or IHRA or hosted a Cup\nrace. There are almost 15 tracks that\nmeet this criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remaining $1 million would\nbe for smaller tracks and supporting their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sports betting legislation in\nNorth Carolina has also been proposed which would issue licenses for operators\nto offer live in person or online betting at sports books at sports stadiums,\narenas and race tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This follows the recent trend\nof states legalizing sports betting since the Supreme Court struck down the\nfederal ban in 2018. Budget shortfalls\nare causing states to re-consider sports betting since is generates meaningful\ntax revenue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the federal level,\nlegislation has been introduced to protect the right to convert street vehicles\ninto dedicated race cars and the motorsports parts industry ability to sell\nproducts that enable racers to compete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The RPM Act of 2021 clarifies\nthat it is legal to make emissions-related changes to a street vehicle for the\npurpose of converting it into a race care used in competition. It also confirms that is legal to produce,\nmarket and install racing equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal is to clarify the\nEPA\u2019s understanding that the Clean Air Act does not allow a motor vehicle for\nstreet use to be converted to a race cars at the race track and not on public\nroads. The terms \u201ccompetition only\u201d and\n\u201ctrack use\u201d are subject to differing interpretations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For many years, this was not a\nproblem but starting around 2015, the EPA adopted the stance vehicles must\nremain emission compliant. Enforcement\nis ongoing against manufacturers, sellers and installers of high performance\nrace car parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There has been strong support across\nthe motorsports community asking Congress to pass this legislation. Over one\nmillion letters have been sent to Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Motorsports competition\ninvolves thousands of participants and owners, both on the amateur and\nprofessional levels. Retail sales of\nracing products total billions each year. \nTracks are located in every part of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These legislative efforts on\nthe both the state and federal levels support the business of motorsports and\nits favorable impact from an economic perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Race tracks and motorsports businesses continue to contribute to local economies even during the challenges of the last year. This month we will look at how municipalities and governments support their efforts. On the state level, racing is a key part of the fuel that drives the North Carolina business engine. It is the central […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions\/871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}