SEMA Is Fighting To Save America’s Local Race Tracks

• Small tracks face closure from ‘nuisance’ complaints and redevelopment.
• SEMA is using its PAC and lobbyists to push protective legislation.
• Anti-nuisance laws would shield tracks that existed before nearby residents.

Race tracks across America are endangered. Every few months, there’s grim news of another small road course getting bulldozed in favor of Amazon warehouses or apartment buildings. It all seems futile, especially when even iconic tracks like WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca are under fire.

But one organization is trying to enact change at the policy level with an “anti-nuisance law.” SEMA, the same group that hosts the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas, has been slowly building a political presence to represent the automotive aftermarket.

Willow Springs International Raceway

Photo by: DW Burnett / Motor1

Now, SEMA has a dedicated department for political affairs, including a political action committee (PAC) with access to lobbyists who help push SEMA’s agenda forward. Luckily, SEMA’s agenda aligns well with what enthusiasts want, including protecting race tracks.

Karen Bailey-Chapman, SEMA’s SVP of Public and Government Affairs, spoke on the subject earlier this year. She told Motor1: “This is going to be state law that impacts everybody… for an overland park, a dragstrip, anything like that.”

Most tracks fall victim to “nuisance” complaints. This is especially true as housing branches out farther from cities, surrounding tracks that were once in the middle of nowhere. Drag strips and local small tracks are the primary victims of this.

“The big speedways don’t really have the issue,” she says. “It’s the mom and pop drag strips.”

Photo by: DW Burnett / Motor1

‘This is going to be state law that impacts everybody… for an overland park, a dragstrip, anything like that.’

Those nuisance complaints can lead to a few different things. Best case, restrictions on noise and activity will be enforced. If that doesn’t work, residents can sue to have restrictions placed by the county or city, or to condemn the track entirely.

A big enough complaint can lead to larger actions, like environmental reviews. Or with enough financial turmoil, developers will begin circling like hawks in an effort to acquire the property.

Of course, the legal mechanisms are much more complicated, but that’s the simple truth. It usually starts with complaints. Using its PAC, SEMA is trying to introduce state-level legislation to protect existing race tracks from these complaints. Essentially, if the track existed before the residents, the proposed laws will protect it.

“We look at solutions that we can model and replicate in different states. That is the anti-nuisance law, law.”

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