For decades, thousands of people all across the country have modified vehicles to use them exclusively as race cars at closed race tracks. This is a hobby for many of you in North Carolina. You put money, time and hard work into fixing your cars and you enjoy taking them to the track and racing them on the weekends.
By modifying or removing certain aspects of a street car, you and other race car builders are able to improve your car’s performance. In fact, converting motor vehicles into race cars is a significant part of American automotive heritage and played an integral role in the foundation of NASCAR.
Did you know the EPA recently tried to go around Congress and make these cars illegal?
Regulations that waste our money, time and resources are bad for jobs, but the EPA is trying to go one step further to restrict our personal freedom. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is authorized to regulate motor vehicles, but these regulations have never applied to race cars.
In fact, back in 1990, Congress explicitly said race cars used solely for competition are exempt from EPA regulations meant for street cars. Despite Congress making this painstakingly clear, the EPA is trying to regulate amateur race cars.
Even if I didn’t represent racetracks like Charlotte Motor Speedway, Rockingham Dragway and zMAX Dragway, and a whole lot of racing enthusiasts, I would be outraged by this ridiculous government overreach. I heard from constituents who are concerned that this rule would bring the popular hobby of converting road cars into race cars for professional and amateur use to a screeching halt.
Not just that, it would negatively impact an entire industry and businesses who provide the parts for this pastime. The regulation will have a ripple effect — possibly hurting our economy and costing jobs.
That’s why I introduced the bipartisan Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2016 with Rep. Patrick McHenry to confirm that race cars are exempt from EPA regulation via the Clean Air Act. This legislation is a critical step to protect the way of life for many and ensure the future of racing.
Time and time again, Washington bureaucrats propose erroneous regulations like this that prove they’re completely out of touch with the rest of our country. These bureaucrats writing rules and regulations affecting our lives have never even been to North Carolina. How do they know what’s best for our communities?
They don’t. That’s why I’m fighting for conservative, commonsense solutions like the RPM Act that return control back to us.
I have long said we can keep the air clean while protecting jobs, but we have to be reasonable and use common sense. The EPA misses the mark yet again with this racing regulation. We’re not just going to sound the alarm on it — we’re going to fight to stop it.
Rep. Richard Hudson, R-Concord, represents North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Anson County.