Yeah, that’s just one way NHRA can control a track.
As an FYI, in 1994 I tried to get an IHRA sanction for my local track to compete against the nonsense that was going on there. I had IHRA signed on to do it IF I could get the track dates (that should have been easy IF the city of Portland followed its own laws), IF I could get an insurance binder and IF a I could supply my own timing equipment.
I had the money lined up to cover the insurance and the timing equipment, plus some operating capital. The big deal was getting the dates, and the city of Portland broke it’s own laws. It violated several of its own rules that were laid out so that the park could be used for what it was built to be used for.
It was appalling how it all went down. People way higher up the food chain from different venues (and from other tracks) came together and put the squeeze on me to stop what I was doing. They got to my money guys. They went to my friends and threatened to do certain things to certain series to affect whole groups of people.
I lost several friends over the deal. Not that I care, because that’s on them. But the end result was a nice object lesson on what actual power NHRA has and how they use it. Even on little old me.
It was also a great lesson in that telling a lie for years can become a truth. That’s real and it happens. The promoter said he was “grandfathered” in and only he had the right to promote drag racing at the park. The fact was (and still is) he was lying. So did the guy who was before him. Both liars..and the idiots believed him. When in fact, the city of Portland has clear, definitive rules about the use of ANY city park. And yet, to this day they break those rules and laws.
What a shame.
