The American Hot Rod Association was drag racing’s great second/third sanctioning body during the ‘60s and ‘70s. It did the things that the NHRA was afraid to do and leader Jim Tice was a sort of anti-Wally Parks. He was a promotional guy, willing to take risks and do stuff that Wally would have never dreamed of.
When Tice died in the early ‘80s the AHRA died an unseemly death by mismanagement, megalomania, and myopia. The great rollicking sanction’s name was reduced to being hung on a booked-in sham of a match race called the AHRA World Finals every year in Spokane, Washington.
Well, after the name was disowned by everyone and essentially ripe for the taking, a guy named Rod Saint, a long time sportsman racer from Florida, has paid the fees and done the leg work to buy the AHRA moniker. He plans on resurrecting the AHRA as a sportsman only organization. It will be the AHRA Grand American Bracket Series.
We say it “will” be called that because aside from a snappy website and a hopeful message, there is no series. You can, of course, sign up as a member of the organization, but at this time there are no events booked or scheduled. We’re not sure you can write off a leap of faith.
Forgive us for being snarky, but the world of drag racing has seen more than its fair share of scams over the last 10-15 years. We wish and hope the best for Mr. Saint and his plans, but things like the ADRA debacle, the Drag City sham, and a couple other events keep us on our toes.
