American Hot Rod Association
| Sport | Drag racing |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | North America |
| Abbreviation | AHRA |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Headquarters | Panama City, Florida |
| President | Chris Wrieden |
| Chief Exec | Rod Saint |
| Other key staff | Morris Calkins |
| Official website | |
| ahramotorsports |
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The American Hot Rod Association, also known as the AHRA, was founded in Pennsylvania, headquartered in Kansas for much of its existence, and is located in Florida as of 2015[update].
Walter Mentzer felt that the drag racers needed an organization that spoke for them as opposed to one that spoke for the drag strips. Mentzer went to the Pennsylvania county office that handled such things and incorporated the name of the American Hot Rod Association with himself at the helm. At the end of 1955, Hot Rod magazine did a story on the fledgling Pennsylvania non-profit organization and it attracted a lot of attention. Mentzer wanted the racers to actually have a voice in how this organization was run. Every member registered with the home office in Pittsburgh and after a year, they had a vote in how it was run.
Mentzer was drafted in 1957, which took him out of the racing picture. Don Garlits had been elected president of the organization in 1958 with Kansas City racer and insurance salesman, Jim Tice, being installed as vice-president. By late 1959, Garlits had gone on with his racing career and Tice became president of the organization and changed the AHRA into a profit-making organization. Tice moved the AHRA to Kansas City, took over the books, and incorporated the name there, creating a profit-making organization.
On the weekend prior to the Nationals event, the group re-convened and had grown to where 18 states were represented at the second meeting. It was announced that AHRA would hold its National Championship drags at the 8,000-foot long Great Bend site through 1959. AHRA was responsible for much significant drag racing history. It was AHRA that first provided a home for Top Fuel, ignoring the fuel ban of 1957 through 1963, and also giving the Funny Cars their first hot rod association abode. In fact, while it was not called such, AHRA also had the first Pro Stock class, a heads-up, ultimate-statement Super Stock eliminator in 1968.
“AHRA, and in the middle 1950’s, the ATAA (Automobile Timing Association of America), ran nitro," said former AHRA president and 10-time AHRA Top Fuel champ “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. “I had run the ATAA (World Series of Drag Racing) event on nitro race. In fact, the ATAA World Series, which they first held in Lawrenceville, Ill., and later Cordova, really was the first of the big races for fuel cars and that was the way I wanted to race — on nitro."
In 1960, AHRA had undergone some more significant changes and these involved a lot more than what fuel was run. Garlits had been elected president of the organization in 1958 with Kansas City racer and insurance salesman, Jim Tice, being installed as vice-president. Garlits, as could be expected, would have an extremely difficult schedule to wrestle with. On the one hand, he was voted to handle a growing hot rod association, and on the other, he had a full-on, year-long racing schedule. He simply couldn't do both.
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Wikipedia