The second key stakeholder on the production side of motorsports are the regulatory bodies who govern and administer different forms of racing across the world. Sanctioning bodies provide the rules and regulation for motorsports competition. A sanctioning body also plays an integral role in deciding the type of racing, the location of events, and the distribution of it's content via television, internet, radio, newspapers, and other media.

To get a quick snapshot of the wide variety of sanctioning bodies, click HERE to see a list of nearly 170 racing sanctioning bodies that have (or had) an association with the PRI trade show. In several instances, race track venues are also a type of sanctioning body. For example, click HERE to view the 2020 Brownstown Speedway rules for their Pure Stock class of racing at their dirt oval race track in southern Indiana. Brownstown's Pure Stock class races exclusively at this speedway, usually as a support series during their regular Saturday night race during the racing season.

In the next video, I focus on the relationship between a sanctioning body and Constructors and Suppliers. The automotive industry uses the competition organized and regulated by sanctioning bodies to test new ideas. I also discuss the key motorsports term, technology transfer, in this video.

Pretty much all forms of sport have an international governing body that oversees all sporting competition. For example, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is the world governing body for Olympic events and FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) governs soccer at the global-level. In the case of motorsport, FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) is the international governing body of automobile racing with their headquarters in Paris, France.

(image source: Wikipedia)

FIA also oversees several, global-level racing series like Formula 1, the World Endurance Championship (sports cars), and the World RallyCar Championships, along with several other series. This means they are in charge of acquiring and maintaining sponsorships, media, and television partners for these series as well. They also are interested in attracting race teams, entrants, and constructors and suppliers.

Perhaps the two biggest focus areas of FIA at the moment are related to safety and the future of automotive transportation, particularly related to lessening the environmental impact of autos. The following is an excerpt from the FIA webpage as of May 2019 (emphasis added by instructor):

"Comprised of 240 motoring and motor sport club members in 144 countries, the FIA is in a unique position to facilitate communication and the exchange of ideas among its 80 million members. This comprehensive access means that the FIA and its clubs can actively educate and inform members of their responsibilities and encourage them to behave safely and make choices that are environmentally sound."

In terms of safety, FIA is not just interested in the safety of motorsport events and racers but also the safety for private transportation. Since the FIA is such a massive organization with huge funding and resources, they can afford to conduct significant research on motorsports and automotive safety.

FIA has helped to develop a paint that can be applied to pavement that does not get slick during heavy rains. This technology started in motorsports, but has since been applied to interstates and highways in the "real world". Further, FIA has been collaborating with universities, hospitals, and technology companies to learn more about motorsport-related concussions by comparing a racer's baseline data with data after a significant accident.

Click HERE, HERE, and HERE to see close-up images of motorsport-related products that have met the FIA standards for use across numerous racing series.

FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) is the motorcycle equivalent of FIA and the international regulatory body for motorcycle racing. They sanction a wide variety of global racing series that compete on public road circuits, purpose-built venues, and off-road circuits. FIM includes several racing "federations" that are underneath the FIM umbrella. Most of these federations represent a specific country.

In the case of the United States, the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) is the largest sanctioning body that oversees motorcycle racing of various types. The AMA sanctions the popular Supercross racing series, where motorcycle riders compete on off-road circuits built temporarily inside sold-out NFL football stadiums.

The Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS - see logo below and click HERE to view their unsophisticated website) is the United States branch of FIA. ACCUS has headquarters in Denver, Colorado, along with offices in Daytona Beach, Florida. Many race fans have never heard of ACCUS, but they are the national-level "liaison" between 6 "member clubs" that are all national-level racing series in the United States.

(image source: Wikipedia)

The 6 members of ACCUS are:

1) INDYCAR: The sanctioning body for not only the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, but also several smaller racing series that are connected to IndyCar (e.g., Indy Lights) and akin to the minor leagues in Major League Baseball. IndyCar's headquarters are located across the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indy is also where most race teams, drivers, and race shops are based. Note: Capitalization matters. INDYCAR in all caps is the governing body of IndyCar, the racing series competing at the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Also, the term "Indy Racing League" and "IRL" are no longer in use and have been replaced with INDYCAR.

2) NASCAR (National Association Stock Car Auto Racing): NASCAR is, of course, the sanctioning body for the United States' largest stock car racing series. Similar to INDYCAR, NASCAR is more than just the Cup-level, stock car racing series that is nationally known as it includes several other support racing series along with several regional series as well. NASCAR's headquarters are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, but the majority of the teams, drivers, and shops are based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

3) IMSA (International Motor Sports Association): This is the largest sports car racing sanctioning body in North America and also in charge of several different levels of racing related to sports cars. IMSA is based in Daytona Beach, Florida and is owned by family members who also own NASCAR and the International Speedway Corporation, which I will discuss later in this online lecture.

4) USAC (United States Auto Club): USAC is a sanctioning body located 4 miles west of IUPUI in Downtown Speedway. This used to be the sanctioning body for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race for several decades, but is now the sanctioning body for a wide variety of racing series that are popular at the grassroots and regional levels, including sprint cars, midgets, silver crown, off-road racing, and more recently, sports car and truck racing.

5) NHRA (National Hot Rod Association): The NHRA is not only the nation's largest drag racing association, but also the largest sanctioning body in the world in terms of number of entrants. The NHRA includes several different divisions (i.e. top fuel dragsters, motorcyles, pro stock) in their professional series, but also a large number of participants at the amateur level in what is called the "Sportsman" series. Indianapolis annually hosts the most prestigious drag racing event in the world (the "US Nationals") each Labor Day weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont. NHRA's headquarters are in Southern California (Glendora, a Los Angeles suburb), which has had a strong history of drag racing.

6) SCCA (Sports Car Club of America): This is a sanctioning body that oversees a wide array of racing series that are mostly at the amateur level (although the SCCA does sanction a few professional racing series). Many SCCA racing series (also referred to as "clubs") are are organized into separate regions across the country. For example, Indiana is in the Great Lakes region with Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and half of West Virginia. At the end of the year, each of the divisions sends their best to the SCCA national championship at what is called "The Runoffs". IUPUI's Motorsports Engineering program was started by Pete Hylton, who is the Historian for the SCCA and a member of the SCCA Hall of Fame. This is why IUPUI's library hosts a collection HERE of digital artifacts from the SCCA's history. The SCCA's headquarters are located in Topeka, Kansas.

Below is an image from the 2017 SCCA Runoffs, which were held on the road course of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team consisted of mostly IUPUI students and finished in second place in the F Production class. This was a great accomplishment since nearly 50 cars were entered in this particular class.

(image source: IUPUI News)

Let's now use USAC and NASCAR as case studies of sanctioning bodies updating their rules, regulations, and schedules by exploring press releases from late 2018 to 2019.

USAC
Each year, USAC announces updates HERE to the rulebook for each of its racing series. For example, click HERE to read a press release announcing certain rule changes and mandated equipment for the 2019 USAC/CRA season. Click HERE to read a USAC press release introducing the 44 race schedule for their 2019 sprint car (wingless) racing series.

USAC tries to balance the schedule in key geographic areas of the country that enjoy sprint car racing with potential new venues to help grow their fan base (i.e. increase consumption). USAC is also interested in attracting more entrants and racers to their various series. For example, in 2019, USAC's regional series in the American Southwest (California, Arizona) announced an incentive of reduced or waived entry fees for any entrant that participated in a certain number of events.

NASCAR
Although most of the venues NASCAR competes have been on their racing schedule for numerous years, NASCAR is seemingly always tweaking their calendar. For example, the Brickyard 400 race has been held in late July, August, and September. But, in 2020, the Brickyard 400 will be on 4th of July weekend as NASCAR attempts to boost fan attendance and interest by adjusting race dates.

But, as noted above, sanctioning bodies make the rules for race teams and entrants. NASCAR has, for example, made recent changes to their rules package for certain race tracks to promote safer racing. Click HERE to read an article about NASCAR mandating a higher spoiler (sorta like a rear wing) to help lower speeds (and thus promote safer racing) at their fastest and largest tracks. This update to the NASCAR rule book happened after the season already started, which is something that happens often. In this case, a new rules package was put forth by NASCAR ahead of the season. But, after the first race of the season, some NASCAR race teams were pushing the boundaries of the rule book. In response, NASCAR updated their rule book two months into the season.