The road to the 75th anniversary of the National Hot Rod Association in 2026 isn’t just a timeline — it’s a launch sequence. It’s a road trip that will take us through the arc of how this all began, a testament to the ones who saw what was possible and dared to prove it.
For Wally Parks, this association was always about seeing how fast and far we could go. Not just on the dry lake beds north of Los Angeles. Not just the cars. Not just the records. It was always about something bigger — he saw the possibilities.
For Parks, hot rodding was about execution; taking a great idea — from anywhere — and succeeding with it in a way that inspires others to push harder, dig deeper, and believe.
In our world, speed is a technology and a language. It’s a way of measuring not just what we can do but showing others what they’re capable of. When an NHRA drag racer crosses the line at 341 mph, they’re not just setting a record — they’re redefining what’s possible. They’re setting the next challenge. They’re saying, “This is what we are all capable of, and we just proved it.”
That’s what the NHRA has always been about. It’s an ecosystem of speed that organizes the best of our energies and skills. Not as abstract ideas but as manifestations that move mankind forward. In this world, time is our only enemy. Speed is our weapon. Camaraderie is in our DNA.
The NHRA was built on this principle — that speed isn’t just about winning races, it’s about pushing boundaries. It’s about every driver, every builder, every fan who has ever looked at a set of numbers on a time slip and thought: I can do better. The NHRA normalizes a pursuit of excellence. Seventy-five years in, and that hasn’t changed.
The NHRA is a love letter to speed. To the ones who refuse to slow down. To those who see an empty dragstrip as an invitation. To the ones who wake up every day looking for ways to go faster, think bigger, dream further. Because we are the National Hot Rod Association.