What year was the NHRA founded?

The NHRA was founded in 1951. Wally Parks, then an editor of Hot Rod magazine and a dry-lakes racer, created the National Hot Rod Association in California to organize drag racing and promote safety, sportsmanship, and fellowship among hot rodders.

The organization emerged when enthusiasts and officials wanted to move racing away from public roads and onto controlled courses. NHRA’s early work included rule-making, track organization, and the 1954 Drag Safari, a nationwide effort that helped communities establish safer, sanctioned races.

The year 1951 is sometimes confused with the first NHRA Nationals. The association held its first Nationals in 1955 at Great Bend Municipal Airport in Kansas. The U.S. Nationals later became NHRA’s signature event, but it did not mark the organization’s founding.

NHRA grew rapidly: it had about 25,000 members in its first year and more than 57,000 within six years. Today it sanctions professional and sportsman racing across North America.