Bill to help motorsports tracks back in spotlight following DC race

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar race held August 23 in Washington has brought renewed focus in Congress to help permanent motorsports tracks across the country.

The bill is called the Motorsports Fairness Permanency Act of 2025. If it becomes law, it will extend a tax provision making it easier for tracks and drag strips.

Karen Bailey-Chapman, who advocates on behalf of racetracks on Capitol Hill with the Performance Racing Industry, said the tax treatment changes the depreciation schedule for track investments.

“When you’re a racetrack and you invest in, I don’t know, new bathrooms, new grandstands, concession stands, you have to write that you can only write that off over 39 years. So with this tax treatment, it is allowing it to depreciate over seven years, so they’re allowed to the owners of these racetracks are able to recoup their costs of investment on a quicker on a quicker schedule,” she said.

Bailey-Chapman said the seven-year depreciation schedule has been around since the 1990s but had to be reauthorized. It expired in 2025.

The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana). It would make the seven-year schedule permanent.

“The owners of these tracks, they’re always looking to invest in new safety measures or upgrades, so fans have a better experience. And to the extent that they can make these investments, more people will want to come to the track or tune into racing, so it makes the whole ecosystem work,” Young said.

That ecosystem includes major tracks like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but Bailey-Chapman said many tracks set to benefit are the lifeblood of small communities across the U.S.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that there’s over 1,500 local racetracks around the country, and a lot of them are actually family owned. They’re mom and pop, family owned or small businesses. So we always sort of focus on the big super speedways that we see on Sundays on our TVs as we watch racing, but there’s 1,500 tracks around the country that are actually small businesses,” Bailey-Chapman said.

Bailey-Chapman said she hopes Congress can pass the bill as part of a larger legislative package by the end of this year.