It is important to celebrate victories for economic freedom as they emerge, even when they come in the most peculiar of places. One such place is the racing world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In October, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed into law<\/a> HB 926, called the \u201cRight to Race\u201d law. This new measure shields racetracks from noise-related nuisance lawsuits if the facility existed and was permitted before <\/em>nearby properties were developed. This is an incredible win for economic freedom against NIMBYs demanding to silence roaring engines after making the decision to move next to a racetrack. North Carolina has definitively answered \u201cno\u201d to the question: Should those who knowingly move next to a racetrack be allowed to use the government to quiet it?<\/p>\n As areas around the country redevelop, with rural areas becoming suburbs and suburbs evolving into de facto metropolises, racetracks have found themselves the target of those moving into these newer developments. Racetracks that long predate the existence of these neighbors are facing legal action by the newcomers.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, in Tennessee, the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, which first opened in 1904, now faces opposition from residents<\/a> as the track seeks to renovate in order to lure NASCAR racing back to the facility. Despite being there first, despite the track\u2019s positive economic impact, many tracks find themselves without legal protection from the locals.\u00a0<\/p>\n In response to this, some states have taken action. Over the summer, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds enshrined HF 645<\/a>, which protects racetracks, such as the famed Knoxville Raceway, from the constant threat of litigation from their neighbors, provided the track preexisted the neighboring property\u2019s purchase or development.<\/p>\n Last month, North Carolina followed suit.<\/a> Racing has been embedded in the state for almost a century, with tracks like Bowman Gray Stadium<\/a> (1937), North Wilkesboro Speedway<\/a> (1947), Hickory Motor Speedway<\/a> (1951), and Charlotte Motor Speedway<\/a> (1960) becoming renowned venues of racing around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is a long-held legal, philosophical, and economic position: first use establishes right. This is how we arrive at property rights, through homesteading. These rights secure not only possession, but also established and peaceful use. In interaction with property rights, we reach \u201ccoming to the nuisance.\u201d In this common-law doctrine, you consent to the effects of an existing activity if you choose to move next to it. It is your choice of proximity that entails your acceptance of the conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n In \u201cLaw, Property Rights, and Air Pollution<\/a>,\u201d economist Murray Rothbard makes this point with the example of an airport. Prior use generates a legitimate easement-like claim in sound or emission. In the case of the airport, Rothbard writes, \u201cThe airport has already homesteaded X decibels worth of noise. By its prior claim, the airport now owns the right to emit X decibels into the surrounding area.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This simple point illustrates the following: when an airport operates openly for years, it \u201chomesteads\u201d its noise. The sound waves become part of its legitimate use, and newcomers consent when moving next door. The same logic applies here to racetracks. Their races, the noise of the engines, do not violate anyone\u2019s rights \u2014 they exercise, instead, preexisting ones. What seems like an abstract theory is expressed in clear statutes like those in North Carolina and Iowa.<\/p>\n These states are translating the principles of homesteading into positive law, at least in the defense of racing. In effect, they take what Rothbard described as a natural rights easement \u2014 earned through peaceful, longstanding use \u2014 and make it explicit law. What these laws help clarify is the difference between preferences and rights. When preferences override rights, this signals institutional instability \u2014 rights are negotiable. Nashville proves itself as a cautionary counterexample. Without statutory protection, the Fairgrounds Speedway is vulnerable to neighborhood pressures that could lead to the violation of the track owners\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n With any luck, North Carolina and Iowa will not be outliers, but a broad legal correction. When courts and city councils prefer what might be called \u201caesthetic interventionism\u201d, where neighbors\u2019 preferences, not owners\u2019 rights, dictate outcomes, this creates uncertainty regarding property rights, threatening the very foundation of a free economy. When property owners and entrepreneurs can rely on institutional stability, they can invest with confidence in the future. Without such confidence, the erosion of trust that it produces deters economic growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n These \u201cRight to Race\u201d laws push back against this drift, restoring predictability to this segment of the market. These racetrack cases are only a small, visible example, but the same logic applies to other industries in various ways, such as nightlife ordinances and noise complaints for musicians. The order of homesteading matters, and these laws help preserve the space for voluntary exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sound of dozens of racecars flying around North Wilkesboro or Charlotte may not be music to everyone\u2019s ears, but it represents something deeper than sport. It is the roar of property rights at work \u2014 the anchor of fairness, stability, and freedom. States like North Carolina and Iowa have protected not only racing, but the freedom that depends upon stable expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nashville\u2019s ongoing fight, on the other hand, shows what happens without such clarity. When rights are negotiable, every market action becomes provisional. Economic freedom demands the simple rule that those who came, acted, and homesteaded first have property rights. Sometimes, that means protecting racetracks. Thank you, North Carolina and Iowa.<\/p>\n The post States Are Reaffirming Property Rights at the Racetrack<\/a> was first published by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER)<\/a>, and is republished here with permission. Please support their efforts.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is important to celebrate victories for economic freedom as they emerge, even when they come in the most peculiar of places. One such place is the racing world.\u00a0 In October, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed into law HB 926, called the \u201cRight to Race\u201d law. This new measure shields racetracks from noise-related nuisance …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":801,"featured_media":2324418,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2512636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2512636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2512637,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512636\/revisions\/2512637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2324418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2512636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2512636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2512636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}