National Hot Rod Association to Face Racer’s Antitrust Lawsuit

The National Hot Rod Association must face antitrust claims brought by longtime drag racer Larry Dixon over its alleged scheme to elbow him out of the market for two-seat dragsters after he developed a prototype, a federal judge in Indiana ruled.

Judge James R. Sweeney let Dixon move forward in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana with allegations that the association pressured cosponsors and racetracks not to do business with him and suspended him for displaying his two-seater at a trade show.

Although the lawsuit didn’t allege “the kind of obvious anti-competitive behavior that constitutes a ...