NHRA debuts groundbreaking healthcare policy designed to support pregnant competitors
For over 70 years, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) has championed the participation of women in motorsport — but all this time, one critical element was lacking. How should the NHRA treat its pregnant competitors?
Women wishing to start a family have traditionally had to retire from drag racing competition to focus on those goals, but an incredible new policy introduced by the NHRA is designed to allow women to balance their career with their families.
NHRA’s new policy for pregnant competitors
Traditionally, if an NHRA competitor wanted to get pregnant and start a family, that racer would have to either retire from the sport, or take a hiatus, or withdraw from championship contention partway through a season in order to channel her efforts into that avenue.
But Leah Pruett, an iconic Top Fuel dragster, found it difficult to reckon with the implications her decision to start a family with husband Tony Stewart would have on the career she’s dedicated her life to building.
“I was looking at my own situation a couple of years ago after I got married and knowing that I wanted to have children,” Pruett said in an NHRA release.
“It was a very uneasy time when you have something you’ve done your whole life, which is to concern yourself with your team, your partners, your fans, and everything surrounding racing. I had to make what I considered one of the hardest decisions of my entire life, and that was to not race in 2024.
I was having to make those decisions and have hard conversations with my team. I had just signed on to be their driver and just come the closest I had ever been to a world championship.
“I felt I’m not the only person that has felt this or is going to feel this. Something needs to change.”
Pruett isn’t alone. The fields of many NHRA categories are loaded with women, many of whom have struggled to reconcile their decision to start a family with their ability to pursue a career in motorsport.
This new policy eases that burden.
More on women’s participation in motorsport:
👉 ‘Like riding a buffalo’ – The chaotic story behind Lella Lombardi’s NASCAR debut
👉 75 days of hell: F1’s last woman driver has a shocking story to tell
In effect, this new policy allows pregnant drivers (or drivers otherwise undergoing fertility struggles) to swap in a replacement driver partway through the season. It also allows that driver to jump back in the car partway through the year to compete for the championship.
This policy is a bit complex, but the key elements adopted by the NHRA are as follows:
- If a driver has participated in at least one race in a season, she may elect to step back from racing at any point in the year in order to focus on her family, provided she has a signed letter from her healthcare provider.
- A replacement driver can then take her place, so long as that driver is properly credentialed and qualified to compete.
If the replacement driver earns fewer overall points than the driver they replaced, all points will be credited to the driver who stepped back to pursue pregnancy or fertility treatments.
If the replacement driver earns more points than the driver they replaced, then the replacement driver will be credited with those points they scored.
If the replacement driver earns the same amount of points as the driver who stepped back from racing, the driver who won the most rounds during the season will be credited with the points.
