Former racer Jerrod Sessler is running for Congress, specifically the U.S. representative spot for Washington’s 4th congressional district. He looks to call attention to the RPM Act (aka Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act). The bipartisan bill aims to protect the right to convert street vehicles into dedicated race cars.
“People need to pay attention to what is happening in Washington,” Sessler, 52, of Prosser, Washington, said. “The authoritarian regime wants to take away gas- and petroleum-powered vehicles. They want to eliminate petroleum altogether, even though they use pens and sit in chairs made from petroleum.”
Sessler said motorsports helped tech valuable lessons to his children: sons Gabe, 20, and Jake, 16, and daughter Farrell, 18.
“They were taught vision, compassion, and learned the ability to compete,” said Sessler. “That includes learning how to lose and how to deal with conflict. There is no competition without conflict.”
One example of that came when Sessler raced.
“My oldest son was talking to someone I was mad at from a previous race,” Sessler said. “I asked him, ‘Why?’ He said he didn’t want to walk through the pits with tension. It was easier for him to resolve the issue. He learned that from racing.”
The Wenatchee Valley Super Oval in East Wenatchee, Washington, will hold a “Save Our Race Cars Night” on April 16. Sessler will serve as master of ceremonies. The event looks to draw attention to the RPM Act and raise funds for Sessler’s campaign.
“It is important to get people in Congress that understand the need for racing and the threat to its existence,” said Sessler. “We have to step up and support people who support our lifestyle. We want to see racing continue in America. The RPM act is important to our survival.”
Sessler hopes to apply what his son had learned at the track about resolving conflict in a deeply divided Congress.
“It will be challenging to get both sides to understand reality,” Sessler said. “Our side wants to live life the way it has always been lived, but that means, for example, you don’t dump used motor oil into the ground behind the shed. The other side needs education about motorsports. They haven’t been willing to look at actual data. The impact motorsports has on the environment is incredibly small.”
The racing community can support the RPM Act by urging your members in Congress to support it. Following this link from PRI/SEMA to send a premade letter your local representative in the House and senators representing your state. Jerrod Sessler believes racers need to take more political action to protect their favorite pastime.
“The RPM act doesn’t go far enough to protect motorsports, but it is what we need to get across the line,” Sessler said. “We can build from there once it passes.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
