CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new North Carolina law ensures drivers can start their engines throughout the Tar Heel State without intervention from upset neighbors.

Section 26 of House Bill 926 is titled "Protect the right to race" and prohibits action against race tracks from nearby property owners for nuisance complaints. The bill was passed in September and later ratified by Gov. Josh Stein.

The bill defines an area around a race track as a 3-mile radius of the perimeter of the property.

This protects tracks across the state as long as they have a valid permit to operate and have been open longer than the property owners have owned their homes.

Racing, particularly stock car racing, has been embedded in North Carolina for over a century. The first Charlotte Speedway opened in 1924 , with Bow

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