How to Fill Out and Submit the IHRA Competition License Form

To complete the IHRA competition license form, fill out the Pro/Pro-Am application with your personal information and racing class, attach a physician’s medical exam if you are applying at the professional level, complete the required witnessed track passes with signatures from two licensed drivers and a track official, and mail the packet with payment to IHRA headquarters in Fairfield, Ohio.¹²

Who Needs to File This Form

The competition license is required once your car runs 9.99 seconds or faster in the quarter mile, or 6.39 or faster in the eighth mile. Below those thresholds, a state driver’s license and an IHRA membership card are enough to run sportsman and bracket classes, and no competition license is needed.³

Junior Dragster competitors do not use this form. They earn their license through a separate series of observed passes under the Junior Dragster rules.³

Before You Start the Form

You need an active IHRA membership on file first, since the membership also carries the insurance coverage that lets you enter sanctioned events.⁴ You also need a valid state driver’s license beyond a learner’s permit. The only drivers exempt from that rule are Junior Dragster competitors, who are not applying on this form anyway.³

Age matters for a few categories. Professional license applicants must be at least 18. Jet car drivers and passengers in two- or three-seat dragsters must also be 18 or older. Co-riders and pit bike competitors must be at least 16.³

Figure out your license level before you fill anything in, because it drives what sections of the form apply to you:

Levels 1–3 cover the professional classes running 7.49 or faster quarter mile (4.49 or faster eighth mile): Top Fuel, Nitro Funny Car, Pro Modified, Pro Stock, and similar.
Level 6 covers 7.50 to 9.99 quarter mile (4.50 to 6.39 eighth mile), including Top, Modified, Box, No Box, Quick Rod, and Super Rod.
Level 7 covers 10.00 and slower quarter mile (6.40 and slower eighth mile). A license is not required here, but some racers obtain one voluntarily.
Class Exhibition covers jets, wheelstanders, and similar exhibition vehicles.

The form also asks you to specify the vehicle type you will race — dragster, full-bodied car, altered/roadster, or motorcycle/sled — and whether you run quarter mile or eighth mile.¹

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

Download the Pro/Pro-Am License Form from the IHRA website or pick one up at a sanctioned track. Every field must be completed. Missing information or an unsigned section will send the packet back to you.

Personal Information and Racing History

The top section asks for your full legal name, mailing address, phone number, and emergency contact. Identify the specific racing class you plan to enter and the vehicle type.

If you already hold a credential from NHRA, note it here. IHRA accepts NHRA transfers. You must include a copy of your NHRA license with the application, and if you qualify for the transfer, the witness-run requirement is waived.¹

Medical Physical Examination (Levels 1–3)

Applicants at the professional levels must attach a completed medical form.¹ Schedule this early. A licensed physician performs an examination covering more than 20 areas, including the heart, lungs, vascular system, neurological function, vision, extremities, spine, and psychiatric evaluation. The doctor also records blood pressure, resting and post-exercise pulse, and urinalysis.⁵

Vision gets its own detailed workup. The physician documents distant vision, near vision, and field of vision for each eye and for both eyes together, and notes whether corrective lenses are required while driving. Any abnormality must be described in detail. The physician then has to declare in writing whether you are physically acceptable, have disqualifying defects, or need further evaluation.⁵

Budget roughly $30 to $75 for the exam at most clinics, though prices vary. The form must carry the physician’s signature, printed name, address, and the date of the examination to count.

Witness Runs

This is where paperwork meets the track. First-time applicants running 9.99 or faster quarter mile (6.39 or faster eighth mile) must complete a cockpit orientation test, sometimes called the blindfold test, plus a minimum of five observed runs under IHRA official supervision.³

The five runs are logged on the form in a set progression:

One launch, a short burst off the starting line
Two half-track passes
Two full passes

For each run you record the elapsed time and the speed in MPH. Each pass must be signed by two currently licensed drivers and one track official. All three signatures are required for every pass. If one is missing, that pass does not count.¹

If you plan to race more than one vehicle type, you complete a separate witness-run set for each. Running both a dragster and a full-bodied car means two full progressions, logged in separate sections of the form.¹

Professional-level licenses can only be approved at an eighth-mile track with IHRA representatives and professional drivers present to observe.³

Safety Equipment Your License Level Requires

Your license level sets the safety gear required at tech inspection, and the gear and chassis specs have to match what you declare on the form. Get this sorted before witness runs; tech inspectors often check compliance before letting you make observed passes.

Helmet required at 13.99 or faster quarter mile (8.59 or faster eighth mile): SN, SA, M, or K-2015 or newer. Open-bodied entries require a full-face helmet.
Head and neck restraint at 160 MPH or faster: an SFI 38.1 device is required for all vehicles. Starting January 1, 2027, all Junior Dragster competitors must also use one.
Fire suit at 9.00 or faster quarter mile (6.00 or faster eighth mile): minimum SFI 3.2A-5 jacket and pants plus an SFI 3.3 neck collar.
Gloves at 8.49 or faster quarter mile (5.49 or faster eighth mile): SFI 3.3-1 gloves, plus arm restraints on all open-bodied entries.
On-board fire system at 7.49 or faster quarter mile (4.49 or faster eighth mile): required on all closed-body cars, front-engine dragsters, and open-bodied supercharged or turbocharged vehicles running gasoline or methanol. One nozzle must face the driver’s feet, one must aim at the engine.
Chassis certification at 9.99 or faster quarter mile (6.50 or faster eighth mile) or 150 MPH and up: mandatory. Sportsman blue-tag certifications are valid three years; professional red-tag certifications are valid one year.³

Where to Send the Completed Packet

Once every section is filled out, the medical form is attached if required, and all witness-run signatures are in place, mail the packet with payment for the applicable licensing fee to:

International Hot Rod Association
8415 Firebird Drive, Suite 500
Fairfield, OH 45011²

The IHRA membership portal may allow electronic uploads for some documents. Check the membership section of ihra.com for current availability.⁴ Double-check every signature line before mailing. A form returned for a missing track official’s signature means rebooking track time and finding the same officials to sign again, which can set you back weeks.

After IHRA reviews and approves the application, a physical license card is mailed to the address on file. Keep the card with you at every event. You present it during tech inspection in the staging lanes before each round of competition.

Keeping the License Active After Approval

An IHRA competition license goes inactive if you do not use it for three consecutive calendar years. An inactive license will not get you into eliminations. To reactivate, you must make two complete single passes at a sanctioned track before you are cleared to compete again.³

Chassis certification runs on its own clock. A sportsman blue tag is valid three years from the certification date; a professional red tag expires after one year. If the certification lapses, the vehicle cannot be driven at any IHRA or member track until it is recertified.³

1
International Hot Rod Association. IHRA Pro/Pro-Am License Form
2
International Hot Rod Association. Contact IHRA
3
International Hot Rod Association (IHRA). 2026 IHRA Rulebook (General Regulations)
4
International Hot Rod Association. Become an IHRA Member
5
PAC Performance. IHRA Medical Physical Form