Last month we reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wanted to add language to the Clean Air Act that would have resulted in a ban on street legal race cars. If passed, these modified cars would become illegal in the US. Enthusiasts, owners, and the Specialty Equipment Market Association raised all sorts of hell, and that hell-raising has apparently paid off. First reported by Automotive News, the EPA has now dropped that proposed language. Amateur racers across the US now sleep peacefully once again.

"The proposed language in the July 2015 proposal was never intended to represent any change in the law or in EPA's policies or practices towards dedicated competition vehicles," so says the EPA on its website. "Since our attempt to clarify led to confusion, EPA has decided to eliminate the proposed language from the final rule." Hurray for lobbying! Originally, that street-legal racing car ban language was hidden in a 629-page proposal to slash carbon emissions in medium- and heavy-duty trucks. The EPA tried to, essentially, regulate auto racing. It failed. "The bums will always lose!" (The Big Lebowski can literally be quoted for any occasion).