It appears something is going down with IHRA. Anyone know?

Now most know. I can see that all the people who were saying it would never work are happy today. I will never understand people who want something that is great for our sport to fail but they were out there.

Drag Illustrated has confirmed that the IHRA has canceled all remaining national events on its 2026 Outlaw Nitro Series schedule. According to series officials, the IHRA will continue sanctioning member tracks and operating its bracket racing Team Finals and World Finals programs. More to come at DragIllustrated.com.

quote:

Originally posted by CURTIS REED:
Now most know. I can see that all the people who were saying it would never work are happy today. I will never understand people who want something that is great for our sport to fail but they were out there.

Absolutely! I want IHRA to survive and that would force NHRA start working harder for the racers. Win, win. We all know that IHRA has been through a lot and the track record is not so great but even still this is new management and like you said I think many want them to fail. You can not blame the past on the new owners.

I did say from the start it appeared to me they were trying to do too much, too fast and I was afraid of them biting off more than they could chew. Still it is their money and they can spend it how they want. I expressed my concerns but never want them to fail. Someone said that Danny Cottrell has tons of money my response to that is you do not get rich by throwing money away. My thinking is at some point they are going to have to make it profitable or stop the bleeding.

It has been confirmed that events were cancelled but there is something else much bigger going on that we do not know exactly what yet. That is why I made the post. I know it is none of my business but Darn it I want to know! Lol.

How much property does he own now that can get anything built on it?? just saying out loud.

quote:

Originally posted by HR3377:
How much property does he own now that can get anything built on it?? just saying out loud.

I was seeing that he was "buying" the properties but if a payment is missed it reverts back to the original owner. Now take my second hand info for what it's worth.

quote:

Originally posted by CURTIS REED:

quote:

Originally posted by HR3377:
How much property does he own now that can get anything built on it?? just saying out loud.

I was seeing that he was "buying" the properties but if a payment is missed it reverts back to the original owner. Now take my second hand info for what it's worth.

So if that's the case then the seller is holding the note and not a bank. That actually makes sense considering how much property he has bought.

Yes Steve that’s what I had seen written as the details.

quote:

Originally posted by CURTIS REED:
Now most know. I can see that all the people who were saying it would never work are happy today. I will never understand people who want something that is great for our sport to fail but they were out there.

There are some that root for it to fail but I think most looked with clear eyes to see this was getting too surreal to be true. Tired of seeing the sportsman side of drag racing constantly in turmoil. The major sponsors of these series have to be getting tired of the turmoil too.

Soooo---no body really knows anything for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by ferndaleflyer:
Soooo---no body really knows anything for sure.

No but there is more going on daily. I hope IHRA does well we shall see.

This is a statement from former IHRA President. You make out of it what you will but I think something big is about to go down. And it may not be good.

"Former IHRA President Leah Martin has shared a lengthy and personal statement addressing the recent controversy surrounding the International Hot Rod Association, offering an insider's perspective on the challenges the organization has faced.
--
I’ve watched a lot of people throw IHRA under the bus over the last few weeks. I understand why. Racers, tracks, sponsors, and staff have every right to be frustrated. Uncertainty is difficult, and people deserve answers.
I’m not here to defend every decision, and I’m not here to defend the situation. I certainly don’t excuse everything that happened.
I was the first female president in motorsports history, and I experienced firsthand how public criticism can become deeply personal. Social media was filled with comments I hope my children never have to read. I was let go in an extremely public way without any explanation—one I still haven’t received. If anyone has a reason to be bitter, it would be me.
But bitterness isn’t how I choose to look at this.
I sat through countless meetings, investment pitches, and hundreds of conversations with racers, track owners, and promoters asking for help. I watched Darryl genuinely want to say yes. If he believed in an idea—or someone convinced him it could make motorsports better—he was all in. There was no stopping him either (trust me, I tried. Ha!) He made decisions quickly, driven by passion, and most times due diligence didn’t keep pace.
Was it challenging? Every single day. Were there mistakes? Absolutely. But there was also an unwavering desire to do more for racers and motorsports than we've seen in a long time.
There are also people in this industry whose motivations are financial gain, power, control, or making a name for themselves at all cost. I witnessed individuals take advantage of generosity and a genuine desire to do more for the sport.
Do Darryl and I align in our management styles? Absolutely not.
But I do believe intention matters. Intent doesn’t erase mistakes or poor decisions, and it doesn’t remove accountability. What it does provide is context. From what I experienced, his intention was never to hurt the sport—it was to invest in it, grow it, and support the racers he cared about. Sometimes those intentions were matched with good decisions, and sometimes they weren’t. Both things can be true at the same time. I honestly believe he will work to pay racers and staff what they are owed.
Would I do it all over again? Absolutely.
Not because everything went right, but because of the relationships I built, the experience I gained, and the people I met along the way.
Leadership isn’t about standing with someone only when things are going well. It’s about being honest when they don’t, acknowledging where mistakes were made, and still having the integrity to recognize good intentions when you believe they existed.
I'm not defending someone. I'm telling the truth as I experienced it. It was hard. It was chaotic. It was also fun, exciting, and insightful. It would have been much easier if those who were/are after personal gain weren't on the prowl daily. (Somedays all I was able to do was to play whack-a-mole.)
The bigger story isn’t just IHRA.
The bigger story is that motorsports as a whole is struggling. Every discipline is fighting for sponsors. Television is shrinking. Tracks are disappearing. Costs continue to rise, and participation is under pressure. We need more people willing to invest, more people willing to build, and more people willing to put the sport ahead of themselves.
You can disagree with how things were handled. You can be disappointed. You can demand accountability. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.
But I also think it’s fair to recognize that someone was willing to invest significant resources into motorsports when very few others were. Much of that investment went directly back to racers.
History has a way of judging outcomes. Character is revealed by how we treat people while they’re still being written.
I know what I experienced. I know what I witnessed. And I know the truth is almost always more complicated than the loudest voices on social media.
My hope isn’t that everyone agrees with me. My hope is that our industry learns from this, supports the people who continue to invest in it, and finds a way to move forward stronger. That's what I'll be doing.
---
Her statement adds another perspective to an ongoing conversation that has sparked passionate debate across the drag racing community.
What do you think? Does Leah Martin's perspective provide valuable context to the IHRA situation, or should the focus remain solely on accountability and the impact on racers, tracks, and employees?"

Looks like they shut down the circle track series, a lot of unhappy people in that group.
Losing credibility by the day.
Is the WDRA still an organization or did IHRA "buy" them so they don't or can't exist again? They definitely were on the right track for bracket racers and tracks.

Land acquisition for data centers... Are we there yet???

quote:

Originally posted by Eman:
Looks like they shut down the circle track series, a lot of unhappy people in that group.
Losing credibility by the day.
Is the WDRA still an organization or did IHRA "buy" them so they don't or can't exist again? They definitely were on the right track for bracket racers and tracks.

Absorbed by IHRA

first off, I do not want to bash IHRA. I was hoping for them succeed. when I first heard of the "rebirth". my concern was who is this new owner? what is his racing background? while there were many media/press releases, there were very few actual interviews with him. I have heard many people say he was very disrespectful/rude partially to his employees. they have been through 5 "presidents" in less than a year. most of the firings were done unprofessional. I do not know if all the racers were paid. however I will say this, I was very impressed with the tv coverage, the racer appreciation dinners, the ice deliveries. I attended the galot event last fall (it is one of my local tracks) I have never seen that many people there in all my life. the race was run pretty well. there was even an issue with the bathrooms & they moved like 10 porta potties in front of the building. the only problem I saw was, the rigs were parked perpendicular (if you've been to galot you know the sports are marked angled) so it made to road to the starting line "tight". there were some things that could have been done differently, biggest thing was not take on so much. maybe they just needed a breather hoping they can come back this time to stay permanently

I was hoping for the IHRA to succeed and really push NHRA to treat us better. In my opinion if NHRA had some real competition they would listen to the racers, as it is they just care about money. I thought at the time IHRA was trying to do too much, too quickly and I was thinking then they may be biting off more than they can chew.

I am not saying the IHRA is going under but it does appear they have in fact bit off more than they can chew and may need to regroup.

There seems to be a common attitude that racers wanted the IHRA to be successful so that the NHRA would start treating Sportsman racers better.
Isn't that like asking the man with the whip to only give you 10 lashes instead of 20 lashes because you could go somewhere else and only get 5 lashes of the whip ?

For IHRA to succeed (just like NHRA needs), they need participation from racers, they need spectators in the stands, and they need to make their race schedules easier for all of the above.

quote:

Originally posted by CURTIS REED:

quote:

Originally posted by Eman:
Looks like they shut down the circle track series, a lot of unhappy people in that group.
Losing credibility by the day.
Is the WDRA still an organization or did IHRA "buy" them so they don't or can't exist again? They definitely were on the right track for bracket racers and tracks.

Absorbed by IHRA

Wonder if the originators can start up again or would be motivated to do so under a different name. They were on the right track for the bracket racers and small track owners.