IHRA Appears to be making BOLD STEPS!!

It seem to be a rare thing that we are inundated with news like we have been from IHRA over the last week or so, but that’s exactly what’s happening.

So, towards the end of last week we saw a bunch of stay tuned posts and then news drop that the IHRA has released their Pro-Am schedule for 2025. Tracks included on that schedule were GALOT, Darlington, Dragway 42, Milan, National Trail, MIR, and a TBA track. I must say, at first I was very surprised at how “regional” this schedule appeared to be, until the next announcement dropped.

View fullsize

That schedule news dropped last Thursday, but it was the Friday news that really had the internet buzzing with speculation, rumors, and outright falsities. It was announced that the owner of the IHRA Darryl Cuttell had purchased seven race tracks. Now the way that everything was worded initially was that these were done deals. Later I saw different wording that they were In Principle Purchases, which means that it hadn’t been finalized, but terms of purchase are usually already agreed upon and usually the seller is waiting on a check to finalize the deal. This is where the internet started to run rampant with speculation on whether tracks had been sold, were in the process of being sold, or that all of it was just bullshit.

Based on a lot of comments that I read from people stating that they knew this that or the other, I could certainly tell that most had no idea what a purchase in principle even meant to begin with. Add to that the messages that I was getting regarding other tracks rumored to be selling and I had quite the busy weekend. I was getting messages about someone heard this and told me this about tracks, including Tulsa Raceway Park, U.S. 131 (better known as Martin), and other tracks.

I can tell you based on direct comment from those involved that neither of the two tracks I just mentioned are trading hands. TRP and 131 are not being sold! While the other tracks that were part of this blockbuster deal included GALOT, Darlington, Dragway 42, Milan, MIR (Maryland), Kil-Kare, and National Trail. Geographically all these tracks are close to the IHRA base in Ohio. This announcement perfectly explained why the 2025 Pro-Am schedule looked the way that it does.

Let’s be honest though, you don’t come here just to read the news that you find all over social media. I had received multiple messages asking what my thoughts are on these developments. Of course I have thoughts on the entire thing.

I cannot be more clear about this though, I have not met Darryl Cuttell, nor have I spoken to him regarding any of this. So my opinion is based on the information that I have at hand while writing this. The people that I have talked to about Darryl, people that are mutual friends with both of us, they all speak very highly of Darryl. I have yet to hear a bad word regarding Darryl as a person. He obviously is a very smart business man that surrounds himself with other very smart business people.

Darryl has continued to make steps in the right direction regarding the organization and his vision for the future. Make no mistake though, I am NOT in any way a fan of an organization or person owning so many facilities, while also using said facilities for their organization. It’s one thing to own a couple of tracks, but to start bulk buying tracks around the midwest and southeast regions of the country makes me worry. We have seen this movie before with IRG and honestly, I see too many common words with the vision between IHRA and IRG.

With this major expansion, IHRA is revolutionizing motorsports by integrating competition, entertainment, and media innovation, to create unparalleled experiences for both racers and fans.

That is a quote directly from IHRA and if that doesn’t sound eerily familiar to the things we heard from IRG. Add to that the IRG playbook of buying up tracks. I certainly am not saying that Darryl is going down the same round as IRG, I’m saying that the similarities frighten me as a journalist, fan, and former racer.

“The IHRA has also agreed in principle to purchasing, hosting, and partnering with some of the most successful and popular racing series in the entire world,” Cuttell stated. “These events will combine music, entertainment, and All-American family fun!”

The idea that drag racing needs some kind of reinvention or reinvigoration is a stretch to say the least. Does NHRA need some type of competition because they are completely out of touch with reality and the entire motorsports world at this point, yes! Do I think that a 10 race Pro-Am in the midwest and southeast is the start to that? We shall see. Don’t sit here and tell me the sport needs an entire overhaul though. And what the hell…I go to the dragstrip for drag racing, not for concerts. I hope I’m wrong and the music brings in more fans to see drag racing, but so far that hasn’t been the answer.

To make this abundantly clear, drag racing is not NASCAR, not INDY, not F1, not WRC, and it never will be nor do its fans want it to be. They want affordable entertainment. Something they can relate to and something that they can afford to take their family to without needing a second mortgage each year. Drag racing is not the glitz and glamour of F1 or NASCAR, and really I can’t think of anyone that loves drag racing that would want it to be that. Look at how much NASCAR alienated its fan base with all the corporate bullshit and other changes they have made over the last 10-15 years.

Drag racing is a niche market that is also the most extreme and fastest motorsport in the world in my opinion. The entertainment value is there, and I don’t see a need for all the hoopla that some insist on. I will certainly be keeping a very close eye on Darryl and the IHRA as they move forward, not only as a journalist, but as a lifelong fan of drag racing. Anyone that knows me and knows E3xtreme knows that we don’t shy away from calling it like we see it. I will certainly bestow praise when it is warranted and call bullshit when it is warranted.

For now though, we’d like to congratulate Darryl and the IHRA on their ambitions moving forward with the track purchases and their Pro-Am plans in 2025. Keep moving forward and have that vision!