IHRA cancels some 2026 events (7 Viewers)

[ironpony]

Starting to sound a little like another person I know in about the same financial situation as Darryl..................Gung ho going to change the industry. They spend a whole bunch of money with no return and have zero patience. They then wake up one morning and pull the plug. Sell off what you can and move on. These people did not get where they are by burning cash, there is a point where more going out than coming in gets their attention.
I am hoping not from other things I have seen, read but that is how it sometimes goes. One man, his money, he makes the decisions. We have seen that this past year. This off season and next year will be the deciding factor.

 

[65 Goatboy]

If it's to good to be true..... I hope not I enjoyed Columbus TC but Darryl sure took on a lot with all the other series besides drag racing.

 

[Joe]

I met Darryl at Columbus TC race. He was very attentive and we spoke a few minutes. I'm sticking with him. Maple Grove and Dunn for me.

 

[fueller42]

Right from the start, I kept getting Evan Knoll vibes.......I REALLY hope it was just a case of over-enthusiasm on Darryl's part. I can see the vision, but come on, anyone with ANY common sense knows you gotta walk before you can run. Throwing good money after bad isn't always the answer to getting what you want.
Pick something, grow it to where it's sustainable, THEN, move on to the next piece of the puzzle. This is something that should have been a five to ten year roll-out, not one. I don't care how much money you have, there are way to many outside forces to deal with. Hell, if Bader couldn't keep it afloat, what chance does anyone else have?

 

[Under_Pressure]

Right from the start, I kept getting Evan Knoll vibes.......I REALLY hope it was just a case of over-enthusiasm on Darryl's part. I can see the vision, but come on, anyone with ANY common sense knows you gotta walk before you can run. Throwing good money after bad isn't always the answer to getting what you want.
Pick something, grow it to where it's sustainable, THEN, move on to the next piece of the puzzle. This is something that should have been a five to ten year roll-out, not one. I don't care how much money you have, there are way to many outside forces to deal with. Hell, if Bader couldn't keep it afloat, what chance does anyone else have?

That's been exactly my thoughts. Taking over IHRA and making it a serious, stable series was a huge undertaking by itself. If you do have a lot of money to spend, maybe also purchasing a couple tracks that are strategically located and can start hosting events with minimal work could be a good move also. Especially if they are tracks whose owners are looking to sell and they risk being lost to development. But to take over IHRA, buy as many tracks as he did (in the condition some of them are in), and start or take over like 5 other racing series in different motorsports, all in the span of like a year? For someone with no previous motorsports involvement and a business to run that has to bankroll all this? It's hard to believe that is a serious person.

Then add on operating these series with zero apparent concern for revenue vs expenses- yeah, everyone loves you for rolling out the red carpet and paying massive purses and giving free food and free ice and whatever, but it makes zero business sense. Even if the stands were full it wouldn't pay off in a hundred years. So are you just going to fund it out of the goodness of your heart, forever? That's not a recipe for long term stability.

Finally, and people get really ornery about mentioning this, but looking into Cuttell and Darana Hybrid, I simply do not see a source for the funding of all this. Darana is NOT that big of a company. It's a midsize specialty contractor if the most generous estimates are to be believed. Is Cuttell very wealthy in comparison to 95% of us? Probably. But I work for a mechanical contractor with a national presence. Darana Hybrid is not a major player in construction. As far as I can see they don't even show up in any ENR listings? If you question this, however, certain people start foaming at the mouth and shouting about data centers and Amazon warehouses in the same way they used to insist that Evan Knoll owned oil and gas wells and "you can't imagine how much money he has!!"

It will be interesting to see how this all ends up. Maybe/hopefully I'm missing something and it will all work out. But from a purely logical standpoint based on information available right now, it just doesn't make a ton of sense.

 

[luxexpress]

Not much in drag racing makes sense. LOL. The people that spend money purely for the love of the sport and the thrill has been sustaining it for decades. I'm happy the IHRA is back and trying. It's come a long way in a short time and has already put a lot of money in improving race tracks and into racers pockets. I'm really bummed that Empire won't have it's event in a few weeks but I pointed out several reasons why I can understand the thinking behind cancelling it. Hoping it'll be back on the schedule next year and I'm looking forward to Maple Grove.

 

[handsome]

Right from the start, I kept getting Evan Knoll vibes.......I REALLY hope it was just a case of over-enthusiasm on Darryl's part. I can see the vision, but come on, anyone with ANY common sense knows you gotta walk before you can run. Throwing good money after bad isn't always the answer to getting what you want.
Pick something, grow it to where it's sustainable, THEN, move on to the next piece of the puzzle. This is something that should have been a five to ten year roll-out, not one. I don't care how much money you have, there are way to many outside forces to deal with. Hell, if Bader couldn't keep it afloat, what chance does anyone else have?

I find it so fn hilarious how so many of you try to compare Evan Knolls to Daryll Cuttell... Evan was NOT a billionaire who owned a race series and one day woke up and stopped everything to do with racing... HE SPONSORED IHRA races and teams in both NHRA and IHRA . his funding came from government tax deals ( or something along those lines) and when he got investigated by the government he was found in the wrong was arrested so the money for sponsorships immediately stopped! Darrell and his business Darana Hybrid is totally different. He has the best intentions to build IHRA into something all racers have asked for. an alternative to NHRA! unfortunately he's been led in some wrong directions and from what I was told by several that are involved with IHRA this is something the new president of IHRA called for after re-evaluating the season so far. the season WILL be finished and then plans for 2027 will be made of what did and didn't work this year. All you people are doing is blowing **** out of proportions because nowadays people would rather cheer the failures than applaud success! As someone who has raced several events, I can personally tell you the hospitality that IHRA sows the racers at the races is GREAT! the events are run very smooth. track prep has been very consistent at EVERY race all year. and I got paid from every event I raced at!!! what more can you ask for? and the payouts are more than any other series! THE BIGGEST thing I notice online is all the shit talkers either DON'T race or haven't been to 1 single event to see for themselves! you all just spew your bs from second or third hand keyboard commandos. It's like you all hope it fails so you can run to this website or fb and be able to say I TOLD YOU! I hope it succeeds and I'll be the first to come here and look to see how quiet it will be!

 

[Mike]

What Bruce Mullins said^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[glofria]

There are both Optimists and Pessimists with regards to the IHRA. I'm an Optimist and in it for the long haul.

Optimists maintain a positive outlook, expecting favorable results even in uncertain situations. They view challenges as temporary and external, believing they can overcome setbacks through effort and resilience, which often leads to higher motivation and perseverance.

Optimists tend to focus on solutions, opportunities, and the bright side of situations, which fosters hope, resilience, and emotional stability

Pessimists, in contrast, have a negative bias, expecting unfavorable outcomes and interpreting setbacks as permanent, internal, and pervasive. They may dwell on problems, feel less control over events, and experience higher stress levels.

Pessimists often ruminate on difficulties, magnify problems, and may experience frequent worry or negative emotions, which can reduce self-esteem and increase vulnerability to depression.

 

[kegs]

Know one wants IHRA to succeed more than me but I have to wonder what happened to the funding that was set a side to operate for the next ten years?

 

[Butch]

I just wish IHRA had stuck with building the Drag racing arm of the organization to a healthy point before branching out to start another one. Even though I have a special place in my life for Drag boat racing. All these other organizations didn't have someone beating the door down to get it going. It's another distraction and cost from the original plan.

 

[Custom Body Fan]

There are both Optimists and Pessimists with regards to the IHRA. I'm an Optimist and in it for the long haul.

I hope they succeed, but it is certainly reasonable to question them given the new owner's activities - lots of hirings and firings, buying up bull riding, boat racing, the IHRA, race tracks, starting a circle track series, cancelling races, and I am sure there is more - That is a lot to handle all at once. Anyway, in addition to optimism and pessimism as ways to look at things, there is also realism, as shown in the below chart. If people want to speculate on the IHRA and the overall future of Darryl's endeavors, I think the realism approach is best, although I don't think any of us has enough information right now to draw solid conclusions.

 

[glofria]

Thanks for you addition. I too think of myself as a realist. But there is another fact that your graph doesn't consider and that is whether the management team has the "will" to succeed. I believe they do.

This guy Darryl strikes me as a trailblazer and sometime what happens in the wake of driving force doesn't meet the goals due to circumstances beyond control. The aggressive time frame may not be as real as the bureaucracy, logistics, and so on will allow them. But I believe over time they will succeed.

 

[yoda]

Seen on an Indiana highway, supposedly...

(Well, maybe...possibly... )

 

[Jimmy]

earlier this year i thought memphis, heartland park, and atlanta all in 2026 was a reach.
wonder why milan will not occur? thought they had a race there already?

IHRA is starting to unravel. All those purchases of dragstrips were probably only real estate/land transactions.
I live in Memphis and went out to the track a couple of weeks ago after they cancelled the Triple Crown event (moved to Maple Grove).
Absolutely zero renovations/capital improvements have been made at Darana Memphis Motorsports Track. IHRA held a press conference with the local media when the abandoned track was bought and they promised that it would be fully renovated and would hold a Triple Crown race in September. - BS IHRA/Darrell Cuttell has spent way more cash out than they have taken in. Insolvency time bomb set to explode.

 

[Jimmy]

decent turn out for ohio

Decent turnout still does not bring in more cash than is spent out for operating a drag strip profitably.

 

[Jimmy]

When anyone starts talking about budgets being overspent it’s a little concerning. Without a major series sponsor, it’s hard to pay out that money with very little coming in. The payouts alone for Columbus was probably close to 2 million. I think the two nitro categories were $450K each. They needed 50,000 spectators at $40 each to cover the payouts. Throw in Ice, free food, payroll, insurance and everything else the loss was even more. While it’s great to see racers getting paid what they should make, a profit must be made to be sustainable.

Amen. The IHRA has a negative cash flow regarding all of the dragstrip purchases, operating expenses, payroll etc.
When total cash disbursed is greater than total cash received, insolvency is in progress.
Remember, the new and improved IHRA was supposed to dethrone the NHRA. lol.

 

[ironpony]

IHRA is starting to unravel. All those purchases of dragstrips were probably only real estate/land transactions.
I live in Memphis and went out to the track a couple of weeks ago after they cancelled the Triple Crown event (moved to Maple Grove).
Absolutely zero renovations/capital improvements have been made at Darana Memphis Motorsports Track. IHRA held a press conference with the local media when the abandoned track was bought and they promised that it would be fully renovated and would hold a Triple Crown race in September. - BS IHRA/Darrell Cuttell has spent way more cash out than they have taken in. Insolvency time bomb set to explode.

Nothing is unraveling any start up business is going to outlay 10x's what they take in the first few years. Yes he overpromised some of his capabilities on getting things done but that is what people of his type do.

Decent turnout still does not bring in more cash than is spent out for operating a drag strip profitably.

90% of all drag strips are running in the negative numbers, that is why they are closing down regularly. We now have a guy willing to spend his own money to try and save some of them.

Amen. The IHRA has a negative cash flow regarding all of the dragstrip purchases, operating expenses, payroll etc.
When total cash disbursed is greater than total cash received, insolvency is in progress.
Remember, the new and improved IHRA was supposed to dethrone the NHRA. lol.

Again in the first years of a business they are going to have negative cash flow and should have a reserve of 5 years to get things up and running. He also has his other income lines which generate 100-150 million a year so he is not flying blindly.
IHRA was supposed to give racers another place to race.

Also please remember NHRA has zero income and is a charity sponsored by Mission Foods, take that away and NHRA disappears immediately so NHRA is in no better shape financially than IHRA. In fact IHRA has a person with a successful businesses to fund it not relying on handouts.