Sooo, what were the plans then? Why buy it?
IHRA cancels some 2026 events
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ironpony
Nitro Member
If you buy the competition they are no longer the competition
sfw1960
Nitro Member
Better than data centers!
I'd say the name is gonna be associated with a not so stellar organization.
Kinda like if you bought Ford, would you name a new car line EDSEL?
Under_Pressure
Nitro Member
Isn't Freeman kind of a wheeler-dealer when it comes to all things drag racing? I'm thinking he's the kind of guy that, when presented with an opportunity to buy something like this, is interested to the extent he can acquire the hard assets and flip them. Trucks, trailers, support equipment, etc. would all be stuff he could put a value on. From what I've seen, real estate isn't included in what Cuttell is trying to sell with this deal.
I'm sure Freeman's offer was a fraction of what was rumored to be asked- obviously Cuttell would try to spin this as being an entire turn-key, high-level racing organization, a valuable brand worth far more than the sum of its parts. Freeman, on the other hand, would be looking to pay something less than the retail value of the physical assets so he could make some money, and probably essentially nothing for the IHRA name, IP, and reputation (lol). I would guess if the deal had worked out, Freeman would have been willing to sell the IHRA name if someone wanted to pick it up and try yet again to resurrect it.
I'm sure Freeman's offer was a fraction of what was rumored to be asked- obviously Cuttell would try to spin this as being an entire turn-key, high-level racing organization, a valuable brand worth far more than the sum of its parts. Freeman, on the other hand, would be looking to pay something less than the retail value of the physical assets so he could make some money, and probably essentially nothing for the IHRA name, IP, and reputation (lol). I would guess if the deal had worked out, Freeman would have been willing to sell the IHRA name if someone wanted to pick it up and try yet again to resurrect it.
Rasn1320
Nitro Member
Contractor says Musk companies owe him $600M for Memphis-area data center work
The CEO of an Ohio-based construction company says Elon Musk’s companies owe him hundreds of millions of dollars for work on his Memphis-area data centers.
www.actionnews5.com
CUTTELL CONFIRMS MEMPHIS MOTORSPORTS PARK PROJECT ON HOLD; PROPERTIES COULD BE SOLD | Competition Plus
The financial dispute Darrell Cuttell says stems from unpaid work on Elon Musk-affiliated data center projects is now reaching into the drag racing world.
competitionplus.com
Custom Body Fan
Nitro Member
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He lasted a long time by IHRA standards.
sfw1960
Nitro Member
Larry is a good man.
Please elaborate.
Do you have a link to an article or something Paul?
No links, but I can confirm.
Not much to share. Other than the track managers, Foley Jr. is the only one left from the drag racing side of things.Josh,
I wasn't really looking for confirmation but more of the deets.
Appreciate it though!
Typical family treatment is what I suspect.
My PM box is always open...
ironpony
Nitro Member
It was fraud.
It's a 40 page read but the synopsis is extreme corporate fraud. There is no intense legal wording. It's very easy for the average person to understand.
SpaceX basically found that Cuttell was funding the IHRA by over-charging 400-800% over the agreed upon subcontractor markup as well as hiding IHRA expenses in invoices for datacenter work, then started avoiding audits and eventually SpaceX started digging into how ridiculously lavish the IHRA events were given the series' historical instability and strange spending spree optics (someone did their homework).
Even the xAI/IHRA coats Cuttell can be seen wearing in some photos, were against the contract terms and xAI claims damaged the company's reputation as it made people think there was as master plan to sell tracks and turn them into data centers (there wasn't). This is mentioned specifically as damaging xAI's reputation and they link specific Reddit posts.
Cuttell was just an insane drunk/sociopathic fraudster stealing money from Elon thinking he wouldn't notice.
That's what the suit spells out.
Everyone who got paid prize money or paid for their services during IHRA events, was paid with stolen money.
z28
Nitro Member
I'm sure the lawyers will have fun
Sure doesn't look good for Cuttell, and as I posted in another thread, avoiding audits definitely is a huge red flag. But, this is just the filing, I'd like to read the answer, to be as fair as possible. Will be interesting to see what defense Cuttell puts up and if they do have hard evidence to back up the complaints lodged.
IF all the monies were comingled, hard to say that "all" the prize money was from stolen funds. Comingling the money will make everything harder to sort out. I'd wager the monies were comingled as well. But I do get your point. Sounds like Cuttell might run pretty sloppy finances.
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