Competition Plus Team
Since our inception, we have been passionately dedicated to delivering the most accurate, timely, and compelling content in the world of drag racing. Our readers depend on us for the latest news, in-depth features, expert analysis, and exclusive interviews that connect you to the sport’s pulse.
BOBBY BENNETT: IHRA DOESN’T HAVE A LEADERSHIP PROBLEM AS MUCH AS IT HAS AN IDENTITY PROBLEM
I applaud Darryl Cuttell for what he has set out to do with the IHRA. He has created a level of conversation around the organization that drag racing really hasn’t seen since the days when the late Bill Bader had people arguing over what the sanctioning body might do next.
But somewhere between buying race tracks, launching ideas and trying to build an empire, another issue appears to be rolling into the beams.
IHRA has an identity problem.
Now before anyone starts sharpening pitchforks, understand this much. It’s Cuttell’s company. He bought it. He can do with it whatever he wants.
If he bought Budweiser tomorrow and decided to sell toothbrushes, that’s his business decision and his money. Nobody needs my permission slip.
But when someone makes the kind of investment Cuttell has made, they usually spend as much time studying the customer as they do staring at profit and loss statements.
And drag racing fans are not normal customers.
They’re passionate. They’re protective. They’re cynical. Drag racing fans remember everything, forgive almost nothing and frequently see the world through a pair of tunnel-vision goggles bolted to a helmet.
If it isn’t quarter-mile, some think it isn’t racing.
If it doesn’t have nitro, it’s time for a concession stand run.
If you aren’t wedged shoulder-to-shoulder in a packed grandstand next to a shirtless guy holding two beers and yelling at the Christmas Tree, some already have the race declared a financial disaster even if people are stacked nine deep against the fence.
There are about fifty more examples I could throw in there.
But here’s the point.
The average drag racing fan you’re trying to win over could not care less about motorboats, tractor pulls or stock cars.
That doesn’t mean those forms of motorsports are bad. It doesn’t mean they don’t have passionate audiences of their own.
Most drag racing fans are pretty simple creatures. Give them race cars, nitro and a Christmas Tree and they’re generally pretty happy.
If drag racing fans had a burning desire to broaden their motorsports horizons, IHRA wouldn’t be taking incoming fire over eighth-mile racing. Even saying three out of ten fans are eager to expand their interests might be generous on my part.
Speaking of “I” side and yes, that’s an intentional play on words considering NHRA historically acted like the other “I” in drag racing didn’t exist. IHRA has always been drag racing.
That’s its DNA.
To understand where you’re headed, you first have to understand where you came from.
The late Larry Carrier and Senator Carl Moore didn’t create IHRA because they wanted to build a motorsports buffet line. The organization was born after major disagreements first with Wally Parks and later with Jim Tice.
And while history often credits Jim Tice and AHRA for creating the sponsor-supported points concept, Carrier took the idea and poured race fuel on it.
Carrier and Ralph Seagraves brought Winston and RJ Reynolds into drag racing and changed the game. They eventually brought NHRA into that world too, kicking and screaming along the way.
IHRA wasn’t built to become everything.
IHRA was built to become drag racing.
That’s where this thing starts getting sideways.
The average drag racing fan isn’t sitting around wondering when they’ll get their next dose of powerboats or tractor pulling.
They want Atlanta Dragway back.
They want Memphis back.
They want to see scoreboards lit up, grandstands filling and race cars rolling through the gate instead of another announcement graphic showing up on social media.
Because when those things don’t happen quickly and announcements keep coming from outside drag racing, the cynics immediately go to work.
“See, I told you so.”
Drag racing fans will stick with you through a lot. They will also call your bluff faster than a red-light.
As for the leadership side, from where I sit, the dismissal of Leah Martin may have been the one move that actually made sense. I never saw a meaningful drag-racing connection there, and several respected people around this sport are no longer part of the organization during that period.
Dustin Farthing looks good on paper. Resumes usually do.
Running a company and understanding drag racing fans are not always the same thing. One is spreadsheets and meetings. The other is understanding why somebody will tow halfway across the country just to sit on aluminum grandstands all weekend and smell nitro.
If Cuttell wants a larger umbrella operation that stretches across multiple forms of motorsports, that’s his right.
But let IHRA remain what 55 years of history says it is.
Build another brand if necessary and let everything operate underneath it.
Because after all these years, IHRA still means one thing to the people who built it, raced in it and sat in the grandstands watching it.
Drag racing.
Trying to make it something else feels a little like bolting wings on a Funny Car.
You can spend a lot of money doing it.
That doesn’t mean it was ever supposed to fly.
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Competition Plus Team
Since our inception, we have been passionately dedicated to delivering the most accurate, timely, and compelling content in the world of drag racing. Our readers depend on us for the latest news, in-depth features, expert analysis, and exclusive interviews that connect you to the sport’s pulse.
Sign up for our newsletters and email list.
BOBBY BENNETT: IHRA DOESN’T HAVE A LEADERSHIP PROBLEM AS MUCH AS IT HAS AN IDENTITY PROBLEM
I applaud Darryl Cuttell for what he has set out to do with the IHRA. He has created a level of conversation around the organization that drag racing really hasn’t seen since the days when the late Bill Bader had people arguing over what the sanctioning body might do next.
But somewhere between buying race tracks, launching ideas and trying to build an empire, another issue appears to be rolling into the beams.
IHRA has an identity problem.
Now before anyone starts sharpening pitchforks, understand this much. It’s Cuttell’s company. He bought it. He can do with it whatever he wants.
If he bought Budweiser tomorrow and decided to sell toothbrushes, that’s his business decision and his money. Nobody needs my permission slip.
But when someone makes the kind of investment Cuttell has made, they usually spend as much time studying the customer as they do staring at profit and loss statements.
And drag racing fans are not normal customers.
They’re passionate. They’re protective. They’re cynical. Drag racing fans remember everything, forgive almost nothing and frequently see the world through a pair of tunnel-vision goggles bolted to a helmet.
If it isn’t quarter-mile, some think it isn’t racing.
If it doesn’t have nitro, it’s time for a concession stand run.
If you aren’t wedged shoulder-to-shoulder in a packed grandstand next to a shirtless guy holding two beers and yelling at the Christmas Tree, some already have the race declared a financial disaster even if people are stacked nine deep against the fence.
There are about fifty more examples I could throw in there.
But here’s the point.
The average drag racing fan you’re trying to win over could not care less about motorboats, tractor pulls or stock cars.
That doesn’t mean those forms of motorsports are bad. It doesn’t mean they don’t have passionate audiences of their own.
Most drag racing fans are pretty simple creatures. Give them race cars, nitro and a Christmas Tree and they’re generally pretty happy.
If drag racing fans had a burning desire to broaden their motorsports horizons, IHRA wouldn’t be taking incoming fire over eighth-mile racing. Even saying three out of ten fans are eager to expand their interests might be generous on my part.
Speaking of “I” side and yes, that’s an intentional play on words considering NHRA historically acted like the other “I” in drag racing didn’t exist. IHRA has always been drag racing.
That’s its DNA.
To understand where you’re headed, you first have to understand where you came from.
The late Larry Carrier and Senator Carl Moore didn’t create IHRA because they wanted to build a motorsports buffet line. The organization was born after major disagreements first with Wally Parks and later with Jim Tice.
And while history often credits Jim Tice and AHRA for creating the sponsor-supported points concept, Carrier took the idea and poured race fuel on it.
Carrier and Ralph Seagraves brought Winston and RJ Reynolds into drag racing and changed the game. They eventually brought NHRA into that world too, kicking and screaming along the way.
IHRA wasn’t built to become everything.
IHRA was built to become drag racing.
That’s where this thing starts getting sideways.
The average drag racing fan isn’t sitting around wondering when they’ll get their next dose of powerboats or tractor pulling.
They want Atlanta Dragway back.
They want Memphis back.
They want to see scoreboards lit up, grandstands filling and race cars rolling through the gate instead of another announcement graphic showing up on social media.
Because when those things don’t happen quickly and announcements keep coming from outside drag racing, the cynics immediately go to work.
“See, I told you so.”
Drag racing fans will stick with you through a lot. They will also call your bluff faster than a red-light.
As for the leadership side, from where I sit, the dismissal of Leah Martin may have been the one move that actually made sense. I never saw a meaningful drag-racing connection there, and several respected people around this sport are no longer part of the organization during that period.
Dustin Farthing looks good on paper. Resumes usually do.
Running a company and understanding drag racing fans are not always the same thing. One is spreadsheets and meetings. The other is understanding why somebody will tow halfway across the country just to sit on aluminum grandstands all weekend and smell nitro.
If Cuttell wants a larger umbrella operation that stretches across multiple forms of motorsports, that’s his right.
But let IHRA remain what 55 years of history says it is.
Build another brand if necessary and let everything operate underneath it.
Because after all these years, IHRA still means one thing to the people who built it, raced in it and sat in the grandstands watching it.
Drag racing.
Trying to make it something else feels a little like bolting wings on a Funny Car.
You can spend a lot of money doing it.
That doesn’t mean it was ever supposed to fly.
John Doe
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BOBBY BENNETT: IHRA DOESN’T HAVE A LEADERSHIP PROBLEM AS MUCH AS IT HAS AN IDENTITY PROBLEM
I applaud Darryl Cuttell for what he has set out to do with the IHRA. He has created a level of conversation around the organization