The rejuvenated IHRA continues to make significant hires, and today comes news of the latest executive joining the team with the intention of improving the drag racing experience.
Christian Byrd, a second-generation sports marketing specialist, has joined the IHRA as the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.
So, what exactly does a VP of Strategic Partnerships do?
“It entails sponsorships, marketing, bringing new companies into the sport, looking at dynamic platforms, like the QSRs (fast food restaurants), or convenience stores, and really bringing grassroots level marketing back into drag racing. Those companies are out there and ready to promote their businesses.
“Also, with media partners generating new content, we’re going to focus on some unique streaming options. You look at some of the reality TV stuff that has been successful with F1 as well as NASCAR through their Netflix partnership. There are other options and other channels out there, and you’ll see with some of the partnerships that are already established that the sky’s the limit as far as taking sports to the next level.”
Byrd has served as General Manager for zMax Dragway and shares the last name and bloodline of a motorsports communications icon, the late Jeff Byrd, who was the ultimate mover and shaker in drag racing as part of the R.J. Reynolds (Winston) team.
And, to hear Byrd talk about his new role with the IHRA, one could easily pick up on his inability to contain his excitement. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Byrd, who grew up going to the Winston-sponsored IHRA races in the 1970s and 80s until he left for college. He’s seen the sport and the sports marketing world come full circle.
“You look back in the history of drag racing, and there was a time when all these tracks hosted huge music and legendary rock festivals in the ’60s and ’70s,” Byrd said. “Heck, even when I was at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, we had a Faith, Family, and Freedom Concert on July 4th – a celebration of Christian music, which drew 14,000 people out to the drag strip for fireworks and good family fun.
“I think the sky’s the limit when we look at drag racing, looking at more of a dynamic platform and rethinking the way we’ve run a sanctioning body. You’re seeing it with NASCAR. There’s a bit of it in F1. Think about an IndyCar event; some people who go to the Indy 500 have never watched a car on the track. I’ve been to the Kentucky Derby in the infield at a much younger age, and I never saw a horse.”
Byrd joins a team assembled by Cuttell Motorsports, who purchased the failing series on December 19, 2024, and breathed new life into it. Earlier this month, IHRA named former NHRA Division Director Rich Schaefer the new president, and last week, former NHRA announcer Alan Reinhart was appointed the new vice president of race operations.
Byrd believes that the drag strip needs to be a fun place where drag racing happens to be going on.
“It needs to be family fun, and it needs to be good for the teams, the drivers, the fans,” Byrd explained. “Most importantly, I learned from Bruton Smith that we all work for the fans. At the end of the day, we can’t race at empty stadiums, and we can’t sell sponsorships to empty stadiums. We can’t put the TV on any channel with empty stadiums that don’t look like they’re fun to be at. So, all this works together. I fully believe, and have preached for years, that we’re just the cog in the middle of the wheel. We need all the spokes to be active and out there extending our reach. I think this partnership role allows me to find the right strategic partners, find the right beverage companies, find the right automotive partners, and really take this thing to the next level. Think about it as a dynamic platform for any company.”
“I think there’s just a lot of lifestyle things mixed with racing people and some of the best people I’ve known. I’ve been around this thing for 47 years, and drag racing people are, honestly, the most fun, best, loyal friends, and probably have been my entire life.”
Byrd said he’s grown up in the sport surrounded by some of the most dynamic entities, who made sure he understood how this world worked. There was no better mentor than his father.
“Dad’s a Hall of Famer,” Byrd said. “If you look back at IHRA and its creation in the ’70s by Larry Carrier putting it all on the map, getting to be a part of this team means a lot. I pursued other avenues and saw myself working in college sports, but to me, drag racing is a family thing. I can’t run from it anymore. I think a lot of us laugh at it, and I don’t want to fill my dad’s shoes. That’s not what this is about. This isn’t about a legacy deal. It’s about looking at an opportunity, looking at the people in the room at the table, understanding their goals and objectives.”
As Byrd sees it, the two most important keys to success in this arena are communications and relationships.
“That’s the most important thing, treating people well,” Byrd added.
“We have the right people in the arena. Now, it’s just taking this thing and figuring it out going forward. We’re playing a very sophisticated game of sports marketing now, sports business on a global level. We’re not playing what we knew 20, 30, 40 years ago.”
Byrd believes that drag racing’s best days are still ahead of it, but it’s going to depend on the stakeholders of the sport adjusting to a forever-changing marketing and entertainment landscape.
“The glory days have evolved, and the glory days are going to be fun,” Byrd said. “We can still do the same things. We can still have kids growing up at the racetrack, running around, picking up parts and pieces, hanging out, and having a lot of fun.
“We need to make it where racers show up at the racetrack with a smile, and we all have to make this thing work. None of this works if it becomes a hobby. It needs to become a business for people but needs to become a business that flourishes. That’s from the fans having a cost-effective way to get to the racetrack like it used to be, having the right broadcast partners that can create, and the most difficult thing to do is to navigate your consumption of media.
“Look at discretionary incomes for people, which we know don’t exist. It costs a lot to go out with a family of four anywhere in the United States. I don’t care if you’re going to your local fast-food restaurant, going on a trip to the beach or the mountains, or just maybe out of town for a couple of days. It’s expensive.”
“We need to make things cost-effective for our families. We need to make it cost-effective for racers. We need the right people in the room. The IHRA is well on its way to doing that.”
