The International Hot Rod Association has cancelled the remainder of its 2026 Nitro Drag Racing Series and laid off staff, according to three separate drag racing outlets reporting on July 9 and 10. The news does not directly touch IHRA’s powerboat operations, but it lands inside the same organisation, under the same leadership, and follows the same pattern of rapid schedule cuts that hit IHRA Offshore and IHRA F1 nine days earlier.
What changed: IHRA confirmed on July 9 that remaining 2026 Nitro Drag Racing Series events will not go ahead. Staff layoffs inside the organisation’s national event division have also been reported, though IHRA has not publicly quantified their scale.
What Happened on the Drag Side
According to Drag Illustrated, IHRA said in a statement on July 9 that it could not deliver Nitro competition at the standard its racers expect for the rest of the season.
IHRA president Dustin Farthing said:
“This isn’t the end of national event drag racing, it’s a reset.”
The statement confirmed that IHRA-owned tracks, weekly bracket racing, sportsman competition, Team Finals and the IHRA World Championship continue as scheduled. Only the Nitro national event series is affected.
According to Dragzine, multiple IHRA employees have been laid off in recent days, citing sources it described as familiar with the situation; the organisation has not confirmed the scale of the cuts. According to DragCoverage, IHRA told sanctioned tracks by email that the organisation is not closing and that bracket racing is unaffected, after shutdown rumours circulated online.
Why This Matters to Powerboat Racing
IHRA’s marine operations sit inside the same corporate structure as its drag racing arm, under owner Darryl Cuttell and president Dustin Farthing. Powerboat News reported on July 1 that IHRA had cut its remaining 2026 season to a single event each for Offshore, F1 and Outlaw Drag Boat Racing, citing budget issues that emerged during the season. That announcement removed the Miami World Powerboat Grand Prix and the Windsor, Colorado F1 finale, along with every IHRA Offshore round beyond Sheboygan.
Two days later, on July 3, IHRA and SportsPITTSBURGH announced a three-year deal to launch a Formula One Powerboat National Championship on the Allegheny River from 2027, with fly-boarders, stunt dogs and a drone light show among the entertainment planned. Powerboat News covered the launch in full. The sequence, an aggressive multi-year commitment announced within 48 hours of a season-shortening budget cut, has been a recurring shape to IHRA’s powerboat news cycle in 2026.
Leadership turnover has followed a similar pattern. Tommy Thomassie was named IHRA’s Director of Powerboating in December 2025, resigned in April, returned in May when president Leah Martin was dismissed mid-race at Cocoa Beach, then left the organisation again. Farthing took over as president shortly afterwards.
Where This Leaves Alton and Sheboygan
As of publication, IHRA has made no announcement affecting its powerboat schedule beyond the July 1 cuts already reported. The IHRA F1 Powerboat Series’ Round 5 at Alton, Illinois remains listed for July 17-19, now the sole surviving round and the championship decider. The IHRA Offshore National Championship’s Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, Wisconsin remains listed for August 6-9.
John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
