IHRA Drops St. Clair, OPA Partnership Ends and the 2026 Offshore Calendar Keeps Changing

If you have been trying to follow IHRA Offshore racing in 2026 and found it hard to keep up, you are not alone. A lot has changed in a short time. This article explains where things stand, what has happened, and what is confirmed for the rest of the season.

Start Here: Two Organisations, One Championship

When the International Hot Rod Association entered offshore powerboat racing, it did not build everything from scratch. It brought in partners, established organisations with race experience, venue relationships and loyal followings, and put them under the IHRA umbrella.

One of those partners was the Offshore Powerboat Association (OPA), a New Jersey-based organisation with roots stretching back to the 1970s and a reputation built on the northeast US race circuit. OPA president Nick Smith took on a dual role: running OPA and serving as IHRA’s race director and logistics manager for offshore events.

The plan was a unified US offshore calendar. OPA would produce three races under what it called the Divisional Triple Crown: Freeport, New York in July; the St. Clair River Classic in Michigan in July; and the Lake Hopatcong Grand Prix in New Jersey in September, each with a $50,000-plus purse and each counting toward the broader IHRA offshore picture.

What Has Just Happened

On May 29, IHRA’s legal counsel sent a letter to Nick Smith terminating the partnership agreement with OPA. Speed on the Water reported that Smith announced his resignation from his IHRA role shortly afterwards.

The Freeport Offshore Grand Prix, due to run July 10-12, is cancelled. It was already a race that had suffered: last year it was shut down by eleventh-hour regulatory intervention, and the team had worked hard to get approvals in place for 2026 only to find themselves left in a financial hole.

Smith said:

“It is heartbreaking to cancel this event. Last year, eleventh-hour regulations shut us down. And the team, as well as local and federal partners worked tirelessly to get all of the necessary approvals ahead of schedule, only to be left in a financial hole.”

On his departure from IHRA, he said:

“I genuinely wish the IHRA much success going forward. Having spent a lot of time building the offshore arm of the company, I made a lot of friends there. And I wish the racers good luck as they chase the championship.”

St. Clair: The Race Fans Are Asking About

The St. Clair River Classic in Michigan is one of the most well-liked venues on the US offshore circuit. Racers and fans have made the point repeatedly: the pits are accessible, the river is a natural grandstand, and the town embraces the racing. The comments on IHRA’s own Facebook announcement overnight were full of people asking what had happened to it.

IHRA confirmed the answer in the same statement: St. Clair will not be an IHRA-sanctioned event in 2026. It will not carry championship points. It will not be televised. It will not receive IHRA funding.

The race itself may still happen. The St. Clair River Classic remains listed on the OPA Divisional Triple Crown schedule, and OPA has not confirmed its cancellation. But its status as an IHRA Offshore National Championship round is finished for this season.

Who Else Is Running Offshore Racing in the US?

To understand why the IHRA situation matters, it helps to know that US offshore powerboat racing has spent the last 40 years fragmenting. The American Power Boat Association has been the sport’s governing body in the United States since 1903, affiliated to the UIM, the world governing body for the sport. For most of the 20th century, if you raced offshore in America, you raced under APBA sanction.

That began to change in the 1980s and 1990s as breakaway organisations formed, typically driven by disputes over rules, money, venue control or the direction of the sport. Some lasted a season. Some built loyal followings that survive today. Race World Offshore, which runs UIM-sanctioned events including Atlantic City, Michigan City and Key West, is the most established of the current alternatives.

IHRA is the latest organisation to challenge that structure, and by far the most heavily funded. When it arrived in late 2025 with $2.75 million committed across powerboat disciplines and broadcast deals on the table, teams paid attention. Some classes committed exclusively to IHRA. Others kept a foot in both camps. The tension with APBA has been open: earlier this year, OPA’s Nick Smith publicly accused APBA of waging what he called a five-year war against OPA, including venue poaching.

Whether IHRA succeeds where previous breakaways have fallen short remains to be seen. What is clear is that teams are making real decisions right now about where to register, where to spend their season and which organisation to trust.

The Leadership Picture

Tommy Thomassie was named Director of Powerboating in December 2025, resigned in April, then returned in May when president Leah Martin was dismissed mid-race at Cocoa Beach. Dustin Farthing was named IHRA president shortly after, and his open letter to offshore teams after the Cocoa Beach shake-up was a clear signal the organisation was attempting to reset. Nick Smith’s departure removes another significant figure from the offshore operation.

What Is Confirmed for the Rest of 2026

Despite the turbulence, IHRA has three completed championship rounds behind it and racing continuing next week. Here is where things stand.

IHRA has said additional venues for the remainder of the season will be announced in coming weeks. Lake of the Ozarks is next, June 12-14, less than a week away.

On the OPA side, the Lake Hopatcong Grand Prix in New Jersey is confirmed for September 18-20, independent of IHRA. The St. Clair River Classic in July remains officially unconfirmed.

The Bigger Picture

Whether the calendar stabilises from here is the question the offshore community is now asking. For everything we have published on IHRA since the series launched, visit our IHRA Offshore coverage page.