In its inaugural year under the new ownership of Darryl Cuttell last year, the IHRA recorded explosive growth of its audience across multiple broadcast platforms. With a multi-year agreement with SPEED SPORT and world-class production, the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series set a high bar for engaging fans both at the track, at home and on the go — and is raising the bar even higher in 2026.
IHRA IS ON THE MOVE — The IHRA has been on the move during the off-season, acquiring and investing in multiple racetracks including Virginia Motorsports Park, Maple Grove Raceway, Atlanta Dragway, Memphis Motorsports Park, Heartland Park, and more. In all, IHRA sanctions more than 110 drag racing facilities in the U.S. and around the globe.
IHRA has expanded beyond the Outlaw Nitro Series — launching the IHRA Offshore Powerboat Series, the IHRA Sportsman Bracket Racing Series, the Small Tire BRATZ Series, the IHRA F1 Powerboat Series, the IHRA Stock Car Series, the IHRA Drag Boat Series, the IHRA Professional Watercraft Series and IHRA Pro Pulling League. Broadcast schedules for each series will be announced soon.
The 2026 IHRA Outlaw Series will feature eight events, beginning with the season-opening round March 19-21 at Darana Motorsports Park in Benson, NC (formerly Galot Motorsports Park), and concluding October 22-24 at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga. The series features a record $9 million purse and generous support for both sportsman and professional racers. See full schedule below.
“For 2026, the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series is pulling out all the stops,” said Doug Foley, Jr., IHRA COO of Drag Racing. “With huge purses, industry-leading benefits for racers, and a fan-friendly experience at the track, IHRA will build on our success last year and set the bar for all forms of professional racing.” Foley continued, “Our partnerships with SPEED SPORT and Windy City have already been instrumental in showcasing our racers and events. We are excited to build on that success as we continue our partnership this season.”
TRIPLE CROWN — All-new for 2026 is the IHRA Triple Crown Series. This big money, three-event series features a $1 million bonus for any driver who sweeps either Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Mod, Pro Stock and Mountain Motor Pro Stock classes at all three events. Held at historic venues including Darana – Maple Grove Raceway, Darana – National Trail Raceway and Darana Memphis Motorsports Park. In addition to the $1 million bonus, the IHRA Triple Crown Series boasts a $4.36 million purse. Broadcast and schedule details for the stand-alone series will be released soon.
WORLD CLASS PRODUCTIONS — Every IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series event will be broadcast live — with preliminary rounds streamed on SPEED SPORT 2 and IHRA.TV. Pro class qualifying and eliminations will air live on SPEED SPORT 1, with tape-delayed encores typically airing the next day. Full replays will be also available on demand on both SPEED SPORT 2 and IHRA.TV. Highly produced one-hour highlight shows will air every Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in the coveted primetime slot on SPEED SPORT 1.
Windy City Creative Group is orchestrating all IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series productions. Windy City is owned and led by Steve Grein, an Emmy award-winning veteran producer and creative director whose national motorsports broadcast portfolio includes Lucas Oil On The Edge, Red Bull Crandon World Cup, Lucas Oil Off-Road, IHRA Drag Racing, ADRL, Lucas Oil Drag Boats, Pulling, Late Model, Sprint Cars and the Chili Bowl.
“Of all the Motorsports events that I’ve had the privilege of producing, being part of the IHRA has been the most exciting, hands down,” said Grein. “The tools and resources that Darryl, Leah (Martin, IHRA President) and the IHRA team is giving us has allowed me to compile a second to none team that is rich in Motorsports history and TV talent.”
Windy City is also producing other IHRA series including IHRA Stock Car Series, IHRA Fendt Pro Pulling League, IHRA Professional Watercraft Series, Poker Run, IHRA Snowmobile Series, IHRA Outlaw Drag Boats, IHRA F1 Powerboats and more.
NATIONAL BROADCAST TEAM — Ken Stout returns as on-air host for IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series in 2026. A veteran motorsports broadcaster and former racing driver known for his extensive work as a lead announcer for Monster Jam, Lucas Oil Off-Road, Lucas Oil On The Edge and multiple racing series on networks like SPEED, CBS Sports and MAV TV and more.
Joining Ken in the booth again this year is legendary drag racer Tommy Johnson, Jr. as color analyst. “TJ” is a veteran professional drag racer with more than 25 national event wins, distinguished as one of the few drivers to ever win in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories and a widely recognized on-air announcer and analyst on television, radio and digital media.
Returning to handle pit reporting duties are “The Kristens”. Kristen Beat is an Emmy-nominated motorsports reporter and broadcast journalist who has covered premier racing series including NASCAR, Supercross, and American Flat Track for major networks like NBC Sports and FOX Sports. At the other end of the track will be Kristin Banks. Banks is a dynamic motorsports reporter and content creator known for her on-air reporting for Arenacross, Bagger Racing League, Moto X Fight Club and more across multiple national networks.
A PROGRAMMING STRATEGY DESIGNED TO MAXIMIZE REACH — The SPEED SPORT 1 programming strategy is integral to growing IHRA’s reach. Live sports is leading the rapid growth of streaming television and crucial to both IHRA and SPEED SPORT 1’s strategy. The emphasis on presenting live racing will consistently position IHRA on platform landing pages alongside the biggest and best live sporting events. Furthermore, IHRA events will often follow other major live events on the network – creating a carry-over boost to an already strong following audience. Furthermore, consistent prime-time placement of “best of” IHRA programming will create ongoing appointment viewing and a consistent platform for promotion and messaging.
The “IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series came off the line in 2025 with very strong audience numbers — driven by the nitro-fueled excitement and world-class production quality,” said Dan Teitscheid, SPEED SPORT 1 President. “With a full schedule in 2026, huge purses and exciting fan-and-racer-friendly approach to the events, these events will resonate with a wide variety of fans – from hard-core adrenaline junkies to casual motorsports fans discovering the excitement of Top Fuel drag racing for the first time.”
WORLD CLASS NETWORK — In addition to its extensive IHRA broadcast portfolio, SPEED SPORT 1 also features broadcast partnerships with other major series and events including Trans Am, Ferrari Challenge, IMCA, Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series, WISSOTA, The Mint 400, Open Wheel Showdown and more.
SPEED SPORT 1 is the leading free ad-supported streaming television network for live racing in the U.S. and Canada…with over 500 hours of live broadcasts scheduled for 2026. Now reaching more than 200 million homes via popular streaming tv platforms such as Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, Fubo, Plex, STIRR and more.
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