INDIANAPOLIS — The International Hod Rod Ass’n has joined forces with SPEED SPORT 1, motorsports’ leading news organization with its content to be aired on the live racing network, the series announced Saturday afternoon at the Performance Race Industry trade show.
SPEED SPORT 1, a F.A.S.T. channel with direct to consumer delivery, is available on prominent streaming platforms including Amazon Prime, Pluto, Fubo and Sling, and will launch on Roku in February.
IHRA also signed a multi-year title sponsorship agreement with Darana Hybrid as a partner to bring back Nitro Jam. It will also mean dramatic purse increases for the racers at the IHRA Summit Team and Summit SuperSeries World Finals events.
The SS1 announcement means IHRA content will be available to over 200 million consumers on mainstream platforms and 300 million users on every major mobile platform.
“We are extremely excited that SPEED SPORT 1 will be the television home for IHRA in 2025 and beyond,” said Joe Tripp, SPEED SPORT CEO. “IHRA is a world class series with tremendous competition — but more importantly — IHRA and its teams, tracks, sponsors and leadership all have tremendous stories to share.
“As America’s oldest motorsports media brand, we’ve been telling the stories of racing since 1934 and can’t wait to be part of a new era for IHRA — sharing its story with the world.”
“These are huge steps in our goal with the #IHRAReturntoGlory,” IHRA President Kenny Nowling said. “We are building strategic partnerships for the long term. This is a monumental day for IHRA, our racers and track partners as we move into an exciting future.”
Three IHRA Nitro Jam events will take place next year headlined by Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Mod and Mountain Motor Pro Stock classes with zero entry fees for all of the classes. The locations and dates to be announced at a later time. For the Sportsman racers, this is also huge news with different class names moving forward.
Super Pro and Pro (former Top and Mod) winners at the IHRA World Finals will now receive $25,000. The payout for Sportsman, Motorcycle and Junior Dragster will be $12,500. Even more exciting for the Junior racers, they will now be split up in three classes — Beginner, Advanced and Master — with each winner receiving a $12,500 payout.
The winners’ purses at the IHRA Team Finals have tripled in the Super Pro and Pro classes, which now pay $7,500. The Sportsman, Motorcycle and all three Junior winners will receive $2,500.
“We’re extremely excited to take our partnership with IHRA to the next level,” said Darryl Cuttell, Darana Hybrid CEO. “We love working with the IHRA staff and share their passion for drag racing. We also share their vision of providing incredible championship events that are second to none.”
About SPEED SPORT 1
SPEED SPORT 1 is the first network dedicated to free, live motorsports, presenting hundreds of live events and thousands of hours of premier motorsport content and lifestyle programming from around the globe annually. Designed for the sport’s most passionate fans, SPEED SPORT 1 is a collaboration of seasoned professionals with backgrounds at ESPN, Speedvision, Speed Channel, FS1, NASCAR, MTV, Disney and MAVTV.
Celebrating its 90th Anniversary, SPEED SPORT continues to be America’s oldest and most trusted motorsports media brand. For more information, visit SPEEDSPORT1.com.