The IHRA is making significant waves within the NASCAR community at present. The International Hot Rod Association is on a spree of acquisitions with big plans to pursue NASCAR once again. Why and how exactly is the IHRA finding the funding? What’s the real reason they’ve been collecting all sorts of different tracks?

In a conversation with Matt Weaver, Senior NASCAR editor for Motorsports.com, Scott Woodruff opened up about IHRA’s vision and addressed the speculation surrounding its recent moves.

Gaining tracks like Infinity Stones

Woodruff’s current job is to “make racing fun again” across all divisions and properties. IHRA owner Daryl Cuttell has started to accumulate tracks like Thanos and his Infinity Stones. For the past two decades, Woodruff worked as a Brand and Media Manager at JEGS Performance.

Woodruff told Motorsports that funding is usually a big issue for endeavors such as the current one he and Cuttell are pursuing. However, that is not the case for the IHRA.

“Funding is not our issue. Its got to be the right people in the right place,” said Woodruff.

As CEO and President of Darana Hybrid, an electro-mechanical company that has contracts with SpaceX and Tesla, money is not even a forethought for Cuttell. Woodruff and the IHRA view buying the tracks one way, as investments. They have someone who sees the number of tracks with pedigree and history.

“Let’s plug the battery back in and get it recharged,” Woodruff said.

How exactly is the IHRA choosing which tracks they want to acquire, though? The answer is simple, really, as Woodruff explains.

“We’re trying to be good stewards of the sport and some of these tracks, we could have just walked away and not purchased them, but a lot of them are crown jewels that just need a little bit of love,” said Woodruff.

Currently, the team is in a big two-day planning session where they are consistently asking themselves questions and reflecting. They’re asking, ‘What would we want as fans,’ or ‘What would we want as competitors and as partners.’

The purchase of the tracks is part of Cuttell’s own legacy, according to Tim Horton, Stock Car Series Director. The CEO has already purchased seven or eight tracks and repurposed them. This kind of thing is his passion, and the fans of racing are soon to see this reflected within the tracks.

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Why choose the Memphis International Speedway?

Having recently completed the acquisition of what was once the Memphis International Raceway, many people are wondering, ‘Why Memphis?’ The IHRA has made its intentions perfectly clear.

Memphis International Raceway is a 0.750-mile tri-oval that has hosted O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races from the late 1990s up until 2009. That is when Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ron Hornaday Jr., and the late Greg Biffle were reaching victory lane across both of the series.

The oval can seat 35,000 fans and continued to host ARCA Menards Series races until 2020. The drag strip at the raceway was in use for a further two years before the facility finally closed its doors for good.

The IHRA already began tearing down much of its infrastructure with big goals in mind for the near future. IHRA President, Leah Martin, confirmed, unfortunately for any sentimental fans, “most” of the current facility will be leveled. They do plan on keeping some of the iconic pieces of the track in place, however.

The plan is to add a dirt track as well as an amphitheater for concerts and other events. IHRA has followed these updates with a positive statement, describing the facility as one with a  “special place in American motorports.”

Fans of the sport can be assured that the IHRA is committed to bringing back meaningful racing to the property while expanding its role as a destination for a wide range of events serving fans, racers, and the surrounding community.