When Wally Parks decided to organize drag racers in Southern California back in 1951, he did so primarily as a public service. Up to that point, drag racing had been a loosely-run sport for roughly 20 years beforehand, with drivers usually challenging each other on streets and freeways.

Unfortunately, racing on streets and freeways came with inherent danger, including countless deaths and injuries, not to mention traffic tickets from police officers. Parks felt that if he could form an organization that would put the sport on straight-line, off-street racetracks purposefully built for drag racing specifically, it would rein in the outlaw image and reduce fatalities, injuries, and mishaps.

Parks began the National Hot Rod Association in 1951 after co-founding both Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines in the 1940s. It was a natural evolution for him, using his writing background to promote and build NHRA into what it is today, the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world (includes both professional, sportsman and amateur classes).

Although Parks passed away in 2007, his legacy will last forever. His impact upon the sport was so immense that two things have become synonymous with Parks: first, even today, nearly 20 years after his passing, folks in drag racing often ask each other, “What would Wally do in this case?”, and second, every coveted event winner’s trophy is known as “a Wally”, a mini-statuette of Parks at his height of popularity as NHRA’s leader.

This is a very significant year for NHRA, as it’s the 75 anniversary of the sanctioning body’s formation. It remains the largest motorsports organization and drag racing sanctioning body in the world.

EssentiallySports recently had an exclusive interview with NHRA President Glen Cromwell, who is now in his ninth year as the sanctioning body’s chief executive. Among items Cromwell discussed were more ongoing and upcoming plans for the 75 season (we’re already three races into the 20-race schedule), the importance of youth both as competitors and fans, plans for the future for the sanctioning body and more.

Here are some excerpts of ES’s interview with Cromwell:

Q. Seventy-five years is a heck of a legacy. Who knew when Wally Parks started this thing back in the early 50s that it would become what it is today? Obviously, you’re the number one guy, but just as a drag racing fan, how much do you marvel at what the NHRA has become?

GC: I’ve been with the company for 29 years. I was fortunate enough to work with and spend time with Wally. What he started in 1951 and where we are today, it’s just amazing. Everything from the business side, the racing side, the fans, the partnerships, things have grown in such a positive way. I’ve done a lot of these interviews, and I’ve been part of a lot of meetings. I truly mean it when I say, in my 29 years, I’ve never been more excited about a season than I ever have with this year. The momentum that we have going around the 75th anniversary has never been better. It’s great. To me, it starts with the celebration and tribute to Wally Parks.

That’s what we’re doing. We’ve kicked off the season. Just before the season-opening race in Gainesville, we had a docuseries with Vice TV, which was awesome. Six episodes, in-house produced. What a way to create excitement leading into Gainesville, behind the scenes. Really, that is what we need to do more of. We need to show the personalities of these drivers and the things that they go through in real, authentic situations. That’s what you got in this docuseries.

Q. One of the big things you’re doing at every race is bringing back some of the past greats of the sport. Like at Gainesville, you had legends like Kenny Bernstein, Don Prudhomme, Shirley Muldowney, Warren Johnson, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Joe Amato and others. Fans love reliving the past and the sport’s past history, getting autographs, taking photos and just reliving things with them. It’s been very well-received, hasn’t it?

GC: Gainesville was very successful. The fans were ecstatic that we brought so many legends back out. We’re going to bring them out all year long. We brought Kenny Bernstein out there, which was special because it was at Gainesville in 1992 that he was the first to hit 300-mph. We also have created these really cool diamond Wally’s (trophies), which every racer wants to get their hands on. That’s awesome. Legends, our merchandise partner, is doing the best merchandise I’ve seen in all my time here at NHRA. I went into the mall there in Gainesville, and I was ready to buy a ton of merchandise myself.

We’ve got a lot of other really cool things coming. We’ve got a mobile gaming device coming out this year. We put together a really cool—we call it the NHRA 75th Anniversary Fund. Just a way to put some dollars back into our professional race teams. It’s tied to incentives. If they help promote the races and promote the sport, then they get some of those funds kicked back as part of the 75th anniversary. Really, just a lot of excitement, a lot of good things.

Q. You’ve had a lot of great competition and storylines already, and we’re only a few races into the season. Can you talk about some of those?

GC: Things have really developed that I guess we didn’t really think were going to develop, at least right from the start. Maddi Gordon comes out of the box and has done an incredible job, reaching the semi’s in the first two races as a Top Fuel rookie. With her personality, being genuine and authentic, our fans have really taken a liking to her. She’s just done a great job. 

We have other new faces or drivers with new teams. I mean, John Force Racing looks completely different today than it ever has. With Jordan Vandergriff coming in, Josh Hart, Alexis DeJoria and Jack Beckman. He’s got four new drivers. You’ve got Austin Prock going over to Tasca Racing, which is really cool. You’ve got Tony Stewart, who still runs Tony Stewart Racing. His wife’s racing for him with Matt Hagan, but then Tony is racing with Richard Freeman and Elite Motorsports – and Tony just won at Pomona. I can’t wait until the day that those two match up, husband and wife, on Sunday.

Things have fallen in place nicely. Just a lot of new things happening. Our 2026 schedule is different. For many, many years, we have gone to the same market, same track. I get it. That’s important to do.

But it’s also important to grow the sport. To do that, you’ve got to try new things. We are trying new markets. I’m excited to go to South Georgia Motorsports Park on the 1st of May. That’s looking extremely strong. Then we’re going over to Royce Miller’s track over at Maryland International Raceway, which is great. Royce is probably one of the best drag racing promoters out there, very detail-oriented. Then we’re going over to Jason Peterson up in US 131 Motorsports Park at Martin, Michigan.

That event is on fire, ticket sales are just out of the park there. Then we’re back at The Rock at Rockingham (N.C.). Just a lot of new things happening at the NHRA in 2026. A lot of hard work. It’s everybody working together.

Q. The NHRA has got a lot of young people this year that could definitely be the start of the next 75 years, like Josh Hart, Jordan Vandergriff, Maddi Gordon and so many others. Some fans worry about who’s going to eventually replace today’s drivers that are in their 50s and even into their 60s, but you seem to have a great new cast of characters to build the next generation of not only racers, but also fans.

GC: You’re right. In addition to Maddi, Jordan was working for us on the Fox production team, and now he’s racing. He’s done great with his background, with other things, being in The Bachelor (TV series). He brings a lot of talent to NHRA, jumping into a Funny Car, doing a lot of success there. Of course, there’s that little rivalry between him and Austin Prock, which I think is going to develop through the 2026 season and beyond.

You’ve got Alexis running over there, and she’s running good. She’s got a great crew chief that’s worked with John Force in the past. I think every event, there are going to be a tremendous amount of storylines.

Q. Last month, we had crossover events with NASCAR and IndyCar at both St. Petersburg and Phoenix. People went crazy for those crossover events. There are enough facilities in motorsports that have drag strips affiliated with the regular racetrack, like Bristol, you’ve got the strip right across the street from the speedway, same with Las Vegas, Chicago, Charlotte and others. Has there been any discussion at all about NHRA doing any kind of a crossover event any time in the near future?

GC: We’ve talked. We’ve reached out to Steve O’Donnell over at NASCAR and Doug Bowles over at IndyCar. We’ve had those conversations. At the end of the day, it’s just logistics. Once you work through the logistics, it can happen. There’s no question. I think it would be beneficial for all motorsports. I was on a panel around PRI (the annual Performance Racing Industry Show in Indianapolis last December), and that really was the discussion point where all motorsports need to come together and work together, so that we all grow. It was a great panel. We’ve had those conversations and we’re still having them today.

Q. As president, this is obviously a very monumental season, but you also want to build upon it for the future. You want to build the next 75 years. What are some of the things that maybe you’re not doing now that you’re looking at doing in the next three or five years? Will it be more expansion, more different tracks? What do you have in mind right now?

GC: One of the first things is technology. We’re looking at scoring and timing, at building integrated systems to be better customer service for our racers, whether it’s on the licenses and chassis and memberships. Really, it starts with technology and looking forward. But it’s all the other things, growing partnerships, bringing more mainstream, non-endemic sponsors into the sport, bringing in media and gaming, a younger demographic, increased fan experience. I think that’s one thing that the NHRA is the leader of. With our “Every Ticket is a Pit Pass” motto, you get to come in and meet the drivers. We have to continue to build personalities. We’ve got to build new racetracks, new venues. I mean, the list could go on and on and on, and we do have those.

We have the 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10-year goals, and I can tell you, the things that we’re talking about today, they’re happening in 2026, we’ve been talking about for the last three years. What you’re seeing is the hard work over the last three years and everyone coming together, and you’re seeing the success. We’re going to continue the next three, the next five, the next seven, and next ten years. I truly believe when you look back at NHRA in 2026 and when we’re in 2030, we’re going to be way bigger than we are today.

Q. What’s No. 1 on your bucket list of things still to do?

GC: I think for me, and first and foremost, when you talk about me, I will tell you the team here at the NHRA is probably the best team I’ve worked with. All of our employees, our leadership team, our executives, I mean, we are a roll your sleeves up type of group. The simple No. 1 (goal) is we want to grow the sport because it’s mainstream, but I think for me, I want people to understand that we are not only a sanctioning body, and yes, we govern, and safety is important, all those things, all the missions that Wally Parks put together, but customer service is extremely important.

Our racers, our fans, our sponsors all have a choice in 2026, and I think that NHRA has made a tremendous effort over the last few years to create better customer service, better relationships, and I think we’re going to continue that. I take pride in that because I do it and our team does it, and I think some of the successes that you’re seeing today are because of that, and we’re going to continue it.

Q. We talked about all the new young drivers now and on the horizon, but that’s not a surprise as NHRA has long been about youth initiatives like Junior Dragster, etc. Can you talk more about the grassroots youth programs? You get kids started as young as five-years old, plus its a great way to have great family time together, with everyone, mom, dad, son, daughter, grandma, grandpa all enjoying the sport and being part of it.

GC: NHRA has a tremendous amount of youth programs happening and people just see the top tier when our drivers get to the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. They see that, but they don’t see that a lot of our drivers have come up through our Junior Drag Racing League. You can start racing at the young age of 5 all the way up to 17. We have a Junior Street Program where you can actually drive a car when you’re 13- to 16-years-old with an adult in the passenger seat to get that feel of going down a dragstrip. We have a Youth in Education Program where we bring out 30,000 to 40,000 junior and senior high school kids and first-year college kids each year and talk about careers in motorsports.

So I don’t think people fully understand the size and width of what the NHRA really is and that we have this tremendous feeder system. It’s like a pyramid, right? And down here at the base, we’re working really hard that we understand that if this is a strong base, the top of that pyramid is only going to get stronger. A lot of these interviews that I do, we all talk about the top of the pyramid. But the truth is, it’s the hard work down at the base.

And it comes from our sportsman categories, too. I don’t think our sportsman category gets enough (attention) for all the hard work and the time that they spend with their families to come out and race. You go look at any other major league, not only motorsports, but any major sport, the NHRA has to be near the top, if not the top, of a sport that has such a strong feeder system bringing superstars into our sport. So do I feel comfortable and confident for the future? 100%.

I’m very open, I’m very transparent. I’m not trying to hide anything. I want to be open and honest with the public and know that we’re doing the best that you would expect to grow the sport and take care of our drivers and our fans and our tracks and our stakeholders. I mean, listen, there’s nothing to hide here. Good things are happening. When we stub our toe, I’ll be the first to admit it.