{"id":105388,"date":"2026-03-31T14:24:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=105388"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:24:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:24:34","slug":"ihra-buys-frank-hawleys-drag-racing-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/ihra-buys-frank-hawleys-drag-racing-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"IHRA Buys Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Frank Hawley and Darryl Cuttell formalize their agreement – IHRA photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Darryl Cuttell\u2019s buying spree isn\u2019t over. On the final day of March, the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) announced it has purchased Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing Schools. The announcement stated the purchase was done in the interest of \u201cpreserving a legendary legacy while expanding the future of driver development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawley\u2019s schools around the country and across the globe have, for more than four decades delivered world-class straight-line driving instruction and graduated national event-winning drivers in both the professional and sportsman classes. There are in excess of 25,000 graduates that have completed a variety of programs.<\/p>\n

With this acquisition, IHRA states it has ensured that Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School will continue to operate with its experienced staff conducting a proven curriculum, using current equipment and led by instructors that have defined the school\u2019s success. Hawley will continue to lead his eponymous operation; the immediate change is that the school is now under IHRA ownership.<\/p>\n

In making the announcement Hawley confirmed, \u201cWhen I met Darryl Cuttell, I was very impressed with his ambitious vision to grow the popularity of motorsports around the world. Darryl is working to coalesce motorsports entertainment with other traditional forms of entertainment at IHRA facilities. Our industry has been looking for leadership like this, and we are ready to join the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawley also stated, \u201cMy entire life has been devoted to the sport of drag racing. I can\u2019t think of a better way to continue the legacy of our school than under the ownership of the IHRA.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Darryl Cuttell -autoracing1.com photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This move by IHRA brings up the question of logistics, because many of the classes have been conducted at tracks owned by IHRA\u2019s rival series, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The intent, IHRA stated is not to reinvent the program but to expand its accessibility, even as it maintains the standards that have made Hawley\u2019s schools dominant in the sport.<\/p>\n

Cuttell believes this purchase will preserve Hawley\u2019s legacy while expanding access to his schools. \u201cFrank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing Schools is one of the most important institutions our sport has ever known,\u201d Cuttell stated., \u201cThis is not about changing what works; rather, it\u2019s about protecting a legacy, investing in education and safety, and ensuring that racers at every level have access to the very best training in the world. IHRA is honored to carry this responsibility forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darryl Cuttell\u2019s buying spree isn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":105389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,8,3470,5029],"tags":[12432,13203,13202,4799,7],"class_list":["post-105388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-ihra","category-news","category-racing","tag-darryl-cuttell","tag-frank-hawley","tag-frank-hawleys-drag-racing-schools","tag-ihra","tag-nhra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hawley-and-Cuttell.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-rpO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105388"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105397,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105388\/revisions\/105397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}