In a groundbreaking move for the world of drag racing, the World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) and the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) have announced their first-ever collaboration, a partnership that marks a new era where both sanctioning bodies join forces to elevate the experience for racers and racing venues alike.

The IHRA and WDRA are now united in their mission to manage sanctioned facilities, ensuring insurance compliance, licensing, and organizing dynamic bracket racing programs and events. "We have a unique opportunity to combine the strengths of both IHRA and WDRA to help our collective facilities and provide opportunities and stability for our bracket racing members," said WDRA's Don Scott. "WDRA's expertise is on the member track, licensing and bracket racing side of the sport. As IHRA launches new pro racing programs and events, there is a need for making sure the IHRA tracks and bracket racers get taken care of. The WDRA team is going to make sure that we are there to support the IHRA facilities and bracket programs because this arrangement is simply good for our sport."

IHRA's Darryl Cuttell shared this enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, ""Both groups have the best interests of the tracks and racers at heart. We all agree that we will make our sport better by working together, and each group complements each other perfectly. Anyone that has been around me or our group knows that we are going to make it happen."

Together, these organizations oversee 110 sanctioned facilities (not including upcoming agreements) and host fifteen bracket racing events annually.

"This collaboration is not just an agreement but a promise to racers that their passion and dedication will be met with enhanced opportunities and a robust racing environment. Immediate implementation of this partnership will see further announcements as both groups work tirelessly to forge a new pathway for member tracks and bracket racers, propelling drag racing into a bright, inclusive future," an announcement stated.

It appears to be business as usual for each sanctioning body for the foreseeable future, according to comments under the WDRA announcement on Facebook.

For more information, visit racewdra.com and ihra.com.

In related IHRA news, Christian Byrd has been named the vice president of Strategic Partnerships for the IHRA. The 47-year-old Byrd has served as General Manager for zMax Dragway. He is the son of the late Jeff Byrd, who was a senior executive for the R.J. Reynolds (Winston) group and a 2017 inductee into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. The elder Byrd served as the president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway and Bristol Dragway from 1996-2010. More details here.