By: Jody Freeman
Published November 28, 2025
The IHRA recently announced they would be adding some left hand turns to their 2026 schedule by introducing a new touring stock car series. A bit different from their traditional drag racing. The series will have two classes, a Pro Late Model and a Late Model Sportsman that will compete in an 8-race schedule, while visiting 6 different tracks across 5 different states across the Mid-West and South-East.
The schedule reflects one race per month while the season will kick off on March 21st at Pulaski Motorsports Park (formally known as Motor Mile Speedway) in Virgina. Pulaski will get a 2nd event later on July 25th. Newport Speedway in Tennessee will also get 2 dates when the series visits on May 30th and September 26th. The series will also visit Cordele Speedway in Geogia, Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina, Salem Speedway in Indiana, and will close out the season at Memphis Motorsports Park in Tennessee on October 17th. The full schedule is listed at the bottom of the article.
When the news hit, it seemed to have caught a lot of people off guard in the racing world. So, we reached out to the IHRA to learn a bit more about how this came about. I spoke with Series Director Tim Horton and his son, Daniel, who will be taking on the role of Assistant Series Director. Tim is a chassis builder and has built chassis in the past driven by NASCAR drivers Jeff Green, Jeremy Mayfield, Greg Biffle, Kenny Wallace, and Bobby Labonte.
Tim told me that several months ago he was building a Pro Late Model chassis when IHRA owner Darryl Cuttell (Cuttell acquired the IHRA in December of 2024 and is a racer himself) came into the shop and asked him who was going to drive it? Tim responded with I guess the first person to bring me an engine. That was the spark that got the idea going for the series and this has all come about in just the last few months.
The purpose and vision of the series is to “help the average racer to be able compete and be successful without a large budget” and that is “racer and fan focused” is what Tim and Daniel told me. Some of the initial call outs to help with those costs will be 1-day events to include practice, qualifying, and the races to reduce travel. Limiting tires to 1-2 sets and the series will use tires manufactured by American Racer. AFCO shocks will be required, and no bump stops, bump springs, or coil-binding are a few things they are doing as well within the rules package.
Darryl Cuttell himself will be putting up $2,000,000 dollars in purse money for the season. Standard events will pay $2,000 to start in the Late Model Sportsman and $1,750 to start in the Pro Late Models. The first and last race of the season will double the payouts to start. Cuttell is the President/CEO of Darana Hybrid, an Industrial Electrician company that services all over North America. Cuttell acquired the IHRA in December of 2024 where he immediately went to work and the IHRA began acquiring several drag strips and bringing back national events to the IHRA.
Daniel Horton told me that the first 24 hours of the announcement has generated a large buzz within the racing industry and they have been hearing from teams and drivers from Michigan to Alabama, the Northeast and everywhere in between. Tentatively, Daniel plans to be our guest on Deez Lug Nutz Podcast for the show dropping the week of December 8th to talk more about the inaugural 2026 series.
I can say for sure one thing that kept coming up in my conversation with Tim and Daniel was that the goal for this series is to provide a service for both the racer and the fans and they just want everyone to have fun.
Be sure to stay tuned to the IHRA and Deez Lug Nutz Podcast websites and social platforms for upcoming announcements on the new stock car series.
You can find the rulebook and more information, including IHRA contacts at https://ihra.com/sites/default/files/2025-11/2026%20IHRA%20Stock%20Car%20Series%20Rule%20Book%202.2.pdf
2026 IHRA Stock Car Series Schedule
March 21st – Pulaski Motorsports Park, VA
April 18th – Cordele Speedway, GA
May 30th – Newport Speedway, TN
June 27th – Anderson Motor Speedway, SC
July 25th – Pulaski Motorsports Park, VA
August 22nd – Salem Speedway, IN
September 26th – Newport Speedway, TN
October 17th – Memphis Motorsports Park, TN
