Leah Martin isn’t going quietly.
A day after being informed her tenure as president of the International Hot Rod Association was over, Martin issued a statement marking the public end of her short run at the top of IHRA – and adding another name to a list that has been growing since the day Darryl Cuttell took ownership of the organization.
“Yesterday, I was informed that my time with the IHRA has come to an end,” says Martin. “The conversation and circumstances surrounding it were unexpected, especially after meeting personally with Darryl just a couple of hours earlier with no indication that a change was coming. I was later informed that a meeting had taken place the night before at a hotel room regarding the decision.”
Martin was named IHRA president this past December, a hire IHRA promoted heavily at the time as the first instance of a woman leading a major U.S. motorsports sanctioning body. By Sunday afternoon at Thunder On The Beach in Cocoa Beach, Florida, six months later, she was out. Tommy Thomassie has been named the new IHRA president. Andrew Hubble will preside over IHRA’s offshore program going forward.
The dismissal landed in the middle of an active race weekend. According to Speed On The Water, Martin’s husband, Justin – IHRA’s own safety director – had the pace boat returned to the pits and disembarked when he learned what had happened, creating a roughly 15-minute delay before the Super V and Extreme race could even start. Among the boats sitting on that start line was Cuttell himself, the IHRA owner whose meeting with Martin hours earlier had given no indication of what was coming.
In her statement, Martin took the high road and stayed on it.
“As difficult as today has been, I remain incredibly proud of everything we worked to build,” says Martin. “I poured my heart, time, energy, and countless hours into this sport and this organization because I truly believed in the vision and the future of racing. Like many in this industry, those commitments often came at the expense of personal and family time, but I believed the mission was worth it.”
She thanked the racers, teams, sponsors, volunteers, fans and industry partners who supported her, and signaled she’s already looking past this.
“While this chapter did not end the way I anticipated, I am excited to refocus my efforts on the projects, organizations, and opportunities where I know I can continue making a positive impact,” says Martin. “I genuinely wish everyone involved nothing but success moving forward.”
Martin’s departure does not arrive in a vacuum.
Since Cuttell purchased IHRA in December 2024, the list of presidents, executives and senior staff who have come and gone has grown to include Kenny Nowling, Rich Schaefer, Christian Byrd, Josh Peake, Scott Woodruff, Alan Reinhart and Brett Underwood, alongside a steady churn of additional team members. As was widely reported earlier this year, Woodruff – the organization’s former Chief Operating Officer of Drag Racing – was fired via text message. Martin is now the most recent name added.
For an organization actively selling stability and growth, that is the kind of turnover that becomes the conversation whether the front office wants it there or not.
Martin walks out with her composure intact and her statement on the record. IHRA walks back into the same conversation it has been having since December 2024 – with a list that keeps getting longer.
This story was originally published on May 18, 2026.
The post Leah Martin Breaks Her Silence on IHRA Departure first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
