By alley - Aug 3, 2016, 12:11 PM ET

IHRA: An interview with Mike Dunn, Part 1

This past February, Mike Dunn

was named

the President of the International Hot Rod Association, which surprised many people – including Dunn, who had never thought about running a sanctioning body before.

He started out racing with his father, "Big" Jim Dunn, who still fields a Funny Car team. Dunn went on to drive Funny Cars professionally, earning 10 national wins before moving to Top Fuel dragsters in 1991 and winning 12 races, for a combined 22 event wins in his driving career.

In 2002 he retired as a Top Fuel driver, taking a one-year contract with ESPN to be the on-air analyst on all NHRA drag races broadcast on ESPN. That lasted 14 years.

When his contract was not renewed last year with the NHRA's switch to FOX Sports, Dunn had planned on a little semi-retirement, but he was tapped to run the IHRA. As the 2016 season winds down, we caught up with Dunn to talk about the past, present and future for him and the IHRA.

Why were you interested in the job?
I think the new direction the management wanted to take it. They didn't want to go head-to-head with the NHRA. The IHRA puts on a great show, and it will only get better after we add Top Fuel next year. That was one of the things that really interested me, that and so many other things that they have planned for the series, such as getting a solid television package off the ground.

Chris (Lencheski, CEO and vice-chairman of the board of IRG Sports + Entertainment, parent company of the IHRA) has put together such a good plan going forward to draw a large number of fans, to appeal to younger demographics, and emphasize the "International" part of our name. I had to be sold on it. Had my job been just to be the face of the IHRA, I don't think I would have been interested. I like the plan, I like the people, and I like a challenge, and that's what drew me to the IHRA.

Going forward, to the very casual fan, what will be the main differences between the IHRA and the NHRA?
We're a little more representative of old-school, back-in-the-day racing, and our fans seem to respond to that. The plan for next year is to get the word out better, and with Top Fuel coming we're going to bring a lot of top-name drivers in.

Like Mike Dunn? Or maybe Larry Dixon, who dropped by for a visit at the last race?
(Laughs.) We'll have to wait and see. I wouldn't rule it out – I told Chris I'll do whatever it takes, and if that means driving a car ... There are a lot of good drivers sitting on the sidelines because of the economics of the sport. You've got Dixon, Melanie Troxel, Whit Bazemore – a lot of big names and good drivers. We'd run Top Fuel as a class, then bring some big names in to sort of spike the show, get more fans to come out.

Two of the shows this year have had some Top Fuelers out, and you can really see the fans react to them.
It's not going to be easy. But we have a really good plan, and if we can execute the plan starting in 2017, I think we have a really good chance to make some noise in drag racing. I know things can't change overnight, but we have a five-year plan that I think is genuinely doable.

Part of that plan is some additional expansion is outside the U.S., including the two very successful Canadian races the IHRA already hosts.

Well, we are the International Hot Rod Association.

We just announced some new plans for Australia

, where we already have a presence, and we're looking at Mexico as well as some other countries. There are drag racing fans everywhere – we've found that out. We just have to seek out the best opportunities for the IHRA.

Check back soon for Part 2 of our interview with IHRA President Mike Dunn.