A voice from Cordova speaks

This is JJ from what used to be Cordova. By now it is obvious that moving the WS to Memphis was a disaster. In short terms, Lencheski took a race that made 6 figures at Cordova and turned it into a 6 figure loser at Memphis. Given that several IHRA employees were fired for far less malfeasance, one has to wonder who will take the fall for this blunder.

Of course, this was all CL's idea from the start. It will be interesting to see who gets the blame. The media request at MIR for the press NOT to take or post pictures of the grandstands during the event has been echoed by several sources. However, websites such as CarChix, dragraceresults and fan video show without a doubt that this was a flop.

In the past, it was plausible for CL to blame the schedule, or things that were in place before his hire. This, however, was 100% his plan and there is little room to dispute the results. Sure, it rained Friday, but Saturday was perfect and the (my guess) 1200 fans there never made a dent in the capacity.

CL's prediction of making WS at Memphis akin to Comic-con was partially true, as it was a joke. By now, Dunn has to see the writing on the wall but I do not fault him as he is just a figurehead who needs to buy groceries too.

Through FB posts and shares, I personally got some interesting FB instant messages from strangers who commented on my assessment post. One gal in particular, sent me a legal briefing about CL being sued for cooking the books back when he was doing Hockey in the QC's. Others, again who I did not know, but were probably AT MIR, validated the lack of attendance and poor organization of the racing itself. You know well that at Cordova we ran cars fast...but with all the IHRA brass there at MIR, they could not muster much better than a pair every five minutes. (this was from watching video)

I know that as a media publisher you are in a sticky position here. But with all respect due, you have been quiet on this long enough. You have the reach to organize the facts and call a spade a spade...and if there was ever a time this needed to be said, now is it.

My personal prediction from January (when all this transpired) was that by September, IRG would lose enough money that the NYC bean counters would pull the plug on IHRA. Since then, we have seen dismal crowds and complete cancellations of series events, the decline (read: losing money) of Palm Beach and Cordova, and the evident fiasco of WS-Memphis. In spite of the rosy press releases issued by CL, these accountants are not idiots. They can still read a P+L.

Others watching this have said it will be next year before it folds, and hinges of whether the IHRA D1 "international" series gets any traction and starts to make money. If we dissect this argument, we have the following: 1. Nobody I know of is building a spec TF car to run this D1 series. 2. Name any race team that will go to the expense, or DANGER, of taking a 1 mil race rig into Mexico, or putting it in a container to send to Dubai. 3. Name any legitimate TF team that will sacrifice their weekend off from NHRA to run IHRA with a different combination. And 4, now that we have seen the results of the D1 pilot event at Memphis, do you really think that the pro drivers who were there are thinking, "man, this is a good idea"?

Watching the implosion of IHRA has been very painful for me to follow, even though I do not have a stake in them either way. Drag racing NEEDS a second sanctioning body, and you know this as well as anyone. We are approaching dark days ahead, where (in my opinion) IRG could shut the lights off at any time. Not if, but WHEN this happens it will be impossible to revive.

And it all rests the responsibility of one person who made these decisions.

Jeff, we as a sport need you to voice these things before it is too late. I eagerly await your next Burk's Blast.

Best Regards,

JJ Koehler