24 HRS of LEMONS

[BruceG]

Everyone should watch this clip....LOL. SCCA tech inspectors would weep! Cars include a CRX lookalike with giant exhaust tubes hanging off the roof, a car with a Direct TV dish mounted on the side...and a great battle between a Sentra-R and a Rabbit(golf?.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf8dRy8yYkE&feature=feedu

[timo944]

I've done 3 of these at CMP. There are some great themes and some real comedy. Last time out we were "Monty Pythons Flying CRX" with a giant rabbit sticking it's head out of the hatch. The inspectors are well aware fo the dangers and actually handle things quite well, although they can be a bit over-bearing. They make the assumption that everybody is a complete newbie.

It's hard to do well, but you don't need power or handling, just relaibility and keep your nose clean. Any kind of crash can lose you the race due to the ridiculously long penalties (i.e. gather all of the children in the paddock to impound and recite Obama's "speech to school children" that got so much press in '09- a favorite).

It's good fun but gets old after a few tries. We might try again this year in September when it moves to Charlotte Motor Speedway.

[Matt93SE]

It's amazing how fast the rgualrs are getting in their $500 cars.. The last race in Houston (Feb 25-26 ish) was running 1:56 lap times. That's decently quick for in IT car standards. (ITS lap record is 1:51 there) and they're doing it for 7 hours at a time.

Then there's the 1951 Mercedes battlewagon out there cruising at 40mph you have to dodge mid-corner. and it's as wide as the entire corner!

The first year, the "racing" was pretty atrocious since probably 80% of the people had never run W2W. ever.

3 years later, many of these guys have more seat time in heavy traffic than the average club racer.

And yeah.. don't even think about going off or spinning if you plan to win. I was goign around the carousel at the last race and was driving around some slow traffic. got my tires in the marbles (more like shrapnel from exploded cars) and drifted wide. I took the corner in the grass, never had to slow past about 40, and got back on. no big deal right?
It cost us about 40 min in the pits and about 6-8 places overall. not to mention someone made me eat some of the clover I had collected in the grill. man that's some bitter ish!

[CRallo]

That kinda stuff is funny, but I think they go overboard with it :/ As much as racing a cheap beater amuses me, I won't put myself in that situation, because I'm afraid that I'd hurt someone! lol

I did run my Saturn at a track day at Monticello however... That was absolutely hilarious!!! Bone stock except for the alignment, the BFG GeForce T/A's and a gutted cat... plus 280,000 miles!!! and anyone who ever saw that car knows how funny it is that it went on track!

[BruceG]

[QUOTE=CRallo;319941]That kinda stuff is funny, but I think they go overboard with it :/ As much as racing a cheap beater amuses me, I won't put myself in that situation, because I'm afraid that I'd hurt someone! lol

I did run my Saturn at a track day at Monticello however... That was absolutely hilarious!!! Bone stock except for the alignment, the BFG GeForce T/A's and a gutted cat... plus 280,000 miles!!! and anyone who ever saw that car knows how funny it is that it went on track![/QUOTE

Ran my 2005 Subaru outback wagon at a SCDA track day at LRP. Ran on street Bridgestones with 30,000 miles on them. Didn't have another car to run and it went pretty well....LOL. What the hell, we drove formula skip barbers for 3 days of racing school wearing BF Goodrich street radials....LOL. My finest moment was on new Hoosier R6's in IT7...actually had grip.....LOL

[Flyinglizard]

Chumpcar has much better racing and less circus. The cars are pretty fast as noted. ITB speed or better, Our Golf goes 1:28-29 on at Roebling Road on DOT 200 tires.
Chump is real racing in cheap cars.30-75 cars as opposed to 100c cars @ Lemons.
Check it out. Chump is running 14hrs @ Sebring long course in 2011. MM

[Flyinglizard]

Chump double 7 hr @ Roebling Road, June 18th, 19th. I have one seat open for 650$. The racing has been lots of fun, the drivers are from all over the spectrum, our car is real good. ( VW pickup with a roof scoop).
IT cars are allowed to run for no cash. $1500( 750 and 750 per day) to win as a chumpcar.
Test day on fri. usually. MM

[Speed Raycer]

+ 1 for the CHUMP (http://www.improvedtouring.com/forums/www.chumpcar.com) experience over the Citrus Circus. 2 hours of straight seat time per stint (or about 240 minutes over a 24 hour race) for about what it costs for 80 minutes at a double regional.

I've now been involved in 4 24 hour races and 1 double 7 and have seen or heard of 4 car to car incidents. 4. In 108 hours of racing.

Sure, you have to deal with the guys that can't drive or that have been professionally trained... and still can't drive. How's that any different than what we deal with in the SCCA???

There's also a 24 hour race coming up July 4th weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. Same deal as Roebling. IT/SM type cars can run in EC class and be exempt from the purse and penalties... that's right there's an amature road race series where you can actually go HOME with money ;)