Interesting comments I see here. Having done a lot of SCCA and EMRA enduros and a few Lemons (no chump) I can see some differences.

IN SCCA if you want to try and win the class there is nothing stopping you. If you want to just show up, do some laps have fun, drive/prep at your own pace you can, but there are probably cheaper ways to spend the weekend. In Lemons, if you really have your heart set on a class or overall win, well good luck. The deck is not stacked in your favor. You've got a class structure that is not a level playing field, scrutineers who are just passing judgement on your car, not actually comparing it to a standard. Driving hard is frowned upon. Put two wheels off - come in and have a chat. Have someone rub you, stop and have a chat. The list goes on.

I'm not so keen on putting it all together for a 12 or 24 hour race where I have to worry about that wheel bearing, or the alternator giving out because I can't spend the extra $100 to replace it. However, if you're in it for chuckles and you don't mind farting around w/ junk its great.

If you take the idea that Lemons is cheaper, you're kidding yourself. Take the buy in cost away from it, the costs are pretty even. And while you're at it, go look at the cars finishing in the top 5. Pretty unlikely you'd really only part them out for $500, so even the buy in isn't cheap if you want to finish well. Comments about the BMW's ruining it are evidence of that - people have found 'the car' to have and exploiting it.

Lemons has a lower entry bar which attracts people who want to give it a try. But once they get serious about it (I suspect) they will find that if you want that trophy, luck is more what you need than prep. This will work for a few years before it gets well known that you're not going to win w/ a $500 car. Then the draw of a cheap series will wear off.

As far as the driving, I think because the speeds are lower in Crap can you can get away with less skill. I don't want to think about what it would look like in a field of cars that can stop & turn as fast a club racers can if the drivers are only on regular street license. SM got a bad name when it first started because people thought they were hero's because they seemed like cars that could do anything. It took a few bent cars to make people realize, that like most any other type of car, 10/10ths is hard to do. Lemons cars just don't (typically) have that kind of ability so people don't get in over their heads as easily.

I've stood on the top step of podiums in both SCCA and Lemons. The costs are similar, both are expensive but SCCA has a field that allows you to truly try for that top position. Lemons is just for fun.

BTW there is a post over on the Sandbox about 8 pages long about why it is that Crap Can can successfully host a dozen races a year whereas SCCA (NJ Devil and VIR 13 hr) rarely sell out. Much of this stuff is there.