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24 Hours of LeMons
December 29-30 2007
24 Hours of LeMons website
describes this race as:
Each LeMons race is for cars
purchased, fixed up, and
track-prepped for a total of 500
dollars or less. But before
reaching the grid, you'll have
to survive trials like the
Personal-Injury-Lawyer
Anti-Slalom, the Marxist-Valet
Parking Challenge, and the Wide
Open Throttle Rodthrowapalooza.
Twelve hours into the race, the
car voted People’s Choice is
called in and awarded a cash
prize; simultaneously, the car
voted People’s Curse is called
in and summarily destroyed. At
the end of 24 hours, a gala
awards ceremony plies the
survivors with trophies,
plaques, and four-figure purses
in canvas bags full of nickels.
What's not to like?
24 Hours of LeMons Website
The story starts with a dark
rainy drive out to Willows
California. The first event of
the day was the mandatory
drivers meeting. This was my
first clue of what the mood of
the track would be for the next
two days. The 24 Hours of LeMons
race is know for its low-buck,
creatively modified and
decorated cars but mostly for
the race's high contact nature.
In the drivers meeting Jay Lamm
instructed us to avoid contact
with other cars or severe
punishment would be awarded.
Some of these punishments
included being sprayed with fish
emulsion, having spikes welded
in front of the radiator and
some decorations attached to
your car to let everyone else
around know you did something
bad.
The real excitement started on
my second run. Out of the pits
on the first straightaway I hit
the gas and the car started to
accelerate, only I felt there
was more room before the petal
hit the floor, I was right.
Pushing past a rough spot in the
pedal I got the car to go like
it had never gone before.
Unfortunately that was past this
hose clap that was limiting the
throttle to begin with and I had
pressed it to the point of no
return.
See what I mean? I was
heading toward turn 1 and lifted
from the gas to brake and felt
the car continue to accelerate.
This feeling is not the most
cozy especially on a race track
with 70 cars in a 1.5mile track.
I managed to ride the brakes
hard enough to get the car
around the track. Due to the
wear rear brake I ended up doing
a slow motion drift every turn.
Why didn't I just pull off the
track when I noticed a problem?
Because this is a race, it is
faster to bring the car to pits
then to wait for a tow back.
Because I thought I could. I
pulled the tire spiny revvy mess
into the hot pits and brought it
to a halt and shut her down.
Some spectators saw me in the
lane, came over, and notified me
that my brakes were on fire. I
appreciated the heads up and
called for a fire extinguisher.
My team came over and popped the
hood and immediately saw the
problem. The only real damage
done was the burning of nearly
all the bearing grease which was
overlooked at the time.
All in all, this event was the
most fun I have ever had at the
track or any car related event.
If you ever get a chance to see
these cars in action or better
yet drive one, jump on it.
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Peace! |
All race (minus the
automatic) |
Yes, there is footage |
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Passing on the outside |
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My first dent |
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After the fire |
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Throttle Problem |
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The Peoples Curse
The People's Curse is an "award"
given to the team who's car
seems to be worth more than $500
or you had just been driving
like an ass you would earn
damage to your car by the
machine below.
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The Crowd |
The Destroyer |
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The car before |
The car after |
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