88TSI_Rob
11-04-2007, 12:18 PM
The organizers of the 24 hours of LeMons (http://www.24hoursoflemons.com) have announced that they will be organizing a race in the "Northeast" for 2008.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will quickly realize that this is great thing. It's a 2 day, ~7 hour a day race, using beater cars that are worth $500 or less. It's basically the cheapest form of door-to-door circuit racing, period.
So, I'm proposing that TST form a team, or teams, to compete in this event. As of yet the actual location has not been set, but that doesn't mean we can't start organizing. Typically the races have been run in the summer/fall so could have up to 12 months to prepare. I see lots of evidence that there are some really talented people on this forum and if we pooled some of this talent we could build a winning team, maybe even a couple really good teams.
Basically this is what is needed for a team:
A beater car - $500 or less (we could also buy, say, a $600 car and then sell $100 worth of parts off of it)
6 members/drivers - $100 x 6 (Teams can be anywhere from 4-6 members, but with more members we can spread out the costs and work so that no one is too strained)
a one day "racing license" - $50 x 6? (these are needed if the drivers don't have a competition license, if you don't own a racing car you probably don't have this)
All safety equipment (roll cage, brakes, fire extinguisher, 4 or 5 pt. safety harness, racing seat, etc) and perishables (gas, tires, extra wheels, oil, water, etc) need to be purchased, but don't count towards the $500 limit. All drivers also need to wear a helmet and a fire resistant racing suit. We might be able to get by with 2 of each if we are all around the same size.
Finally we need a truck & trailer to move the car around.
All in all, I am estimating that the whole thing could run somewhere around $3000-4000, or around $500-700 per person.
That means for ~$600 you can help build a race car and you get (hopefully) ~2hrs of track time (the actual race is about 13-14 hours).
However, we could reduce our costs if the team is made up of members that have skills & assets that can benefit the building of this car. These are a few of the skills or assets that would help reduce our costs:
1. Access to cheap parts or scrap metal (ie. lives near a junkyard)
2. Prior race car driving or building experience
3. Access to a truck & trailer
4. Possibly the use of an RV so that we can sleep at the track and not pay for motel rooms
5. Access to an area to store/build the car
6. Access to a welder and is experienced at welding
7. Anyone who has "hook ups" at a racing shop or parts store
Personally, I have about 5 years of experience working on older Mitsu's. I have worked on my Conquest, my Raider, and have some experience with DSMs having a friend that has owned a GSX for several years and I owned one for a short time. I also have service manuals for just about every Mitsubishi from 1983-1993. I also was a member of an SCCA racing team a few years ago. We raced a Dodge Neon ACR in the 12 hrs of Summit Point race. Additionally, I have a good friend that runs the parts dept at a big dealership and he can get us new parts and tires at cost, but good junkyard parts are always preferred.
As for the car, the total that we spend on the car can't be more than $500. So the Purchase price + Repairs - Parts sold = $500. The car does not need to be titled or registered or have current inspection. We can accept donations (parts, an engine, even a full car) but we must place a FMV (fair market value) on the donation so it will effect our $500 limit.
SCHEDULE UPDATE!
LeMons races in 2008
* May 10-11, 2008: Altamont Motorsports Park, Tracy CA
* June 21-22, 2008: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas NV
* July 26-27, 2008: Carolina Motorsports Park, Kershaw SC
* August 23-24, 2008: Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs CT
* September 13-14, 2008: Toledo Speedway (Detroit), Toledo OH
* October TBD, 2008: Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows CA
Track location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Stafford+Springs,+CT,+United+States+of+Amer ica&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title
It's about 235mi, or a 4.5 hour drive from center city Philadelphia.
http://www.staffordmotorspeedway.com/
http://www.staffordmotorspeedway.com/Pages/AboutTheTrack/Images/AerialPhotos/air4.jpg
And here is some reading material to give you some idea of what to expect.
Autoblog's experiences and coverage:
http://www.autoblog.com/tag/24HoursOfLemons/
Car and Driver's experience:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/12174/beaters-rule-the-24-hours-of-lemons.html
So if you like working on cars and don't mind getting dirty, have weekends off to work on a car, are willing to do some running around and research to help build the car, have some abilities/assets/experience that would help the team, have up to $700 to blow, are willing to take a few days off of work, and would like to have some fun racing door-to-door...let's get together and make this happen.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will quickly realize that this is great thing. It's a 2 day, ~7 hour a day race, using beater cars that are worth $500 or less. It's basically the cheapest form of door-to-door circuit racing, period.
So, I'm proposing that TST form a team, or teams, to compete in this event. As of yet the actual location has not been set, but that doesn't mean we can't start organizing. Typically the races have been run in the summer/fall so could have up to 12 months to prepare. I see lots of evidence that there are some really talented people on this forum and if we pooled some of this talent we could build a winning team, maybe even a couple really good teams.
Basically this is what is needed for a team:
A beater car - $500 or less (we could also buy, say, a $600 car and then sell $100 worth of parts off of it)
6 members/drivers - $100 x 6 (Teams can be anywhere from 4-6 members, but with more members we can spread out the costs and work so that no one is too strained)
a one day "racing license" - $50 x 6? (these are needed if the drivers don't have a competition license, if you don't own a racing car you probably don't have this)
All safety equipment (roll cage, brakes, fire extinguisher, 4 or 5 pt. safety harness, racing seat, etc) and perishables (gas, tires, extra wheels, oil, water, etc) need to be purchased, but don't count towards the $500 limit. All drivers also need to wear a helmet and a fire resistant racing suit. We might be able to get by with 2 of each if we are all around the same size.
Finally we need a truck & trailer to move the car around.
All in all, I am estimating that the whole thing could run somewhere around $3000-4000, or around $500-700 per person.
That means for ~$600 you can help build a race car and you get (hopefully) ~2hrs of track time (the actual race is about 13-14 hours).
However, we could reduce our costs if the team is made up of members that have skills & assets that can benefit the building of this car. These are a few of the skills or assets that would help reduce our costs:
1. Access to cheap parts or scrap metal (ie. lives near a junkyard)
2. Prior race car driving or building experience
3. Access to a truck & trailer
4. Possibly the use of an RV so that we can sleep at the track and not pay for motel rooms
5. Access to an area to store/build the car
6. Access to a welder and is experienced at welding
7. Anyone who has "hook ups" at a racing shop or parts store
Personally, I have about 5 years of experience working on older Mitsu's. I have worked on my Conquest, my Raider, and have some experience with DSMs having a friend that has owned a GSX for several years and I owned one for a short time. I also have service manuals for just about every Mitsubishi from 1983-1993. I also was a member of an SCCA racing team a few years ago. We raced a Dodge Neon ACR in the 12 hrs of Summit Point race. Additionally, I have a good friend that runs the parts dept at a big dealership and he can get us new parts and tires at cost, but good junkyard parts are always preferred.
As for the car, the total that we spend on the car can't be more than $500. So the Purchase price + Repairs - Parts sold = $500. The car does not need to be titled or registered or have current inspection. We can accept donations (parts, an engine, even a full car) but we must place a FMV (fair market value) on the donation so it will effect our $500 limit.
SCHEDULE UPDATE!
LeMons races in 2008
* May 10-11, 2008: Altamont Motorsports Park, Tracy CA
* June 21-22, 2008: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas NV
* July 26-27, 2008: Carolina Motorsports Park, Kershaw SC
* August 23-24, 2008: Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs CT
* September 13-14, 2008: Toledo Speedway (Detroit), Toledo OH
* October TBD, 2008: Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows CA
Track location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Stafford+Springs,+CT,+United+States+of+Amer ica&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title
It's about 235mi, or a 4.5 hour drive from center city Philadelphia.
http://www.staffordmotorspeedway.com/
http://www.staffordmotorspeedway.com/Pages/AboutTheTrack/Images/AerialPhotos/air4.jpg
And here is some reading material to give you some idea of what to expect.
Autoblog's experiences and coverage:
http://www.autoblog.com/tag/24HoursOfLemons/
Car and Driver's experience:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/12174/beaters-rule-the-24-hours-of-lemons.html
So if you like working on cars and don't mind getting dirty, have weekends off to work on a car, are willing to do some running around and research to help build the car, have some abilities/assets/experience that would help the team, have up to $700 to blow, are willing to take a few days off of work, and would like to have some fun racing door-to-door...let's get together and make this happen.