Lemons at NJMP 2011

[oneday]

Anyone else building a car or on a team for the April 9-10, 2011 24 Hours of LeMons at NJMP Lightning?


The team I normally drive on, Schumacher Taxi Service, is taking two cars:

The CoROLLa which was rolled, repaired, then victorious @ the inaugural Chump Car Not Quite 12 Hours of Sebring:



At an event a few races after the rollover


And the Red, White, and Blue MR2:


I'll be driving for a different team at this event. Either the Team Car Dorks Flying Spaghetti Monster Integra (formerly a GSR, but it's been de-vteced to prevent it from consuming any more head gaskets [3 in two races])


or the Team Car Dorks Pink Unicorn E30:


Applications for entry are due 1.29.11 at 24Hoursof LeMons.com

[jcr557]

I'm deffinetly interested as a driver if a team is in need of one. PM or email me at jcr57rt@aol.com

[gtsiawd96]

Looks like a fun day.

I just went through and read the rules and regulations. Whoever wrote that has a good sense of humor.

[oneday]

Originally Posted by jcr557

I'm deffinetly interested as a driver if a team is in need of one. PM or email me at jcr57rt@aol.com

Your best bet to find a seat this late in the process (I know, the race isn't for three months, but driver line-ups are usually established before the team registers) is to visit the LeMons Human Resources Forum. You can offer your services and/or look for teams that are in need of drivers.

Originally Posted by gtsiawd96

Looks like a fun day.

I just went through and read the rules and regulations. Whoever wrote that has a good sense of humor.

Yep, the rules are tongue-in-cheek where they can get away with it, serious where they need to be (or where the lawyers made them be) but all rules are strictly enforced. Having worked on the admin side as a tech inspector/penalty enforcer I can tell you that everyone (competitors and administration) are serious about safety...pretty much everything else presents opportunities to be laughed about.

[AJ Hartman]

my brother and a few of his buddies were tossing around the idea of building a car untill I talked them out of it. It sounds all good with only a 500$ car, but once you factor in safety, including driver safety, entry fees, and just getting the car ready, its not as cheap as it looks. Getting on a team with everything already done is probably your best bet.

I will be there, just to watch tho.

[Kupop]

I'll be there. We're bringing two cars also. I'll be in the 91 MR2 with a v6 which we took to Sebring but it only lasted a few laps. The car has a new motor now and will be taken to a track event shortly for a shake down before entering another race and having it blow up. The old reliable 91 MR2 NA will be back again (though not so much at Miami). The same one we had at Summit Point.

That Pink Unicorn was fast at Miami, but the drivers didn't seem all that well. It would walk past us on the straights but go really slow through the turns.

[oneday]

Originally Posted by jcr557

I'm deffinetly interested as a driver if a team is in need of one. PM or email me at jcr57rt@aol.com

I saw you posted on the board then...did you notice someone said they would contact you? STC is a good guy and generally has some decent cars.

Originally Posted by AJ Hartman

my brother and a few of his buddies were tossing around the idea of building a car untill I talked them out of it. It sounds all good with only a 500$ car, but once you factor in safety, including driver safety, entry fees, and just getting the car ready, its not as cheap as it looks. Getting on a team with everything already done is probably your best bet.

I will be there, just to watch tho.

Yeah, $500 cars end up costing $3000-5000 to enter depending on what safety gear you need to buy outright. When you factor in tires, towing, other consumables, entry fees it gets pretty spendy...Some teams charge $600/person others up to $1500/person.

Stop by and say hello then!

Originally Posted by Kupop

I'll be there. We're bringing two cars also. I'll be in the 91 MR2 with a v6 which we took to Sebring but it only lasted a few laps. The car has a new motor now and will be taken to a track event shortly for a shake down before entering another race and having it blow up. The old reliable 91 MR2 NA will be back again (though not so much at Miami). The same one we had at Summit Point.

That Pink Unicorn was fast at Miami, but the drivers didn't seem all that well. It would walk past us on the straights but go really slow through the turns.

Kevin, if you guys get that car running right it will be fast on Lightning!

The Pink Unicorn had some mechanical issues (broken shift linkage) that made shifting difficult, if not impossible, which definitely would contribute to the slow in the corners problem...plus it overheated and blew a HG. The drivers were all PCA/NASA racers (not that makes them good, just experienced at w2w racing).

[jcr557]

Originally Posted by oneday

I saw you posted on the board then...did you notice someone said they would contact you? STC is a good guy and generally has some decent cars.

yea i saw the reply, thanks. waiting for someone to contact me.

[Kupop]

It should be fast on almost any track. Our other MR2 was good, but just lacking power when compared to other cars. We would just make up time in braking and corners. That is why we did so well at Summit Point as it was not a horse power track (such as Miami that we were one of the slowest cars on the straight). The v6 car has the same stock suspension with the same brake setup but the bigger engine. We believe to have addressed the issue that caused it to blow up at Sebring and the owner is taking it to VIR soon to test it out. The v6 car also has bigger and better tires. I'm really looking forward to driving it.

[jpalamar]

If I only had $2500 to burn I'd be down.

[Kupop]

$2500 is a little high for a single event, especially if you are just looking to do an arrive and drive. There are often teams looking to fill open seats in their cars and you would only need to pay your share of the race, provide your own gear (can be had for ~$500) and get yourself to and from the track. There are also people looking to form teams or you could do the same. Check the LeMons forum (previously linked). Every team is different in how they split the costs and what the costs actually are. If you were looking to have your own car you could "own" it and just charge X amount per seat per race, or you can split the cost evenly among the drivers, even if it is just for the race, or for the whole car where the team would then own the car. Lots of options and ways to get into this. I think you will have a very difficult time finding another method to do wheel to wheel racing for this kind of price range. The cars do not need to be anything special and sometimes the ones that are least likely to be expected to win do very well or win. Often times the car that wins is a team that had no failures and just did a clean race by staying out of trouble. A single penalty or mechanical failure can have you off of the track for a long period of time and it is very difficult to make up an hour or two of time even against a car that is 10 seconds slower per lap if you were to have the faster car.

[Scapegoat]

i really wish becky didnt get rid of her prelude that sometimes ran on 3 cylinders... the thing was unstoppable and i have no doubt it would last through a race

[oneday]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

If I only had $2500 to burn I'd be down.

Kupop is right...unless you are founding the team $2500 is way high. $600 (less safety gear) can get you a seat in a good car. Some teams also charge a damage deposit ($300-700) that you get back if you don't wad up the car.

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

i really wish becky didnt get rid of her prelude that sometimes ran on 3 cylinders... the thing was unstoppable and i have no doubt it would last through a race

You might think so, but LeMons history tells a different story*:
Honda/Acura motor have a high probability of failing to complete a race. A strong running non-VTEC Honda motor has a 30% chance of finishing with the same head gasket/head/motor that started the race. If that Honda motor is A) VTEC, or B) poorly maintained the chances of survival are about 10%. If VTEC Honda motor is both A & B then it's got a -20% chance of making it half distance.

*All odds mentioned in this story were arrived at based on my personal experience at LeMons/Chump races and have no documented accuracy. Percentages are only used to illustrate the point that Becky's Prelude probably wouldn't have survived the race.

You should come out for this, Scapegoat...you'd have a blast.

[zmainiac]

I was thinking about. Picking up a cheap turbo z and depending on the condition I might turn it into a lemons car.

[Kupop]

Z's don't have a good reliability history in LeMons, but I have seen some finish. The turbo Z31's are pretty quick down the straight. I think they have issues with cooling though.

[FocusDude]

Wow, I completely missed this. Won't have time to even attempt a build, although I've been saying for 3 years I'd try- I really want too.

What happened to Schumacher's Audi???

[zmainiac]

I think the guys that run it said that a z31 will never win and that you can build the car how you want. I am picking the z up for a couple hundred bucks but I think that it is still in decent condition and would make a good backup drag car.

[oneday]

Originally Posted by FocusDude

Wow, I completely missed this. Won't have time to even attempt a build, although I've been saying for 3 years I'd try- I really want too.

What happened to Schumacher's Audi???

I was on the Audi team the last time it ran...Spring 2010 at CMP. We finished, but not well (20th?): Broken front sub-frame cost us almost 1.5hs in repairs, plus we had a couple dumb black flags when a rookie driver got too aggressive. Car was running at the end, but as we fired it up to load onto the trailer it spun a bearing and killed the motor. We still have the car but other cars have taken priority.

Originally Posted by zmainiac

I think the guys that run it said that a z31 will never win

It had been said for a long time that a Z31 wouldn't win...but

Winner on Laps, The Arse-Sweat-Apalooza 2010, Off Consistently, Nissan 300ZX.

You can see all of the winner (both Overall [most laps] and Index of Effluency [Admin's pick for doing the most with the least]) here.

Originally Posted by zmainiac

...you can build the car how you want. I am picking the z up for a couple hundred bucks...

You can do whatever you want to the car as long as the cost of the running car is $500 or less. Safety gear does not factor into the $500 budget. If you have the means, I highly recommend getting into LeMons.

jcr557, if you can get a ride in one of Speedycop's cars....DO IT! He is a legend in LeMons racing...If my deal with Car Dorks falls through I will be joining him. He is freaking insane. This is one of the cars he is bringing to NJMP (not one that he would be recruiting you for).

[P3tchSR]

Can't wait to run this first event of the year for me. I'll be driving with Kevin (Kupop) with the bio hazard mr2.

[Foolinaround]

One of the guys that is on the team came into my work yesterday and we talked about his cars. He is the cousin of the team leader and they have some sick ****. He was showing me pictures of a huge pink caddy and a carbureted v12 bimmer motor.