24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Any and all discussions concerning events.
User avatar
Dave_G
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 301
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:05 pm
Location: Vermont

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by Dave_G » Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:02 am

Mark Swinehart wrote:Three Alfas came in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
And in other news, pigs flew and they were ice skating in Hell. :)

Our mighty Volvo Cow came in 5th, right behind the trio of Alfas! We were actually in 4th for most of the event, but we ran out of gas with 12 minutes to go! Panic ensued as our driver Russ limped the gasping bovine-mobile over to the refueling area while the rest of us scrambled around trying to find our fuel cans. By the time we managed to get ourselves back on track, the last Alfa had already slipped by. They were great guys, as were most of the teams we met over the weekend.

This event was crazy stupid fun. I can't begin to describe how much fun our team had.

Image
Image
Image
Dave
ST4 Miata #62

User avatar
chaos4NH
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 1894
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:58 pm
Location: NH

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by chaos4NH » Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:46 pm

Mark Swinehart wrote:The "Kielbasa Kids" in a Honda Civic won with a 72-lap margin. Three Alfas came in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

and COM???? Hello!!
Sam
Chief of Operations

#41 Nissan 200SX SER T40

User avatar
cfossum
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 529
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:45 pm
Location: CT

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by cfossum » Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:21 pm

Be patient. We're still mourning the loss of our victory.
We did finish in the top half! Although barely.
Ryan has a link to pics, he can post it.
-Carl

RyanC
Speed Setter
Speed Setter
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:56 pm

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by RyanC » Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:51 pm

Pics and a couple of short videos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rcatucci/24 ... Lemons2009#
Dave, how did you guys lose a leg on the cow at the end of the day on Sunday? did your driver get hungry?

User avatar
Dave_G
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 301
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:05 pm
Location: Vermont

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by Dave_G » Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:18 pm

RyanC wrote:Dave, how did you guys lose a leg on the cow at the end of the day on Sunday? did your driver get hungry?
No, I think it was gangrene or something. :P It was getting pretty wobbly after about 12 hours. (Probably because I had to remove one of the screws to use in a last-dash effort to mount a center brake light before tech ended.) We also lost a bumper to the yellow Corolla FX-16, but saddest of all was losing our udder. :( That was a special gift from the other Volvo wagon (the green one).

Y'know, after 15 hours, I kind of got to like our cow-mobile. It handled surprisingly well (for a cow), and all weekend long people kept asking us what we had under the hood. They didn't seem to believe that it was just the stock 115 HP (or is that CP?) 4-banger with 212K miles on it until we opened the hood and showed off the wheezing hunk of rusty iron. It's just that after you've learned to drive with COM, it's easier to succeed with a crapwagon. The other great thing about our car is that no one in their right mind would ever believe we paid as much as $500 for the entire package, so we sailed through BS inspection. The judge took one look at the engine, gave one press on the sagging springs, gave us a kind of "you poor suckers" smile, and waved us the hell out of there.

Look for it to be back next year. We're already talking about an El Cowmino. :)

Thanks for the pics and video. Here's another one that's fun viewing: http://blogs.courant.com/autoracing/200 ... t-was.html
Dave
ST4 Miata #62

User avatar
StephanAlfa
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 1646
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:01 am
Location: Merrimack, NH

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by StephanAlfa » Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:40 pm

Our mighty Volvo Cow came in 5th, right behind the trio of Alfas!
Yeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! :D :sunny: :D :sunny: :D :sunny: One of them had to be Kevin (from COM).
Stephan de Pénasse - Classroom Instructor - http://www.comscc.org
2001 BMW 330i Sports Package (T-60 Class)

User avatar
cfossum
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 529
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:45 pm
Location: CT

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by cfossum » Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:35 pm

Yes, one of the teams was Kevin's. They looked marvelous, and Kevin was smiling everytime I saw him. Stephan, no more excuses for your car! Apparently you should be able to purchase and maintain an Alfa for $500! That's cheaper than any miata in the club!
-Carl

jadams
Speed Setter
Speed Setter
Posts: 191
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2005 5:59 pm
Location: Worcester, MA

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by jadams » Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:37 pm

So what is left to the car after the race??? I did not see any aftermath pictures? What place did you guys come in?
Joel Adams
1995 Pontiac Trans Am
Class T80

User avatar
breakaway500
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:47 am
Location: In my shop,usually.

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by breakaway500 » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:36 pm

Amazing no one got hit with one of those sledge hammers or axes.. :shock:
It's not what you drive, it's how you drive. "Lap times matter"

User avatar
zip4zat
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 236
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:31 pm

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by zip4zat » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:50 pm

whats even more amazing is that car almost made it back on track. it was a black flag short of a MAF... :oops:
Joe Lu
#24 ST1 STi

User avatar
breakaway500
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:47 am
Location: In my shop,usually.

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by breakaway500 » Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:32 am

I would have thought one of the "rules" would be no hitting under the hood. I like the whole format of the Lemons events with the exception of all the unnecessary non driving damage done to the cars.
It's not what you drive, it's how you drive. "Lap times matter"

User avatar
cfossum
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 529
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:45 pm
Location: CT

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by cfossum » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:11 am

Well, I personally found the "People's Curse" destruction by mob a little disturbing. I had to watch, though... so there was certainly some entertainment value.
So, here's the scoop.
We passed tech after the second attempt. The first time through, they sent us out to get a newly required battery box, which is a rule change effective for the August event. Being July, we were thinking we didn't need one. Oh well.
Then, all cars must pass a BS inspection, where two event organizers wearing robes and gray wigs judge your car to determine your level of cheating. They decided that the RX7 was worth $2500, which is $2000 over the limit. They penalized us 200 laps as a result of our suspected cheating. Their argument was that I've owned the car for a long time, and that I must have been maintaining it during that eleven year period. I agreed that I've maintained it, but with components off of other "free" RX7s that I've acquired over time, but he said "wrong answer". They also decided that the suspension seemed too stiff and must therefore be aftermarket. So, there is no arguing with the judges, and we had already dispensed all our bribes while going through the tech line. Live and learn, right?
With our 200 lap penalty, we started the race in 55th place, out of 56. Somebody else had a 250 lap penalty.
We sent Fast Freddy out first, and I'm glad we did. The start of the race was absolute mahem. Fred is our most experienced driver, so he had a head for staying out of trouble. Almost. If you run over the grass or hit a cone, you get black flagged. The penalty is the same as if you hit somebody, or if even if you get hit, its all equal. Fred accumulated two penalties, which is pretty good for such a full field. Imagine 56 cars on a 5/8 mile oval/chicane, sort of like a mini NHMS without turns 3-9!
Fred was able to demonstrate that the car was one of the faster ones out there, so the team was really amped up!
After Fast Freddy, it was Paddy's turn at the wheel. Paddy did an awesome job running clean, no penalties at all. The car continued to kick some tail. Paddy ran a full stint of about an our and a half. It was pretty hot on the track, but the cool shirt setup kept Paddy the coolest. Then The Clam went out and continued Fred's trend of picking up a few penalties. Ryan was immediatly willing to toss the car around and mix it up with some of the dangerous crowd. We paid for it with an impromptu three-legged race with the Clam and another driver that we offended. They taped their legs together, and sent them over to the hot dog stand to buy lunch, then "run" out on track to deliver the food to the corner workers! What a scene! Then we got parked for a while. All the penalties were determined on a whim.
Joe took the wheel after Sandy Clam, and much like Paddy, Joe ran completely clean, again demonstrating the car's strong performance capabilities while staying out of trouble. Did I mention Joe stayed out of trouble? Ok, good. Nothing else newsworthy occured during Joe's productive stint.
Next, it was captian Carl's turn. With more guts than brains, I let them strap me in and hook up the radio, the cool shirt, and the belts, and the drink bottle. I started the car and headed out. My god, what was I doing? As I entered the track for the first time, I was overwhelmed with trying to learn the track, and work the radio, and pick a spot amongst the maniacs on the track. This was my first experience with wheel to wheel racing. It had also been the first experience for Joe, Ryan, and Paddy, but they didn't whine or seem nervous, so I kept my mouth shut too. So, exactly eight minutes later, I hit a cone while giving up some room to a very aggressive P.O.S. As a penalty, they parked me for the night. It would have been a two hour penalty, but nature came to my rescue and they canceled racing for the night about 45 minutes later due to rain. yeah!
Day two, we reversed the driver order. During a routine mechanical check in the morning, Paddy and brother Peter discovered a leaking CV joint boot. They replaced a missing clamp with a zip tie and after rotating the tires and adding a bit of oil, they approved the car as ready to rock. I went out first. Devoted to trying to drive clean, I went out slow under a full course yellow. Once the green flag dropped, I quickly forgot my vows. I started to have a lot of fun, just tearing up the field. Passing is an absolute thrill under threshold turning, just inches apart in the oval at 70mph. Inside or outside, the car could overtake just about every car out there. I even started passing in the chicanes! What a blast! When I finally ran out of room in a particular turn because another car was cutting me off, I remembered that the penalties were the same for hitting a cone as they were for hitting another car. What would you do? I nailed the other car this time. It was time to come in anyhow. I was able to convince the penalty judges that the other guy was just an idiot, they let me right through. We did a driver change, and Joe got in. Joe ran another clean session while passing most of the field many times. Um, and it was uneventful again. I’ve gotta say, I'd rather be able to say that I drove like Joe, but I can't. During the day, we progressively moved up in the rankings. When Joe came in, I think we were in 24th place. After Joe, Ryan got in and did a fine job, although the car was starting to run hot. It really was quite hot at the track on Sunday. Ryan kicked some more tail, but was concerned with the climbing coolant temps. When Paddy finally got in, he discovered that he had to keep it in third (rather than shift into second sometimes) all the way around the track. Eventually, he would use fourth, and even fifth gear in an attempt to keep the temps down. Poor Paddy, he really couldn't push the car to any point of competitiveness. He finally came in, bummed out. The car had been running so well, and he had been ready to turn up the wick a bit, but his superior intellect ruled and he drove conservatively with the goal of keeping the car from overheating. When he came in, we discovered a coolant leak in an old hose. Peter risked second degree burns and changed the hose with the skill of a fine craftsman. We were back out on the track in twenty five minutes, with Fred at the wheel this time! Fast Freddy was batting cleanup! It was good to see the car running quickly again, and thanks to Paddy, no permanent damage was done. Nice job! While we were out of the race, we dropped a few places. Freddy ran most of his session, he had enough fuel to finish the event for us. With fifteen minutes to go, he ran over some grass, and they parked him for the duration of the race. But with Freddy driving, we had climbed back to 28th place, where we finished.
A good time was had by all, and the car still runs! It appears that the RX7 will live on at future COM events, although with a nose job gone bad, and a few other battle scars.
Thanks to all who helped, thanks to the rest of the team, a big thanks to Peter McParland for being the master wrench, and thanks to Image4 with Jeff Baker for vinyl, and to DriverSupply.com for last minute parts and more vinyl.
-Carl
Team Call On yo Mom

User avatar
Stynger
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 464
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2005 1:56 pm
Location: Medway, MA

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by Stynger » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:25 am

That's awesome Carl. Glad you guys had such a good time....and the car is still running. :lol:
Les.

COM Instructor

NA Miata D-TYPE
#77

Drive it like you stole it!

TroyV
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 1519
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:02 pm
Location: Salem, NH
Contact:

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by TroyV » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:30 am

Great write up Carl....just made my morning..
Troy Velazquez
#5 T50

User avatar
breakaway500
Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:47 am
Location: In my shop,usually.

Re: 24 Hours of LeMons!! LOOKING FOR RACERS IN CT, NY, MA!

Post by breakaway500 » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:07 am

A 200 lap penalty?Geez...seems a bit much. Well...he who fights and drives away lives to fight another day! :wink:
Looks like it was a good event to get a feel for wheel to wheel racing as well.
Thanks for the indepth report!
It's not what you drive, it's how you drive. "Lap times matter"

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 1 guest