V4junkie Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Well it's finally herehttp://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/lamestday09/Last year was so much fun we're back at it again this year. If you've never heard of the race here's a link of last years race that should break it down for ya. We're the flying brick.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/automobiles/28LEMONS.htmlSo after finishing only 19 out of 54 starting last year due to transmission issues (stuck in 2nd for about 15 hours), we've resurrected the car and it's meaner than ever. Half the roof is gone, we cannibalized other Bimmers for just about everything that was broke, and we picked up some sweet wood trim. Soon, we will be putting a chicken on top of it. Yeah, you get some points for style . Anyway, I'm just a bit excited. We didn't get any video last year but we're much more prepared this time around and expect some great in-car footage. If anyone wants to stop by look for the chicken that's passing everybody. Wish us luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin0469 Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 looks awesome. now if toledo wasnt over 2 hours away.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted September 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) Last year was at the Toledo speedway, this year it's at Nelson Ledges. Still almost 2 hours though.Here's my album from last year:http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/Urthclaw/Lemons%2008/ Edited September 30, 2009 by V4junkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatik3 Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Looks like a blast. If I had an extra ride I'd do it for sure! Plus, too bad I'm probably heading to D.C. for a contract or I'd come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yotaman88210 Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Damn, I wanna play. I always find out about this kinda stuff too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted September 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 To quote from an article I read about LeMons once, "it's the most fun I ever had with my pants on." If I'm being honest I'd rather race bikes, but this event has an appeal all it's own. Don't think for a second that these cars aren't quick either, most of the front runners are fast little cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 I'm jealous, I've always wanted to try this race. I just don't have the shop or equipment to build the car. And, I lack the appropriate racing license.Good luck to you guys. I look forward to seeing pictures on Jalopnik. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Looks like it would be tons of fun. Maybe one of these days I can find a beater to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted September 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Keep in mind while a beater might meet the qualifications but it doesn't end there. Most of the cars (the contenders anyway) are frankenstein machines with suspensions and bits from other cars, lightened, and sometimes even engine internals seem to have been fiddled with. Then you've got rollcage, tires, brakes, and other extras that don't count toward your total. So it ends up getting pretty involved. I lucked out and got into a team full of mechanics (I knew from auto-x) and they'd rather do this stuff themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVTPilot Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Never heard of this until you made this post, so I read the NY Times article. This looks awesome! Too short of notice to get out there this year, but let me wish you guys luck and lost of fun! Next year I plan to check this out for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-flores Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 If you guys need another driver I am in but in all seriousness if one of your drivers get sick, can't attend, or anything of that matter give me a shout. I haven't raced with four wheels in a while but I want to do this race!!! Looks like I am going to have to save up for next year though.... Oh and good luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 We need to get a ORDN team together next year. I had it figured up that with the car, entry fee, cage/part costs to bring it up to snuff - it was like $3000Or $500/person for a 6 crew team.Though, I could be WAAAAY off. V4 would know much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted September 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 +fire gear. Suit, shoes, gloves, helmet, and nomex undies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerik Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 That is like 8 different kinds of awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Any updates? I've been reading the jalopnik coverage of it.. but I don't know if V4junkie's team has been mentioned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 I was planning on running a Fiero this year, but my hours were reduced at the beginning of the year. We figured it would be $1,000 a per person with a 4 man team. That includes buying a car, the entry fee, getting it ready and firesuits and spare parts. If I did not go on the covered bridge tour Saturday, I would have gone to Nelson's to watch the race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted October 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Here's my cliff notes version of it (as memory serves):Friday night practice: The car is on snow tires. I don't remember why, but we haven't put the Azenis on yet. We send drivers out to get a feel for the course. Dick comes back white as a sheet. It's slippery and our lights went completely out mid lap. Turns out the circuit had grounded on the bumper, problem fixed. Also, we'd turned our e30 into a pickup, it was super light on the back end. It took 2 guys almost no effort to pick the back wheels up off the ground. Looked around for parts. Can we build a wing? Yeah, piece of shelving, some sheet metal, and a couple of posts. We're in business!Saturday: We must've put 4 drivers in the car within the first 5 hours, this is not a way to win an endurance race. Dick was out for 10 minutes, spun, kept going, and then cut someone off to earn a black flag. Not long afterward we sent out Alex and he passed on yellow. He was forced to go shirtless and mimic some weird shirtless cowboy calendar for every month while the ladies judged his accuracy. All the while we were working on our megasquirt tune, it was nowhere near right, but it didn't mean we weren't still fast. The car came back to paddock about 3 times for no good reason. It was a disorganized mess. Into the evening we were around 120th place, pretty embarrassing. Later in the day I went out and stayed out a little over 2 hours until I thought fuel was low. It was insane out there. Cars were flying off of corners, someone was spun out right in front of me, complete madness. The wing helped, on sweepers we could easily leave most cars in the dust. Doing the kink flat out saw about 100-120mph before braking. However there was traffic to contend with and very few of them were not in my way at the pace I wanted to go. We started to settle in for the night and got down to business.Sunday night: Things finally started to go like clockwork. Drivers were staying out a minimum 2 hours, we had refueling in the hot pit down to a science, and the car was staying out of the penalty box. Alex charged out of the pits through a red light, that pissed us off. He did his time and went back out and redeemed himself. My shift was pretty wild. Our lights were weak, there's no other way to say it, we weren't well equipped. The giant mirror installed on our left side did nothing but blind me. People were diving into corners too late and too early, coming into my line and throwing mud everywhere. After 2 hours of cruising around in complete blindness it happened, first contact. Going into turn 1, screeeech, BAM! All of the sudden I'm spinning. My front windshield fills up with headlights, somehow I steer the car off the track while going backwards. It doesn't want to fire up, takes about 5 tries. I drug the bumper and rear taillight all the way back to pit. About 30 minutes and the car is back out there.Sunday morning: Our fastest guys weren't comfortable with their nightvision. Maybe that was for the best, we took care of business and were pretty tired. As soon as the sun came up people responded by trying to go faster and usually overestimating their cars/abilities. Tons of people off track. We'd risen to about 60th overnight. Sending Dick out again on the anchor leg to drive the last two laps. He doesn't know the meaning of maintain. He's driving it like he stole it, passing, bumping, and getting the bird from other drivers. This isn't to say that he isn't fast, he did a 1:26, and that's right up there with the top guys. One contact too many and he got black flagged with 30 minutes to go. Dang it, Kevin and I had suits on but I was too far from the radio. Kevin the reluctant went out and made us look good, took the checkered flag with no further drama. We finished at 49th place. Given we were at 120th the day before I felt pretty good with that. Being the fastest car doesn't mean much out there, but for our lack of strategy we were pretty laid back and still had way too much fun. It was respectable.There should be some video forthcoming, but unfortunately the camera needed recharged everytime I went out. Here are the pictures so far:http://picasaweb.google.com/emajkut/Lemons2009?feat=directlink# Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted October 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 More pics:http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennae/sets/72157622393301909/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaNick Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 I thought you misspelled 24 of LeMans wrong, then I see that you really meant "lemons". That'd be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granda080 Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Out of curiosity, why was the "MG" logo a defacement?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted October 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 That part I don't really get. I arrived Friday just after they teched so I don't know the story. I do like the one on the top right that says "not another e30" in german Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted October 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 A short preview video of our footage has been made, I can't watch it at work so I have no idea what it looks like. Here's the link anyway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2xRLEm-WYU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Which one is you...http://jalopnik.com/5375987/the-top-122-lemons-of-the-lamest-day-24-hours-of-lemons/gallery/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4junkie Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 (edited) Not me! There was no video of me, somehow my shifts fell perfectly in with the battery needing recharged. Better vids to come, those laps are mostly under yellow.We were # 49. No strategy, we were stupid fast out there but we had a few penalties and long pit stops. Edited October 12, 2009 by V4junkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moto-Brian Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Tell me there wasn't 120 cars out there... Holy SHIT!Saw a Merkur. LOVE those. Of course, didn't love it when the turbo seized and other related tidbits associated with that car.You guys ever need a driver, I'm willing to pitch in cash to do this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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