Monday, July 25, 2011

About LeMons Races

Originally from Thursday, July 1, 2010

The race is in August and it is coming up fast. You you are interested in coming, here’s roughly how the weekend goes.

August 6, Tech and BS
Some think this is the best part of the weekend. Teams get their cars inspected and some end up running off to make last minute changes, usually to the roll cages. After tech, comes BS, where the judges inspect the car for compliance with the spirit of LeMons, usually cost. With bribes and excuses and pleading for mercy so common here it is definitely an interesting part of these weekends.

August 7, Part 1 - Start of Race
The first day is fun and exciting because so many people are out on track racing for the first time. It's a lot of fun watching 150+ themed cars rolling out and starting a race. There will be a few incidents, but not a lot, but there will be a lot of tows. Some cars may only last for 20-30 minutes.

By the end of the day the paddock has thinned, and the track has thinned even more, because there are a lot of "heroic fixes" underway in the paddock, some which will go on until nearly sunrise. The guts of engines will be all over, brake pads worn away and backing plates welded to caliper pistons, grinders and welders will be grinding and welding, and everyone else will either be drinking heavily or sleeping. It is also a great time for teams to go around to visit each other, complement each others driving, or apologize of one's own driving, swap team t-shirts, etc.

August 8, Part 2 - End of Race
The survivors of Saturday are serious now. Clean and conservative driving, but hard racing will be taking place between cars vying for positions. A few more cars will drop out. Also, there are many more stories to be heard in the paddock. Just walk around and ask teams "What happened?". Finally there is the awards ceremony, which is attended by all 200-300 people still left. It's fun, and funny. An example - The 2009 LeMons Awards on Vimeo:


We hope to see you there. Make sure and find us in the paddock and drop into say hi.

Here are a couple of photos to show you what I mean:

Sometimes you run out of fuel, sometime you run out of road.
Half of the show is in the paddock. White Trash Barbie does a great spoof.
Team Hurling Moss, a car that had moss growing on it when found, and it still has moss growing on it.
The popular Uberbird, a BMW E30 dressed up like a Plymouth Superbird.

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