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supposedly the Jetta had run in a prior Lemons Race in Toledo or Detroit. i think these guys may have bought it as is. i don't really fully understand Jalopnik's forums.

the fuel starvation issue did cause some slower lap times. of course the throttle stuck wide open once in 3rd gear going into the turn 11 braking zone, so that was probably a faster lap.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

Congrats guys! Good team effort and driving clean and steady. Seems like a good answer for an enduro race. It paid off.

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http://www.greywinds.com

I told Kendt this at work today, at one of NASA season (3 or 4 hours)opening enduros there was a Spec Miata (Driven By Peyton Something) that was able to finish like 3rd or 4th (right behind several Porsche's) becuase he was able to stop once and kept it simple, he had some one at VIR's pump with his credit card and filled him up. No Driver change no worries about pentalties due to fuel spillage or other pentalties in the hot puts. Seems like staying out on track as long as possiable is the way to go in endro's.

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David Teague
2015 Lexus IS 250c
1994 Honda Del Sol HS 39
2009 Dodge Journey R/T
http://teaguefamily.us

i'd imagine he pays higher than averge running and cleanup costs for the track rental due to the, uh, sloppy nature of the entrants. plane tickets for himself and his gang. food. lodging. rental cars. insurance. advertising. printing up forms, cards, stickers, etc. accounting, legal, and other professional services. it all adds up.

the interesting thing is that there still appears to be more demand than supply so i wonder if he'll raise prices, add events, or take other action to balance it out.

The secret to the jetta's speed is spelled "Long Road Racing" Glen Long's son Chris was one of the drivers. Since they ( Glen and Tom Long) prepare and road race cars professionally, I’ll give you three guesses how the car got that fast. The first two don’t count.

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2004 C5(415whp,390ft/lbs),
1997C5,1997Trans Am, 1986 C4,
1990 Miata, 1976 MGB,1997 Protege, 1989 MR2

If Lamm isn't careful, its going to end up being like a Nationwide series where all the big boys go to play in the little kids sandbox... which inevitably ruins it for the little kids.

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Stacy King
Midlife Crisis Participant

perhaps, except that the "little kids" can still run cheap cars and have fun no matter what the "big boys" do. no one is racing in lemons for prize money, and the threat of crushing, buyback, or racing damage will hopefully keep things from getting too out of hand. i look at it as cheap track time with extremely open passing, even if i don't win i still have a blast and can benchmark my results with other non-cheater teams.

Yeah, no way it was an ITB car, an ITB car would have been 300 laps up after 15 mins.

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

From my perspective as a participant in both LeMons races at CMP, that the word has gotten around and the level of competition is only going up.


We ran the first race last fall basically without any plan or much pit strategy and ended up finishing 5th overall with a car that was barely running at the end. We ran this last race, and we had a strategy, but got caught up in a 6 car pileup on saturday that put us in the penalty box for a short time, and back to the pit area to replace the front bumper and figure out why the car was running hot (duh!!! the wreck knocked the fan/alt/water pump belt off!!). So, once we got to be 20 or so laps down from the leaders, our strategy changed and I think everyone relaxed a bit.

Not trying to minimize the achievement of the Dogs- hell, I'm totally jealous of their win...


I guess what I'm saying is that for me personally, putting too much emphasis on winning a race like this kind of spoils the whole thing and is almost contrary to what the whole LeMons experience stands for.


If I had to give advice to a first time team, I'd say to go well-prepared, let everyone drive while the car is running well, drive hard and have fun!! If you drive clean, your car runs the entire time with minimal problems, stay out of the penalty box and out on the track, you will do well. One of our teams biggest fears was that the car would crap out on us and someone would not get any seat time. All of our team put alot of effort into this car, not counting the cash outlay for the weekend.



On a side note- Seems that the organizers and the LeMons community in general is getting kind of sick of seeing all of the E30's and Miatas show up with little or no theme. I can understand this, and we are currently plotting our strategy for the Sept CMP race- and it involves a non-E30, possibly even a non- BMW!!!! Just need to find the right car at the right price



Bret.

I agree with Bret.... Been on both sides of the coin, and really had more FUN when we came in 26th. I was able to run the hell out of the car (you can drive faster when your not worried about knocking the team out of first place ) and was a whole hell of a lot less tense. The pressure was intense!!! Not so much the first time.
But it does feel good to win in the face of some real fierce competition. We were assured by Jay Lamm that wouldn't happen again for a few years. And I don't think thats a bad thing, it gives others a chance to race for the win and keeps dynasties from forming and smothering the less well heeled teams, ala Nationwide Series. Thats the inference I got this morning when Gwen and I chatted with him.
As far as expansion goes he's already toying with longer events to add more competitors, so perhaps an increase in frequency is coming next. I for one would welcome a series. Its real racing at the grass roots level with a real chance of wining. We (the Dorifto Dogs) are proof of that.
I was team captain this year and I believe the pressure of our position in this event really wore on me. I wasn't my usual happy go lucky charming self, I became the drill sergeant again, and I think I even heard some of my team muttering NAZI. If the ends really justifies the means perhaps they'll forgive me, they truely are a terrific group of guys. They all did exactly what we had planed, drove fast and clean, worked as a team and reaped the benifits of that action Thanks for putting up with me guys, Well Done team!!!

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2004 C5(415whp,390ft/lbs),
1997C5,1997Trans Am, 1986 C4,
1990 Miata, 1976 MGB,1997 Protege, 1989 MR2

I agree with Bret. If I do this again, I won't have winning or even a top 10 finish as a goal. I am proud that we won, but once is enough. The pressure was intense and that took some of the fun out of the race.

I would encourage those interested to run the event, but make the goal to have fun and keep running.

Mike and I have worked out our misunderstanding. I should have PM's him rather than responding publically. I apologize for that.

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Rubbin' is Racin'

Low rolling resistance?

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One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

I agree. The playing field seemed much more level this time around with faster cars and faster drivers.




Like Bernie and Walter have said, winning is the ultimate goal and it feels good, but it's a lot of pressure and not nearly as much fun. I had more FUN last year when we weren't even close to winning.



Ditto. I know Mike is sick about all of their drivers not getting any seat time. We can tell you that despite it being a $500 car, a ton of time, work, and even more money goes into building one.



Again I agree, but part of that is their own fault. We, well I mean Kendt, put a TON of effort into our theme last year only to see a non-themed Cadillac win what was called 'People's Choice'. Sure they walked around in their white business shirts all weekend in 95 degree heat, but the car itself had ZERO, ZIP, NADDA, theme. The name of the award was appropriately changed to 'Organizer's Choice' this year. IMO its one thing to come up with a funny theme or whatever, but the execution of said theme isn't nearly as easy. After the way it was handled last year, we didn't worry about theme at all this year.

We will most likely run again in September, but maybe in another car as well.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

A big congrats to the Dogs! They are a first class team that ran a great race. Unfortunately for our team, the Grim Reaper Racing V-6 Mustang we chucked a rod about an hour and a half into the race. We spent the weekend watching a great event and pulling for the Dogs.

This is a great event that is a lot of fun. See you in the Fall!

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Mark Barnes
*13 Grabber Blue Boss 302 Mustang
*93 Reef Blue Mustang LX 5.0 track car
*Grim Reaper Racing V-6 Mustang LeMons/Chump car
*91 Calypso Green Mustang LX 5.0 Convertible

OK, would it be safe to say he made $25K then? If so that's still not bad and you only need to do a few of these to make a living.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)