In LeMons slang, this car...
In LeMons slang, this car went "turtle," or all four wheels in the air, after clipping a turn. This one of the few offenses that will get a team parked for the rest of the race.
It turns out that staying on the track was one of our biggest problems for the weekend. We had already talked to some of the helpful staff at Carolina Motorsports Park, and they told us that taking care of the brakes would be our biggest issue on the track, and they were right. I took the second shift behind the wheel after the Arc Angel finished welding the pig on the roof. I didn't notice a brake problem at first because while the car was sitting in impound they apparently had time to cool, but after 30 minutes on the track the brake pedal went all the way to the floor at the end of the front stretch and I went off the track too. Fifteen minutes in the pit area to bleed the brakes helped a bit, but break wear was a problem throughout the day. We ended up changing the pads twice before Saturday's race action ended trying to keep ahead of the problem.
Still, despite those problems, we were slowly gaining positions. After starting the race 90th out of 94 cars, by the time racing ended for Saturday, we were somewhere in the low 60s. Many of the more ragged cars spent most of the day in the pits, while some of the more ragged drivers caused their teams to spend most of the day in the penalty box. The winning strategy is to keep your car out of trouble and on the track making laps. And it wasn't hard to tell who was doing things right-by the end of the day the leaders had managed to put almost 50 laps on our effort.
The winning Dorifto Dogs ...
The winning Dorifto Dogs entry.
Saturday evening we finally had a chance to take a closer look at the car to determine a possible fix. We guessed that the fronts were wearing out way too quickly because they were doing all the work. The Accord is outfitted with drums in the rear, and to be honest, we really hadn't given them much attention during the build. So while we sent one member of the team to buy all the front pads for the Honda to be found in Kershaw, SC, we went to work on the rear brakes. A new seat of rear drum pads and a few adjustments later, we hoped the problem would at least be improved.
Sunday morning we guess only around 75 cars out of the original 94 took to the track for the second day of racing. Fortunately, the Honda managed to keep all four wheels on asphalt for the duration of Sunday's action. Part of that came from working on the braking system, but we have to admit that part of it also came from learning how to drive it better without taxing the brakes quite so much. Slowly, we were able to tick off more positions and by the time the checkered flag flew on Sunday afternoon, The Pig Rig had advanced all the way to 41st.
The "Arc Angel" welding a...
The "Arc Angel" welding a new, very handy mirror on the car of a racer who was busted for bad driving.
But honestly, nobody on our team really cared about a mid-pack finish. We'd had too much fun. The winner, the Dorifto Dogs team running a BMW, completed 595 laps with a best lap of 1:04.366. Meanwhile, we completed 504 laps (429 if you subtract out the 75 lap penalty). Not counting the penalty laps, the winning Dogs lapped us 91 times by managing to stay out on the track almost the entire time. Still, our best lap was a respectable 1:05.964. The still functioning odometer on the car said we had raced more than 550 miles, and all four of our drivers got at least three hours of track time, which is an entire season's worth of racing in most Saturday night classes where the feature may be only 30 to 50 laps.
Honestly, even though this isn't the type of racing usually covered in the pages of Circle Track, everyone involved with the effort said this was some of the best fun they had enjoyed in a very long time. Somehow, even though the cars are slow, the equipment is minimal, and the drivers in the field inexperienced, the action turned out to be fantastic. If you ever get the chance to try the 24 Hours of LeMons yourself, we'd recommend it wholeheartedly.
One punishment for infractions...
One punishment for infractions on the racetrack was to force the driver to put on a mime's costume and pantomime his offense.
The judges also required a...
The judges also required a few drivers to have their picture taken while mimicking a pose from some cowboy beefcake calendar they had picked up at a race in Texas. If the ladies in the crowd didn't approve, the offender had to keep trying until he got it right.
Standard driver's safety equipment...
Standard driver's safety equipment is required. I chose a driving suit, gloves, shoes, helmet, and neck support from Racequip because the company produces quality safety equipment for very reasonable prices. Also, notice the red cord coming from the helmet. That's part of the in-ear radio system from Racing Electronics that allowed us communication with someone from our team in the pits. It proved invaluable spotting accidents on the track and generally keeping the driver informed with what was going on.