24HR of Lemons
 

Has anyone here done this? I know there has to be a few because I met this guy the other day at Big Willow with a Blue BRZ I believe (Sorry I forgot your name :bellyroll:) who has done it.

I have been searching for a car under 500 that will run and so far nothing. I did find a few for under 1000. I will be stripping the car myself with a friend and getting a cage built in and try to do as many things as we can ourselves to save cost and for the fun of it.

Any tips would be appreciated. (especially on finding a car) :thumbsup:

finding the car is going to be the most costly aspect UNLESS you have it donated to you, or sold to you for 1 dollar by a sponsor. Most people do this. Talk to junk yard owners, local garage owners, etc and see if theyd be interested in doing so for you. Or just drive around and find some junker in someones yard and make em an offer. Youd be amazed at whats out there provided you really invest yourself into looking.

Spend the rest of the money WISELY. engine and reliability add-ons. The biggest challenge is usually just finishing the race. You will need a crew / drivers. Consider each driver to be able to do 1 stint, a double if they must, with enough space in between for sleep/recovery.

Outside of that, have fun, be goofy, and play to the crowd and you may stand a shot. Bring a truck because those nickels are fricking heavy.

Honestly had no idea this series existed. So. Much. Win.

Run chumpcar World Series instead. Real crap car racing without the massive bs and theatrics of lemons.

It really depends on what you're looking to do. If you're trying to go out and race on a budget, look at Chump Car. If you want to go out and have a hysterically good time and don't mind some shenanigans, head to a Lemons race. I've done both and have a great time at both, you just have to change your attitude going into each.

That having been said, you're not looking hard enough for a car. We bought a perfectly running '92 SE-R for $200. Judge Phil said we were the first truly shitty, non-cheaty SE-R ever, haha.

A $500 car to race sounds cheap, but don't kid yourself, everything you need adds up quick for your first race. Just for the car you'll need:
-Car
-Cage
-Seat
-Harness
-You'll want good brake pads, probably two sets
-Two sets of tires
-Fire extinguisher
-Some form of reliable radio comm ($$$)
-Fueling equipment
-Lots of gas

And each driver will need all the safety equipment such as suit, helmet, gloves, etc. Throw in the cost of travel to the race and you've spent quite a bit on your first race. Each race after that gets way less expensive because you've bought all the initial stuff.

Good luck and have fun, and do NOT skimp on your safety gear or install a shitty cage. It's Lemons racing, at some point you're going to need that gear :)

Yeah I've done both also. I'll never waste my time looking at Lemons webpage again, let alone bothering to drive to one of their events. Sorry, I just prefer racing instead of stupidity. We did pretty good in the few lemons races we did too, no penalties, etc, I just felt like I was in the filming of idiocracy the entire time we were there.

Yeah, my team is in about $50,000 over three seasons, not including personal gear (but including event expenses). It's still cheap for racing, but not "cheap" :)

yep x 1000000000000000000 especially on not skimping on safety gear.

I picked up a 8V MK2 GTI for $100! I think it's a 1990, can't remember what the title says. It runs really well too! Body is sun faded to hell and it's already missing half the interior ect ect but we are thinking about making a Lemons racer with it. We will see. They do two events locally so not a ton of travel.

I'd argue that a lot of the Lemons races are about the experience, not the race itself :cheers:

Richard, I'd be interested in possibly co-driving...

I've worked in a couple of teams (for free, I volunteered) and I'd agree with Mike here, its really more for the experience: lots of theatrics, "fun" rules/penalties, etc. A huge part of getting that $500 limit is that questionable accounting/paperwork to go through (ie getting the car for $1 or selling a fuel pump off the car for $400, etc.)

As others pointed out, there are other "cheap" race series out there, Chump car is pretty popular. I particularly like the Grass Roots Motorsport 20XX challenge:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events/2013challenge/

Either event you choose, it's a great way to go racing :)

http://ft86speedfactory.com/images/aboutus3.jpg

@RAWR BRZ I'm the one with the blue FRS that was telling you about 24hr of Lemons. If you find a car for under 1k that's a good thing because anything you can sell of that car like the interior will be deducted from the total price of the car. The initial cost can be a little high like everyone said but it gets cheaper as you go. If you decide to race don't take it too seriously just go out there and have fun it's a blast.

Check out our LeMons car.
http://photos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos...27102641_n.jpg

Anything east coast endurance wise? I'd love to build something real cheap with some friends and get some experience in an endurance race. I wouldn't put my cars through it.

Yep, there's a 24 hour VIR race with Chumpcar and a bunch of others.

Chumpcar: http://www.chumpcar.com/events.php (site is down at the moment for me at least)

Lemons: http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events.aspx

I did it in '10. It was a lot of fun. It certainly wasn't cheap. I think it ended up being $800 - $1200 per person after all was said and done (with safety gear and fees).

It was a lot of work to build the car from scratch, but extremely time consuming. It was like a second job. I learned a lot, but if I were to do it again, I know what I'd do differently.

You can buy a car already done. $500 for the car and $1000 for the "free" safety gear already installed. Or, just cheat and bribe the judges (Lemons only).

It was a blast, but it would be hard to fit it into my schedule again.

speaking from EXPERIENCE.......it is very fun and a great way to learn how to race in heavy traffic....

It ALWAYS is cheaper to buy a built car than build one yourself (by a HUGE margin)

There were some nice turn key racers for sale last week at Sears for $2500....you will NOT be able to beat that building your own...NO WAY not even close....

If you are new to racing your personal safety equipment is a substantial investment...minimum $500....upper limit...thousands....when I ran my car-team I would NOT let any of my drivers on track without a HANS style device...yes the $30 neck donuts are acceptable...but not to me.... Safety equipment is NOT an area to save $$$$ on....

The single largest regret I had running in lemons is not having a local-100% interested team.....I had friends who were far away and funded, but nobody local to help me turn wrenches...so I had to invest far too much sweat equity in the project, while the rest of the team were arrive and drive types.....this is why I sold the car......

join the lemons forum.....get your safety equipment...and look for a local team you can drive with.....teams are ALWAYS looking for drivers-helpers.....

Wow for some reason I didnt get any notifications and just noticed people actually replied (I thought everyone ignored it haha)! Thanks for the tips and ChumpCar definitely sounds interesting. I'll try to find a prebuilt car and see how well that goes although buying a car under 500 then striping it in a garage with friends with question marks on our head how everything is pieced together is part of the experience.

@CSG Mike
We could use a good knowledgeable driver :bellyroll:

Just finished the Lemons race at Monticello. It was great fun and lots of real racing. I too was concern with the shenanigans in Lemons but it really wasn't bad at all. Maybe they are changing? Have not done a Chump race but would like to try. They don't have much events close to me though. Also, why is A&D for Chump Cars costing so much more than Lemons?

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@kvnchu post #17. Told you Lemons is not as "theatric" as before.