Fresh LeMons with ahhh… Strict Rules – For FUN!

Call them “lemons” or piles of crap or simply junk. Still, can you argue these guys are having fun racing them!?

I first heard about the Concours d’LeMons and took note because it was part of the super prestigious and maybe super “snobby” Monterey Concours Week including the world famous Concours d’Elegance. Dating back to 1950, we can’t hate on the big-daddy of Concours Week in Pebble Beach because they now include class “U” Hot Rods: Lakesters and Bonneville Racers. Gotta hit that show one of these days!

The 24 Hours of LeMons, an obvious play on the 24 Hours of LeMans, the worlds oldest endurance sports car race, the “Lemons” used in this race are cars worth not more than $500.  More than anything I’m wondering, what kind of cars get entered and when can I see this first hand?  Turns out, I’ll show you the cars here and see’m first hand in Phoenix at the kickoff event for the LeMons series at Firebird Raceway.

Dubbed the Auction-Weekend Gavel-Tap GP in honor of the slew of high dollar auction that are part of Arizona’s Auction Week, the race is held on the 1.1 mile west course at Firebird. The gates open early Friday, January 22nd for tech inspection, then race session 1 starts Saturday at 10AM continuing with session II at 9AM on Sunday.

If you’re thinking, “So what, junk cars racing, I see that on my drive to Maricopa every day.” then you should have a look at some of the rules and how they’re written. If the racing environment is even near as fun as the rules, this is a must see.

First off, it costs $500 to enter and $100 per racer.  Not too bad if you’re in the race for a 3 days for a little over a grand. But what’s that get you?  The usual things, plus, “sweatshop-made commemorative crap, and anything else we come up with by then.” That sounds worth it…

Continuing down the rules, I was curious how they figure out the $500. What’s that include and not include? In straight forward Enlgish rule 4.1.1 explains:

Lame-Ass Rationalizations: Cars that “should be” worth $500 don’t count; cars that “were worth $500″ before you spent another $2000 to fix them don’t count; cars you’ve owned for 20 years and spent more than $500 on during that time don’t count; “it would have been worth $500 if it didn’t already have a cage” doesn’t count. Five hundred dollars means five hundred frickin’ dollars.

To keep things safe, quite a few safety items are exempt from the $500. That includes Wheels, tires, wheel bearings, and brake components, so that helps, but from the pictures, it doesn’t look like folks are spending alot on high performance wheels.

Just in case any questions come up or a team is just over the limit, the rules include a “BS Factor”.  At the end of the day, teams are trying to win by finishing the most laps, same as most endurance races. So the BS Factor penalizes 1 lap for every $10 over the $500 race car limit. The BS Factor panel of judges run a tight ship and as for appeals, “Get real. There’s no appealing this decision. You’re boned.”  You gotta go read the rules where you’ll also these fun rules:

• 2.4: Whiner Eligibility.
  • “Whiners are not eligible to compete. If you believe that you might be a whiner, please check with a domestic partner, guardian, or health-care professional before getting the rest of your team kicked the hell out of the race.”
• 6.1: Individual Lousy-Driving Rule
• 6.2: Team Lousy-Driving Rule
• 6.3: Why Am I Upside-Down?
• 6.4: Touching a Temporary Barrier
  • “An automatic Lousy Driving Offense With Extreme Prejudice. (You don’t even want to know what that means.)”

See!!??

The final couple rules keeping things honest is the “Claiming Rule” (self explanatory) and rule 1.6: Your Car May Be Destroyed at Any Time.  Through a blind ballot of all teams, one car is selected to be immediately and completely destroyed, right there at the track!

Who knows why you’ll get picked but as the rules clearly state: “It could be your car. It probably WILL BE your car. You’ll have 30 minutes to yank out any safety items you want to rescue, and then it’s toast. Them’s the breaks. Don’t bring it if you ain’t OK with losing it.”

For the $20/day or $30/weekend general-access paddock passes, this sounds like fun on wheels like we haven’t seen since your church’s demolition derby.  Can you make it? See ya there!

Six Ways to Malfuntion at the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge

We’ve never figured out why, but for some odd reason humans are always transfixed at the tragedies of others. Its why car accidents cause so much traffic havoc – we all have to stop and look as we drive by (grrrrr)! Racing is no different. When something goes wrong on the racetrack we all wanna have a look.

So for your viewing pleasure, I thought I’d just highlight all malfunctions that went on during Optima’s Ultimate Street Car Invitational 2009. For starters, there was Hot Rod Magazine’s Factory Five built 1933 Ford Coupe, which I’ve already covered in: Hot Rod Magazine 33 Hot Rod Coupe goes down!.

Next there were some problems with Hot Rod Jim’s 1957 Chevy Pickup. It sounded like the tires were just a little too big for their own good. A problem that would’ve gone on with many-a-car on the SEMA showroom floor.

Then we had an exciting show when this 1965 GTO built by Barry White of Wrecks to Riches fame blew a radiator hose of all things. It might not have been so cool – but it happened just as the big heavy GTO was heaving itself around the autocrosses’ 360 circle and resulted in a mess of steam and fluid dumped onto the race course.

After that we had the mysterious control arm breakage on the 0-60-0 acceleration/braking course for this 1972 Charger. A suspicious occurrence for this event no doubt.

At the same event, and we can’t exactly call this a malfunction (the car was all right.) But for some reason it just couldn’t handle doing 0-60-0 in the allotted space this run, running it right off the course!

Last, but definitely not least, was the even more mysterious occurrence for K&N Filter sponsored Nissan Infinity G35. After a full day of racing, on it’s 2nd to last curve around the Road Course we see something fly and a cloud of dust. Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was all 3 control arms snapping and the rear differential blowing out!

All this excitement in one day and nobody got hurt! For plenty o’ pictures of all 51 of the competing cars in the Ultimate Street Car Challenge, check out the MyRideisMe Event photos and for more on this exciting event click on over to some other stories!

2009 Optima Street Car Invitational

Whoever came up with the idea to put on an event that would demonstrate the performance capabilities of the cars being showcased at SEMA was a genius! And that’s exactly what the Optima Invitational is all about. Happening the day after SEMA ends, it gives people a chance to put their “money where their mouth is” so to speak. 2009 was just the second year for this event, and the fellows at FM3 made sure that it was pulled off without a hitch.

This year there were 38 vehicles competing for the Ultimate Street Car title along with 14 other cars under the “exhibition only” category, making for 51 beautiful cars out at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch on race day. What goes into an Ultimate Street Car you ask? You might say it needs to be well rounded. At this invitational race they competed in 4 catagories: Road Course, Autocross, Acceleration/Braking, and Styling.

Having driven the course the day before, I had an extra appreciation for what these cars and drivers were doing. Not surprising to many, Bruce Cambern’s 1966 Cobra took the cake in three of the four catagories. On the Ride Tech Autocross it got time of the day (by at least a second I believe) of 39.546 seconds. In the Baer Brakes Speed Stop it did 6.7 seconds.

Everyone was quite surprised however when they tallied all the scores to designate the winner of “Ultimate Street Car.” It wasn’t the 1966 Cobra but last year’s defending champion “Bad Penny.” This announcement surprised most at the awards ceremony since the Cobra had done so well. When I’d talked to Bad Penny’s driver, David Pozzi (who also does work building the car), earlier in the day he said he was disappointed with the performance of Bad Penny and was expecting better results. In races like this though, it’s consistent performance and split seconds that separate a winner from a loser…so Bad Penny, congratulations!

Bad Penny winning wasn’t the only surprise of the day, a few cars went down throughout the day in some very interesting ways. For details (come on, we all know crashes are the most exciting thing!), check out my article on that. And roll on over to the MyRideisMe gallery page to see pictures of all the cars in action, including some really cool Hot Rods such as a 1927 Tucci Roadster, 1933 Factory Five Ford Coupe,  Hollywood Hot Rod’s Model T Roadster Pickup, and even a 1957 Malibu Wagon!

Bummer! 33 Ford Coupe Goes Down at Optima Invitational Race

One of the first things I saw Saturday morning as I arrived at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch was this Factory Five built, black 1933 Ford Coupe. I was worried it would be all about Camaro’s and other muscle cars during the Optima Invitational Ultimate Street Car Challenge – but seeing this smooth coupe roll across the pit assured me I’d have someone to cheer for this race day.

I can’t tell ya all about the long list of goodies it had – but let me assure you it was long. And being built by Factory Five means its some serious business. After the few laps around the Road Course that all of the cars took, Lucky #13 was just the second car for its chance to prove its stuff in this segment of the race.

To the dismay of everyone watching, as it began its second lap of the track, pulling past the first curve we saw a big cloud of dust. What we’re all asking now is what came first, the break or the accident? I guess Lucky #13 was not so lucky, it’s front suspension snapped right in half. (edit 11/30/09 – Check below. Hot Rod’s editor Rob Kinnan’s setting the record straight)

We were all disappointed to see this baby sponsored by Hot Rod Magazine get put on the sidelines…but here’s hoping it’ll be back next year!

On the Racetrack at SEMA 2009!

Today I left the hub-bub of Las Vegas and SEMA to head out to Spring Mountain Ranch racecourse. In preparation for Saturday’s Optima Invitational, myself and the others from the auto-blogging crew got a chance to get behind the wheel ourselves. Spring Mountain Ranch is almost like a country-club for speed seekers. People who are members get use of the track. In addition, they have certified race-driver training programs. While we didn’t get the whole training program in one day, we did get the opportunity to go very fast in a few different situations.

The day started out with the road course. If you’re not familiar with racing (like me) think of the video game “Grand Prix”. After a short orientation we headed out to driving machine #1: the Lotus. Although I may have been a little jittery that I would do something wrong – it was surprisingly easy! As we followed our guide, Rick, around the racetrack things got faster and faster. After the first few 1.5 mile laps I began feeling comfortable with the car and trusting of the squealing tires as I rounded a turn between 40 and 60 mph.

It wasn’t until my second time out that I encountered a little issue. As I was preparing to turn out of the main straightaway, my car did a full 180 degree spin! At first I was stunned at what was happening, then I had a slight second of fear, and then I realized everything would be fine. For the most part my Lotus stayed on the track and I just readjusted and kept on going. The spin really cemented the feeling that this race course was really just an adult go-cart track… and I say that to mean that it was really, really, really fun!

Once we had the Lotus’ parked it was on to the Radical Sportscar. These aren’t as user-friendly as the Lotus, so these we didn’t drive we just rode in. With your butt practically on the ground and no windshield, speed can really be felt in these babies. Reaching  130mph only added to the speed-bug I caught while at 2009 Bonneville Speed Week this year.

As if all this speed wasn’t enough, the group then headed to the autocross track. Autocross is the track full of cones that you navigate in a competitive time. Looking at the course I had no faith in my driving abilities. But once I sat in the seat of my supercharged Mini Cooper I felt ready to tackle the road ahead. I felt that this course was like practice to be a really slick, kick-ass driver on the everyday road – and I loved that it was timed, bringing out that competitive edge in all of us. Running the track twice, I improved upon my time by over 2 seconds on the second run – leaving my time just above 50 seconds.

(You can also watch the instructor doing a lap along with some directional commentary here)

Getting a chance to drive the course today makes me all the more excited about tomorrow…theOptima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. Cars from the SEMA show will get to prove their stuff out on the track at Spring Mountain Ranch… the same tracks I was on today. Part of me is a little curious how my own 1955 Studebaker would handle on that autocross track. With a little more work it could be a fun and interesting experiment. Who knows, with all the info I’ve learned at SEMA maybe Stude’s ready to raise to a higher level of driving. Only time will tell.

Don’t miss our coverage of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitation Race! What car would you love to take out on the autocross???

Please leave your comments below.

Beautiful ‘55 Chevy “Hot Rods by Dean” at World Finals 2009

I took a couple hundred pics at World Finals at the Bonneville Salt Flats a few weeks back.  I thought I should start sharing some of my favorites.

This 1955 Chevy Bel Air Post built by Hot Rods by Dean was absolutely gorgeous.  I don’t know squat about the car.  It runs in the B/CGC (B engine size is 373 cu in to 439 cu in, and is a competition gas coupe) class.  I dig the yellow interior too.  It gives the cockpit some pop.

The first thing that grabbed me is that two-tone paint.  Cream and grey is not the usual color combo for a hot rod, but it works perfectly.   The paint is a smooth, matte or flat finish, it goes nice with those moondiscs.

The car is run by Sidney Allen and ran a 172 MPH in the first Mile.  Then on Friday it actually spun, according to the Results page on SCTA-BNI.org.

Check out this cool reflection in the crazy chrome bumper.  The bumper was the second part of this Chevy that caught my attention.  This car oozes CLEAN.  Hot Rods by Dean does sneak in some racecar design.  Check out the front airdam, the moondiscs, and that roll cage!

Check out that yellow dash and roll cage.  An unusual color choice, but it looks great.  I love the classic dash from the 50’s.  Still has the horn ring on the steering wheel.  Tons of details on these racecars…look at that front windshield bracket.  Don’t need windshields flying off at 172MPH when the car in stock trim probably didn’t go 3 digits.

It’s actually hard to get good pics of cars at the Salt Flats.  Half the problem is all the light.  Lots of sun against a white background.  But, when you get it right, it pops.  The other problem is its hard to get these cars off on their own.  They are either in their pits feverishly wrenching and when they’re not wrenching, they’re waiting in line.  I was able to grab this picture by cropping out the other cars waiting in line in front and behind him.  Man, when you look at the aerodynamics of this “shoebox” as they were known, 172 MPH is pretty impressive.

Leave us a comment below and tell us what you think of this ride.

Hechtspeed

Bonneville Bound – My Traveling Buddy’s go 250mph!

Traveling along sucks. That’s why I’m glad to have a traveling buddy for the long drive from Phoenix to Wendover, Utah for Speedweek on the Bonneville Satlt Flats.  I’m towing my 1927 roadster, so I can’t drive that fast so I fit right in with my 250mph partners on the road, “Bonnieville Bob” and his son Rocky.

Their B/GMR modified roadster is a stretched 1927 roadster that’s been as fast as 251 mph at Bonneville and that’s just 4 mph off the record.

Much more to come on these guys since I’ll be shooting lots of pictures of all the race cars and picking Bob and Rocky’s speed-brain for all they’re worth!

Look for us on the salt!  And if you know Bob, say hi right here by leaving a comment.

Video: Viper Chases Porsche on Nurburgring

When’s the last time you held onto the edge of your seat watching a small format racing video like what you see on Youtube? You’re in for a treat.

I found this video while surfing NAGTROC.org, the North American GT-R Owners Club website. It’s not a video of the GT-R, but it’s the kind of stuff anyone who loves fast cars would really get into.

The video is made by Race Media TV, a German website that specializes in track race videos (from what I can see) and I’m guessing they have the Nurburgring right in their back yard.

Give the video just 1 minute to get past the short into that precedes a Dodge Viper chasing at Porsche GT3 around the twists at the Nurburgring. Some serious driving skills shown by all!

Most Wicked Shelby Cobra Ever – the Daytona Coupe

How rare is your chance to lay hands on a car a rare and historic as the CSX2601 Shelby Daytona Coupe? I had a chance thanks to the folks at Mecum Auctions, but the great people of Maricopa county thought it better for me to be in jury duty.

Here’s Mecum’s press release and info about the car. They also provided a fantastic gallery of pictures. I’ll be watching to see how high into the “8 Figures” this car rises. 1 of 6, fully restored, arguably the most famous/historic of the six, this American Legend has it all!

Phoenix kicked of the national tour in style over at Bob Bondurant’s Racing school of High Performance Driving. After carefully pulling the car out of the shipping truck, Bondurant relived the 1965 FIA clinching victory in Reims, France by taking a hot lap with the near priceless car.

Special thanks to David NewhardtPhotography and Mecum Auction for these pictures.

MECUM AUCTION PROUDLY PRESENTS AMERICAN RACING’S CROWN JEWEL

1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe Beat Ferrari to Capture First U.S. Victory
in World Manufacturer’s Championship

MARENGO, Ill. – High performance collector car specialists Mecum Auction will offer collectors a chance to own a piece of American race history when they auction the 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601 at the 22^nd Dana Mecum Original Spring Classic Auction taking place May 13-17, 2009, in Indianapolis, Ind.

And when this Crown Jewel of American Racing powers across the auction block, Mecum anticipates the championship race car to garner the highest bid ever paid at public auction for an American automobile – eight figures and counting. The Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe will be sold on live national TV Friday, May 15, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. during the company’s series, “Mecum Auto Auction: Muscle Cars & More,” on Discovery Communications’ popular HD Theater.

The 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra was one of six cars built by Carroll Shelby to compete against the dominating Ferrari in the F.I.A. (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) World Manufacturers Championship for GT race class. An experimental coupe body designed by Pete Brock was built on an existing Cobra chassis, immediately increasing the top speed by 25 mph. That car won its first race, the 1964 Daytona Continental (prompting Shelby to adopt the name), and five more coupes were built, including CSX2601.

After competing at Daytona, Monza, Spa and Nurburgring, CSX2601 made history when it clinched the 1965 World Manufacturers Championship for the United States and Shelby American on July 4 in Reims, France.

“Many vintage race cars have a strong American racing history to share – including this vehicle’s sister car CSX 2299 – but no car can claim a finer race hour than the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601,” said Dana Mecum, president, Mecum Auction. “The legacy of its World Manufacturer’s Championship win stays with us more than four decades later, reminding us of one the proudest moments in U.S. race history and a competitive spirit of victory against all odds.”

Driving the car – and America – to victory on that fateful July afternoon was legendary driver Bob Bondurant.

“I won a lot of races with this Daytona Cobra Coupe, but when I crossed the finish line at the Reims race track I yelled ‘Yes!’ It was a fantastic feeling,” Bondurant shared. “I always wanted to race in Europe against the world’s best drivers. Winning that World Championship was the crowning achievement of my career. I think it’s wonderful that the car is being showcased 40 years later.”

The Daytona Cobra Coupe didn’t just race, however. At one point, a North Dakota businessman with six gas stations owned the car, and each day, he’d drive the 300-mile round trip to collect station receipts in this race-trimmed Cobra.

“This car is a true slice of Americana, representing a different time in America’s past when driving a full-blown race car on the roads didn’t turn heads,” added Mecum. “The Daytona was also leased to Paramount Pictures for use in the Howard Hawks cult classic ‘Redline 7000′.”

Now fully restored and wearing its famous Reims livery, the Shelby Daytona Cobra CSX2601 headlines the Original Spring Classis Auction, which is expected to feature 1,250 vehicles.

Held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the auction is open to the general public with tickets are available at the door for $10. It will be broadcast live on Mecum’s popular television series, “Mecum Auto Auction: Muscle Cars & More” on HD Theater – Discovery Communications’ first 24-hour high-definition cable network, offering compelling real-world and motorized content.

The Mecum Auction Company has been specializing in the sale of collector cars, muscle cars and Corvettes for more than 20 years. In spring 2008, the company sold its 50,000^th car. Consignment, Bidder, event and accommodation information is available online at www.Mecum.com or by calling 815.568.8888.

# # #

Schedule:

Original Spring Classic Auction

Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, Ind.
May 13-17, 2009

Price: $10

Vehicle check-in: Monday & Tuesday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Wednesday 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Preview: Gates open Wednesday through Sunday at 9 a.m.

Vehicle Auction: Wednesday – 2 p.m.

Thursday through Sunday – 10 a.m.

* Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe to be auctioned live on national TV May 15 at 8 p.m.

KudoSurf Me!

Classic Movie Clip Redline 7000 – How NASCAR Should be!

Now this is what NASCAR should be! Imagine going 179 mph in these cars! (that’s what the movie “track announcer” said) Those brakes and all that weight running that fast!

This clip is from the 1965 film called “Redline 7000” There’s a pretty well done crash stunt for the time. FIRE FIRE!!

Yes, that is Mr. Sulu!

Here’s part #2 (not sure how related it is to the first part…)

Then for something totally unusual, but still somehow related to this post… I give you, “Speed Lovers”

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