Other views of the race

I didn't pull my camera out very often during the race weekend, but fortunately others did and have shared links on the 24 Hours of Lemons forums. During last weekend's Laissez les Crapheaps Roulez race in Belle Rose, LA, Ron Vickers caught a great picture of a driver change in the Neon. He also took some action shots of the Jetta and Fairmont that caught my eye. Thanks, Ron! [click any image to see Ron's full-size photos.]



I highly recommend visiting the forums and looking over the "Pics, pics, pics (and vids)" category after each race to see not just the cars-in-action shots, but also the various photos of the paddock activity and the people involved in Lemons.

Aftermath: Laissez les Crapheaps Roulez 2010

OK, I've recovered enough from the race (and the Thanksgiving festivities are over) -- so here's the aftermath post. It's unfortunate that the fog turned a 24-hour race into a 19-hour race, but the forced rest was very welcome. True 24-hour Lemons races are exhausting.

Joe piloted the Neon from dusk until full dark.

Circuit Grand Bayou is notorious for being tough on tires, so we took along lots of them-- one sacrificial set for practice from our VW, plus two full sets of stickier tires for the race and two unmounted tires. Our in-race tire changes would have been substantially slower and tougher if we hadn't been pitted right next to our Jetta-driving colleagues. (Tetanus Racing is a "spin-off" of SNAFU Racing, essentially. Chuck & Andy have been using the SNAFU name for over a decade.) Each time we had to do a tire change on the Neon or the Jetta, we had two full teams of people grabbing tools and tires so it was a great feeling of teamwork to get those stops done quickly.

SNAFU Racing went with a German police theme for the Jetta's debut.

As the racing resumed, we were excited to be in the top ten cars-- 10th place! Mary started the day for us and we think we even got all the way up to 8th place briefly. Unfortunately our emotions got the best of us and we pushed a little too hard, ending up with several black flags for two-wheels-off moments. Still, we did have a running car at the end of the race and got our best finish yet: 9th place. The race had 47 cars start, and about half were running on the afternoon of day 2.

The Jetta placed in 31st, which was a nice showing for the car's debut. They had some issues with the exhaust system popping some leaks, a fuel-pump that popped a wire loose, and also had some black-flag incidents due to spins on their rock-hard second-hand tires-- but when it ran it handled well.

Hearty congratulations to Brian and the Property Devaluation team for their win of the Index of Effluency at this race. Brian has applied the skills & knowledge he used for the CapriStang we took to Ohio to make a wickedly fast Ford Fairmont station wagon.


My thanks go to Property Devaluation & SNAFU Racing for pit-stop help, to Glen for Neon-tuning advice, to Lemons HQ & CGB for making this a 24-hour race, and to the Firkin & Phoenix for the encouragement (and snazzy team T-shirts to boot).

Sunday racing

After the fog delay, racing resumed about 8:30. Mary started the day then handed off to Shauna. We've kept a good pace but might have slipped out of the top ten. Regardless we are having big fun and hope to keep rolling along!

Fog!

We are stuck off the track for a while. Too foggy for racing so everybody's parked for several hours.

Seven hours in

I finished my first stint about an hour ago. Tetanus Neon is running strong but Circuit Grand Bayou is tough on tires.

During my first genuine 24-hour race in Lemons (Nelson Ledges, October 2009), I had a tough time with night racing but I'm doing better this time around. Andy seems to be a night-driving natural and got some great laps in, and Joe as always is smooth and quick. He did get a black flag for going off track in an evasive maneuver but no harm done. Mary is having to switch from contacts back to her glasses but she'll get back out there in a while.

Sadly the Jetta had to park for a bit due to some spinouts but they'll be back on track shortly.

The field was about 47 cars but several are already out with mechanical maladies so just by plugging along we are solidly in the top half so far. Here's hoping for more laps and no more drama!

We have friends

We aren't here at Circuit Grand Bayou alone. Snafu Racing brought a Jetta.

Shauna and Rob have gotten their first tastes of Lemons racing and done well. Onward into the night!

The rusty neon returns to action

We have been silent here for too long but it has been a busy year in 24 hours of lemons. I may have to do some retrospective posts later, but this weekend is all about a return to Louisiana.
Tetanus Neon has grown lights to run in a true 24-hour race, and we even have a sponsor. The Houston pub Firkin and Phoenix has bought us some great team shirts and hosted a fun happy hour event for local Lemons teams. Wish us luck, we have been running now for 52 minutes so there is lots of time to go.