Coming off a weekend of LeMons racing it was going to be hard to match the fun and excitment of that race. Well depending on what you get your kicks from this might match it. An Enduro Derby.

What’s an Enduro Derby? Picture doing everything you’re not supposed to in a race. Spinning out drivers, using cars to bank off of, pushing them into the wall. And do it on an oval mud track with a figure eight on one end and a couple really big speed bumps. Oh yeah, hillbilly racin’ at its finest. This is what I went to Saturday night just south of AnnArbor. It was a great race to reminisce the good ‘ol days of your high school cars. Tempo’s, Cavalier’s, Sentr’s, Beretta’s, Celebrity’s, and other little shit boxes from the eighties became unrecognizable by the end of the 18 laps in each heat. Check out the video to get a feel of this spectacular down home event.

 

 enduro derby [1:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (160)

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Sounds fancy, virtual walk around.  No, just a way to see a car without static photos.  Here is, the It’s the Lybians! People’s Choice Award Winner. That was a mouthful. Check out all the details in their glory before they were destroyed by 24 hours of madness.

 

 IT's the Lybians walk around [0:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (153)

This is a great article talking about the stories and peoples that competed in this weekends race, and they mention the team It’s the Lybians!

From the Detroit News….

FLAT ROCK — The bleary-eyed victors of the 24 hours of LeMons endurance race for junker cars hoisted their hard-earned prize — bags containing $1,500 in nickels — and posed for pictures that will be sent to a soldier in Iraq to prove they kept their promise of doing something special with his car.

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Insane. That is one word to describe this weekends race.

-1/4 mile track
-39 cars
-30 second lap times
-24 hours
-over 2400 laps

Can you even comprehend a race like this?

Here is a brief recap of the weekend. I’ll update more through the week on race events, stories, and videos. Right now I am trying to stay awake from a long weekend.

The teams sweet concept of the time machine along with the attention to detail and craftsmanship won us the People’s Choice award. The award was $1000 paid in bags of nickels. Yes, 50 pound bags of nickels. We blew by the other competitors with our theme, which was voted on by the other teams. We also finished the race which was not easy to do. We finished 25th after replacing a blown radiator ( with a radiator out of a Chevy Blazer ) and then a strut that was snapped in half like a toothpick from a wreck with another driver. With those hours being lost in the pits the car finished over 1200 laps through the 24 hours. Keep in mind all of our drivers had never raced a car before. As much as I hate to say it….damn those Toyota’s keep on runnin’.

Amazing job by the team and all of our supporters throughout the 24 hours. Thanks for cheering the team on.

The race was a huge success and a blast to be at. There is one more 12 hour race left this year. Next year they are planning 6-8 races. In a few years there will be LeMons races everywhere. You are definitley hooked once you do it. I am sure we will be back again next year. I’ll have more pics after I take a nap.

Photos from the race…24 Hours of LeMons.com

Here we are one day till the wet yourself sounds of Start Your Engines. We will hear up to forty beater cars struggle to lift those pistons to roll out for 24 hours of insanity. No practice, no experience, quarter mile track…..this is 24 hours of LeMons.
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So here is Part 2 of the build. I’ll call this phase…Color and Trim. Time to theme out the Poopra. Here is a fancy concept sketch of the final design. Sorry Doc, no disrespect, but we are doing our best with what we have to work with. Which is ten dollars cash, some coins and a lot of empty beer cans. Oh and the White Castle Slider boxes. They will come in handy somewhere.
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Well the race is almost here and the car is almost complete. I am going to take the next couple of days leading up to the race to show you the cars development from a 1984 Toyota Poopra to an 88mph Time Machine. Part 1 shows the steps that they left out in the movie. Doc had to start somewhere.
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One of the craziest enthusiasts good times in quite awhile. Here is a summary of what the 24 hrs of LeMons is about for those of you who don’t know….

Nasty. Brutish. Not Short Enough.

The crowd. The spectacle. The pall of blue smoke and roasted clutch discs. In all motorsport, no event captures the universal human need to whale on old crapcans and hoover down greasy barbecue like the 24 Hours of LeMons.

Each LeMons race is for cars purchased, fixed up, and track-prepped for a total of 500 dollars or less. But before reaching the grid, you’ll have to survive trials like the Personal-Injury-Lawyer Anti-Slalom, the Marxist-Valet Parking Challenge, and the Wide Open Throttle Rodthrowapalooza. Twelve hours into the race, the car voted People’s Choice is called in and awarded a cash prize; simultaneously, the car voted People’s Curse is called in and summarily destroyed. At the end of 24 hours, a gala awards ceremony plies the survivors with trophies, plaques, and four-figure purses in canvas bags full of nickels. What’s not to like?

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Recently (29 August), CDf had the opportunity to head over to Audi of Rochester Hills, MI for the Audi “Cars & Stars” event commemorating both the Audi heritage and the company’s racing group. It was a great night, especially for those of us inclined towards Audi’s racing vehicle prowess (ahem, R8 and S5, baby!)

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I know the Dream Cruise was almost a week ago but here is one last bolg on some of the most interesting finds on Woodward. This is my favorite part of the cruise. What can people think up to stand out in the crowd? Here are a few of the highlights.
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