The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Our Crappy Race → THE PEOPLE'S CURSE RAN!!!!!
I can't wait to hear what Condren has to say about this. It could be an all-caps rant even.
This race was a pretty clean race. The only team who may have earned the curse was Cajun Gihad. I don't know if they had any driving infractions but their very loud theme music, while entertaining at first, became very annoying!!!
They are the only team I even heard of any one voting for so the Curse seems quite questionable this race.
I talked to a few teams about the Curse and they all unequivocally said they would vote for the #2 Miata. I'm sure the ballot was legit.
Also, I can understand that some people might be annoyed by the consistent tinging of the Cajun Jihadis' music, but not everyone is--I laughed my ass off every single time the car passed, even after they'd switched to the Top Gun soundtrack. Classic. They did put a lot more into their theme, on the whole, than any other car I saw.
That miata was stupid-fast.... there was a lot of internal work done guaranteed....
post up the name of the owners... we can take justice back to the wild west style 
Ah yes, we were there until our hard charging E30 ate it's radiator hose and donated it's cooling water to the pavement gods... I know of 5 teams for sure that voted the #2 Miata off the island. The people's curse is just that, if we don't think you're doin right, then as a group, we get a chance to say so. After watching them on Saturday, our team really felt that they were sandbaging it, waiting for Sunday. With the wealth of available parts, you just can't believe that what they had could have been created with $500 (seeing as I have over 12k in my SM and I am an also ran). Talent (which they did have) is free, but the car isn't...
They are just lucky that an APB wasn't issued, the local Plaquemine PD doesn't have much to do on Sundays, they would have relished the opportunity to do some full cavity body searches...
Which team were you?
Our E30 *ALSO* ate our radiator hose (alternator death).... we got a generic hose and were back on in just under an hour...
That is just weak. Man up and take your medicine.
A few thoughts:
I don't think this team would come back, but I don't think you could accept any future applications.
This situation has probably partly resulted from Jay and Co. being toooo nice about not claiming any cars. On the one hand, no one wants to be a dick and buy a car from a team that has invested a lot of $ and a lot of sweat equity. OTOH, there is only one car that will be cursed and a team might feel they can squeak a lot of crazy stuff through BS.
The question management has to be asking themselves now is not what do we do about this situation here on Monday. The question to ask is "What do we do when the next team tries this BS after getting the curse?"
Here's his post on jalopnik comments:
"7:45 PM on Sun Jun 7 2009 Jay (the head honcho) shook hands and made a deal friday saying that our car would not be crushed a 3rd time in a row as long as we never made a trip to penalty box, and we never did. He backed out on his word, so we left town.
I didnt know a "cheater spec miata" involved a $250 car with cut springs and a cage welded in. "
Googling "adam kelleher miata" results in some fun reading
Googling "adam kelleher miata" results in some fun reading
OK, so he's a spec miata driver (and a good one at that). So what? Are we not going to allow good/licensed drivers into this event?
I'm not sticking up for him, just pointing out that a lot of people who are drivers in these races are not novices. Unless, of course, I'm missing some post where he says that he's cheating at Lemons.
Here's his post on jalopnik comments:
"7:45 PM on Sun Jun 7 2009 Jay (the head honcho) shook hands and made a deal friday saying that our car would not be crushed a 3rd time in a row as long as we never made a trip to penalty box, and we never did. He backed out on his word, so we left town.
I understand that the 24 HoL Rules don't exactly rate with the Magna Carta or the Constitution, but the rules don't allow for a deal like that. The People's Curse is for the people, by the people...oh hell, you get what I'm saying.
If the above scenario is the truth, did Jay walk up to this team and volunteer this deal, or did the team approach Jay? What seems reasonable? If the team approached Jay, then they were trying to circumvent the rules. Why? Why would they feel like they needed to make a deal like that?
All of this talk about cheating and bad driving is meaningless. Until Jay changes the rule, The People get to decide who gets crushed for any reason whatsoever. Full stop. If you don't take your medicine, you are not only a coward, but you are violating the Prime Directive™ of the 24 HoL - don't take the race too seriously. Other sports are calling that team...
I didn't mean there was anything incriminating in google results, just that it goes to show these are miata racers who consistently bring miatas... the more you know about a car, the more you know how to cheat and what you can and can't get away with... i can tell you that on the straightaway coming out of turn 14, there was no one faster than the miata... and that the barbie miata wasn't anywhere close on the straight...
all that "speculation" aside, the fact is they ran from their punishment... they broke the SPIRIT of the race... we don't come to these races because we only want the 15 boxes of heavy ass nickels to kill our gas mileage on the way home... we come to them because they are fun, it's a good way to get on the track, enjoy yourself, get some seat time in, laugh a little, laugh a LOT, and in general just have a good time and understand the love of 4 wheels (or sometimes 3 depending on your speed in a corner)... skipping out on this is just laughing in the face of the race... "we can do whatever we want"... plenty of racers A) don't cheat (that much) because they don't want to be crushed, or B) sandbag day 1 a little, and C) drive pretty politely, wave quicker cars by sometimes, etc... if you have NO risk of being crushed, then A) cheat like hell, B) drive like hell, and C) act like hell
The rules actually do allow for a deal like that: 1.1: Organizer Decisions: Organizer's decisions are final. If you don't like it, tough. Get your own race.
I can imagine that Jay could say that he wouldn't crush the car but he would do any number of coutless other things - sand in the intake, drain the oil, no rear brake pads, etc.
The rules actually do allow for a deal like that: 1.1: Organizer Decisions: Organizer's decisions are final. If you don't like it, tough. Get your own race.
I can imagine that Jay could say that he wouldn't crush the car but he would do any number of coutless other things - sand in the intake, drain the oil, no rear brake pads, etc.
Any of those things seem very difficult to do when they load up the car on the trailer and tear ass out of there....
I heard the rumor about the Hand Shake deal with Lamm too. John Phillips and crew drove nice. Everyone seemed to be playing nice together. No Problem was a great facility and an awesome event. Shrimp Boots with there pair of E30 BMW's threw one hell of a weekend long party. I think they cooked an entire truck load of shrimp for everyone. If the rumor is true, it really puts a stain on a great event.
There were plenty of fast competitive cars. The quality of driver's in Lemons has greatly improved. Many driver's are SCCA and NASA folks that really know how to drive. I am not one of those driver's and earned my own special penalty.
I will state this again: even in the New Rules, the People's Choice is listed and we never vote on it because Jay says, we screw it up. So now it's the Organizer's Choice which ain't in the rules but falls under Rule 1.1:
1.1: Organizer Decisions: Organizer's decisions are final. If you don't like it, tough. Get your own race.
I just don't understand how a the group of people who are deemed unable to pick their favorite can somehow turn around and be competitent enough to sentence a car to death.
These $500 race cars require a lot of expensive safety gear to race. The new rules now exceed the door bar standards for SCCA and NASA and AutoPower cages are not 100% acceptable. Most cars have about $3000 in safety stuff in them. The sweat equity unmeasurable.
A SPEC Miata and Lemons Miata have about the same safety standards. A SPEC Miata uses a $1300 Mazdaspeed suspension package pretty much everything else is safety! They aren't that different.
I feel like Phillips and his team have been very nice about 2 crushings. I'd be pretty devastated by just one. The likelihood of wrecking your car so badly in Lemons that it has the kind of damage inflicted by the curse is so unlikely it's rediculuous. If it did happen, no one would insure the event and Lemons would no longer exist.
While I had no real problem running against the Miata guys this time, I support the muriad of crush votes based on their on-track attitudes at the last Houston race. If these guys return, the cars should be meticulously inspected and given some ridiculous "mod" to even the field out
RobL wrote:The rules actually do allow for a deal like that: 1.1: Organizer Decisions: Organizer's decisions are final. If you don't like it, tough. Get your own race.
I can imagine that Jay could say that he wouldn't crush the car but he would do any number of coutless other things - sand in the intake, drain the oil, no rear brake pads, etc.
Any of those things seem very difficult to do when they load up the car on the trailer and tear ass out of there....
Of course they didn't stick around to see what the actual punishment would be... I'm just saying that in the sick twisted mind of Jay, saying that a car wouldn't get crushed doesn't mean it won't be destroyed/useless by the end of the race.
they broke the SPIRIT of the race
Spirit of the race? I have a feeling after being pissed on 3 times they decided there's not much spirit to be had left.
If you don't like that they had a better car than you, then figure out how to do the $500 claim that this race is supposed to have. Don't throw bricks because you're jealous of their glass house.
SRSBSNS wrote:they broke the SPIRIT of the race
Spirit of the race? I have a feeling after being pissed on 3 times they decided there's not much spirit to be had left.
If you don't like that they had a better car than you, then figure out how to do the $500 claim that this race is supposed to have. Don't throw bricks because you're jealous of their glass house.
We're not jealous of their car at all... we love our car regardless of our ranking... we would rather have fun, laugh, realize why we're all such good friends, and get some racing in... than do whatever it takes to be first place...
but hey, if we don't have to worry about being crushed, we can just say "FU we're gonna just pack up and go", then no holds barred on cheating, engine mods, etc....
It seems to me that these guys violated the cardinal rule of Lemons, taking the race too seriously. Sure we all want to win but when the day is said and done only one team can do that. The point of Lemons is that the other 50-100 racers should have as much fun as possible in loosing. *That* is the spirt of Lemons, it's not driver vs driver as much it is the team battling their own car to see who's going to come up on top.
Well, my question is simply this: If they obviously had all of these added "go fast" goodies as well as the suspension upgrades why were they only dinged 25 laps in the beginning? So, all of these parts held a value of only $250 bucks? Was that the reasoning?
The curse is the only thing set in place to try to keep a somewhat even playing field. Like it has been said before, don't show up with a car that you aren't willing to leave at the track after the weekend, nuff said.
Well, my question is simply this: If they obviously had all of these added "go fast" goodies as well as the suspension upgrades why were they only dinged 25 laps in the beginning? So, all of these parts held a value of only $250 bucks? Was that the reasoning?
The curse is the only thing set in place to try to keep a somewhat even playing field. Like it has been said before, don't show up with a car that you aren't willing to leave at the track after the weekend, nuff said.
Jay can't see the engine internals...and there's only so much time to inspect a car. A lot of stuff gets overlooked, with any car for that matter. The Miatas are an easy car to make fast, there's nothing to them. It sucks for the Miata guy to be perfectly honest, but I understand the hate towards him in the thread.
Like it has been said before, don't show up with a car that you aren't willing to leave at the track after the weekend, nuff said.
Precisely. BTW, these guys apparently did not race such a clean race. Our #3 driver was hit by them in turn 3 and spun. We wound up with a penalty (no problem there) and the Miata was given nothing. Everyone I spoke to had plans to vote for them so I REALLY find it hard to believe that there was much goings on. If, after two previous curses, they haven't figured out what keeps them on the radar, then maybe they should find a new game plan?
the other point is....ANY miata that can go the whole race and not blow up with a stock suspension and 85hp at the wheels can win.
So prepping the car beyond that and risking crushing is stupid.
And the drivers of that car are plenty fast enough to win in PLENTY of other cars. RX7, 626, protege, neon, anything really...
cpmskinny wrote:Like it has been said before, don't show up with a car that you aren't willing to leave at the track after the weekend, nuff said.
Precisely. BTW, these guys apparently did not race such a clean race. Our #3 driver was hit by them in turn 3 and spun. We wound up with a penalty (no problem there) and the Miata was given nothing. Everyone I spoke to had plans to vote for them so I REALLY find it hard to believe that there was much goings on. If, after two previous curses, they haven't figured out what keeps them on the radar, then maybe they should find a new game plan?
Agreed. I think it is kind of classic for someone to run from the curse though. While it is amusing, it does kind of take away from the spirit of the race a bit. They always saw the third times the charm... They should have learned what kind of actions would lead to that the first two times. That was a ballsy move though I must say.
why does the ad at the top of this page show 2 virtual chicks making out? Am I supposed to be virtually aroused? LOL
Anyway.......I like Kent and John and Adam and Will and the whole team.....but damn bring something else LOL
why does the ad at the top of this page show 2 virtual chicks making out? Am I supposed to be virtually aroused? LOL
They are google feedback ad's... i.e. they only show what they think you like..
I think you should be asking yourself what OTHER sites has your computer been to lately? Google is not dumb
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Our Crappy Race → THE PEOPLE'S CURSE RAN!!!!!
