The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Newcomers → Multiple car teams - why?
So I can probably graduate out of the Newbies forum now that I've done my first race, but I still have some questions for the more advanced teams.
Mainly, what are the financial or team advantages of the 2 car teams? Do you save on any of the entry/drive fees? Are you allowed to drive both cars, or is it a strict drive-car line up? I assume there's some good reason to bring two hoopies to the track.
For me, the thought is that it increases the odds that I'll have at least one car on track at all times. Conversely, you can come home with them all broken. There are no financial breaks for running two cars particularly if they dont share components. About the only break is towing costs if you can tow more than one at a time. And yes, you can drive both cars.
Some people like building cars, selling seats helps pay for them (some times).
Some people have lots of friends, if you want a lot of seat time then signing up a lot of friends in one car won't get it for you.
There are no registration advantages to having multiple cars. If a driver is registered, he can drive any car in that event, even if he's not registered to that team. I know Spank and Chris O let their drivers try various cars in their stables.
I find managing one car and team of 3 drivers (including myself) is more than enough. I'm glad I don't have more friends.
bs
You're never limited to driving any given car once you're a registered driver; you can certainly offer a stint to the guys in the next pit when their car goes POOF, as happened at the Reno Fernley 24; one of our guys headed out for an hour in the neighbors 924 Porsche, IIRC. A certain Jeep racer hopped in our Benz and damn near set a lap record for our car.
It seems that most multi-car teams want either interchangeable, near identical race cars, or wildly different machines, for (I'd imagine) variety's sake. Set the fast lap of the race in the 944? What can you do in the '58 Buick?
Getting 4-6 drivers together and hauling our Benz at least 500 miles to race is hard enough... But if we had a waiting list and ready availability of a second tow rig, damn right we'd try a second car. Certain of our team roster just don't find it proper to drive anything but a Volvo... So you know what car #2 would be for us!
As for any disadvantages, can anyone clarify this?
6.2: Team Lousy-Driving Rule: Teams are held jointly accountable for the penalties earned by their drivers.
By the letter of the law, even if you have two cars on the track, you're still only allowed so many black flags, thus one set of crappy drivers in one car can have the whole team marching around doing something amusing if gone unchecked correct?
One of my teammates wants to build another car and run a two car team with me, but this here has me thinking he's better off doing his own thing since he doesn't understand rule 6.1.
We had three cars, 8 drivers and a dozen family and friends at the Ridge this weekend. Multiple cars allows us to all get a chance to play out on the track, and when there is a problem with one, we modify the driving schedule to suit.
Also, a$500 Corvette fell into our laps this year, so why wouldn't we add it to the roster?!!
Why I like having multiple cars is what cheseroo said-- it's a form of insurance for when 1 blows up there's still something for someone to drive.
I personally like to bring new stuff because I find it's more entertaining than seeing the same-ol', same-ol' out there every regional event. I used to bring 2 "previously run" cars and 1 experimental or new car, but I learned that for me having 3 cars and only 1 or 2 others on the crew who had helped with any of the builds was not a great formula and I was stretched too thin trying to keep cars running and everyone happy. For me, 2 cars is a fair balance between seat insurance and the hell I need to put my family through in the weeks leading up to an event.
The other draw for multiple cars is I keep finding what I think are super cool $500 cars that just HAVE to be run in Lemons and, well, I have to try and run them!
And still another reason is, Hell, the car's already built. Why the hell should it stay parked at home?! (for the record, I currently have 5 caged, previously raced Lemons cars in my backyard)
As for any disadvantages, can anyone clarify this?
6.2: Team Lousy-Driving Rule: Teams are held jointly accountable for the penalties earned by their drivers.
By the letter of the law, even if you have two cars on the track, you're still only allowed so many black flags, thus one set of crappy drivers in one car can have the whole team marching around doing something amusing if gone unchecked correct?
One of my teammates wants to build another car and run a two car team with me, but this here has me thinking he's better off doing his own thing since he doesn't understand rule 6.1.
That's not an issue. Penalties are assessed to the car number since that's the easiest way to keep track. If one car gets four flags (regardless of who is driving it), the other car on the team won't be effected (though you may be on the radar a little more).
-Matt
Why I do I do it? F{%^ if I know!
Just kidding , I like building the cars and introducing people into Lemons .
Multiply cars help pay for the other builds. Like the oddball C car no one wants to pay to drive .
You would think people would want to drive a 27ft LemonLimo around a race track .
I have been trying to bring a spare car in case one breaks.
So my answer is what everyone says .
More seat time
More happy people
More work for me the one Man team.
I got 8 caged cars in my yard and 3-4 new arrivals in the works.
We just bought our second car, mostly because we have lots of people who want to drive and our first car is reliable, but one of the slowest on the track.
Here is a question. We get a lot of rookie drivers. Should we let the rookies drive the slow car only for their first race to get used to the track or just offer a mix? I never raced a fast car so I'm not sure how much more challenging it would be.
We just bought our second car, mostly because we have lots of people who want to drive and our first car is reliable, but one of the slowest on the track.
Here is a question. We get a lot of rookie drivers. Should we let the rookies drive the slow car only for their first race to get used to the track or just offer a mix? I never raced a fast car so I'm not sure how much more challenging it would be.
Put them in the slow car to get a feel for the track.
We run two cars because we have more than 6 people that want to run on the average race. The main benefit of having two cars is if one blows up, then everyone can still drive the other car. I also like the dynamic of having two different cars, especially in two classes. The Rover is class C and was trying for index. The Saturn was class A going for overall win. The Rover we were just trying to keep it on the track. It needed a respectable showing for us to win IOE but it didn't need to be top 5 in Class C. The Saturn was more intense in that it was long stints driving and fast pit stops.
We run two cars on the west coast, the Celica is stupidly reliable, easy on gas, tires and brakes and super easy to drive. It bounces between B and c class and has been used to introduce new drivers to Lemons. Then there is the Cowmaro, lots of power capable of hanging with A class cars but suffers C class reliability.
The slower car is a great introduction to Lemons, you can't get into too much trouble in it. If you miss your braking mark or get on the gas too soon it's easily recovered. The Cow on the other hand is a handful and you have to be right on your game the whole time.
We had a one car team, and that car spent more time being worked on in the pits than on the track. We picked up a miata because they are reliable and we wanted track time. Then we had too many drivers for just one, so we built another. We have arrive and drives on a wait-list for good money, and part of that is because we can almost guarantee them track time between the two cars.
We do occasionally only take one car and have a nice, relaxed weekend of racing without having to corral 8-10 people and two cars all the time.
We run three cars (Grim Reaper V-6 Mustang, class A in a class B car, Radioactive V-8 Mustang, class A, and Austin Powerless Austin Marina (soon to be class B in a class D car). Many times one car needs more work than the others; means that a team workday can concentrate on one and with three teams pulling together amazing things can be accomplished. Also, we can swap drivers amongst cars if desired. We also fuel each other's cars, utilize one rather than three of things (one air compressor, for example) and just generally have a great time as a large team. And if one car does break (not that a LeMon would EVER do that) we have help fixing it...
One thing I'll add here that works very well for us is that all of us have different strengths. For example, one guy on one team has great contacts for picking up metal (tubing, sheet, etc.) at vastly reduced prices. So he sources most of the metal we need. Others are good at negotiating great hotel rates, so they do that for the whole team...and so on. Sure works well for us!
Thanks for the answers guys. I think we'd be interested in both a little bit of insurance and a little variety as well.
We had three cars, 8 drivers and a dozen family and friends at the Ridge this weekend. Multiple cars allows us to all get a chance to play out on the track, and when there is a problem with one, we modify the driving schedule to suit.
Also, a$500 Corvette fell into our laps this year, so why wouldn't we add it to the roster?!!
How does that work swindrum? I thought a team needed a minimum of 4 drivers per car to enter an event? BTW, which 3 cars were they? Did you run the Barbie theme Corvette? If so we were pitted 2-3 paddocks south of you with the black 944.
Ben
Hi Ben,
Yes, we had the Barbie Corvette, The V6 Austin Landcrab and the Purple Mini.
We signed up a few people a couple times across the 3 teams to boost the rosters, then just split the cost between the 8 drivers.
How was the 944? depending on which of our cars I was in, I could get by it, or it was getting by me!
Sean
FWIW:
I fight combat robots as another hobby, and despite being a one- (sometimes two-) person team, always aimed to take at least one 'bot per weight class, and in the bigger competitions there were six weight classes in any given weekend's competition. It was the 'shotgun' approach, hoping something would stick. Unfortunately, given my random 'bot designs, not much did, but it was satisfying having a full weekend.
I can do 'bots, but I'm a novice with cars, let alone race cars, but I imagine for those who know what they're doing, it's a similar experience.
$0.02
Toni
The 944 did great considering it was our first race. Some minor (in the big picture) engine repairs are needed and our clutch master was leaking like crazy. The judges thought we were crazy to bring a 944 as our first entry, but it easily completed the race. Well know more when we tear the engine apart in a month.
You were probably passing it based on who was driving. I was hovering close to 2:40 lap times on Sunday morning with all of the rain while another driver got multiple laps down to 2:16 on the dry track. I think all of us had a great time and are hooked for another race or two next year.
How does that work swindrum? I thought a team needed a minimum of 4 drivers per car to enter an event? BTW, which 3 cars were they? Did you run the Barbie theme Corvette? If so we were pitted 2-3 paddocks south of you with the black 944.
Ben
You only need to pay for the four drivers. Nobody cares if you register four drivers, or if anybody even shows up.
bs
I have more interested drivers than spots I can reasonably assign to the 944. This multi-car thing is tempting.
It's almost bad enough to make me want the K. Who am I kidding? I would totally be up for fabulousifying the K. That way, it'll at least sparkle when it breaks.
I have more interested drivers than spots I can reasonably assign to the 944. This multi-car thing is tempting.
It's almost bad enough to make me want the K. Who am I kidding? I would totally be up for fabulousifying the K. That way, it'll at least sparkle when it breaks.
We could probably hook you up with leftover pink paint... :enabler:
I have more interested drivers than spots I can reasonably assign to the 944
I'm a little jealous.
I have more interested drivers than spots I can reasonably assign to the 944. This multi-car thing is tempting.
It's almost bad enough to make me want the K. Who am I kidding? I would totally be up for fabulousifying the K. That way, it'll at least sparkle when it breaks.
You know this is coming.
DOOOOOOOOO ITTTTTTTTTTTT!!
Here's a kilo of pink glitter to get your sparkly on;
http://www.glitterpackaging.com/sell-pi … 01969.html
ninjacoco wrote:I have more interested drivers than spots I can reasonably assign to the 944. This multi-car thing is tempting.
It's almost bad enough to make me want the K. Who am I kidding? I would totally be up for fabulousifying the K. That way, it'll at least sparkle when it breaks.
We could probably hook you up with leftover pink paint... :enabler:
Here's a kilo of pink glitter to get your sparkly on;
You guys ARE enablers! Hahahaha.
Spank--if you're doing MSR-H, I may start sending folks your way.
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