The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Bench Racing → Clarification on "Frowned Upon" cars
I don't recall ever hearing anybody ever complain about the requirements being too strict.
Many complain, loudly and frequently.
Jeff G 78 wrote:I don't recall ever hearing anybody ever complain about the requirements being too strict.
Many complain, loudly and frequently.
Why must you be so negative?
would you rather flip at 25 MPH or get T-boned at 115?
not sure...in the first scenario, my car is automatically out of the race. 
seriously though, i think you might be overestimating the speeds at NL a little. i would agree with Jeff G that it's the speed differential of big braking zones, not high speeds themselves, that causes problems. the great thing about NL was the lack of severe braking zones, which limited the situations in which two cars had massively different speeds. some people are apparently utterly incapable of safely guiding a car around a track at night or in the rain, but that is more a function of the race format than the track.
Well....you can add me to the list of people that would like to see Nelson back as well.
As far as the speeds go, the speedometer in our Camaro stops at 120. I had it buried the few times that I had open track on the back straight. Since its a GM speedo it reads low...so figure about 115 MPH. That being said, we never had issues with the brakes and the car has only minor dents and dings to show for 22 hours of track time. Who knows? After this years race at Gingerman and Joliet maybe I won't be wishing for NL to come back so much. But me and the team had a blast! You gotta want more of that!
Oh one more thing....Murilee wants a vinatage NASCAR Lemons car?
I got my rat claws on an old Chevy Laguna S3. hehehe....
Our E30 has had a different theme for each of the 3 races we've run. We sure give our best LeMonsScoff to those who recycle their cars without revamping their theme... Hell, we put more time into our theme execution than we do driving our car between races... But we sure as hell have fun... And THAT is why we keep coming back...
Sincerely,
*Stop Drop & Rickroll E30
*OMGWTFBBQ E30
*Jay Lamb E30
Yes, MSR now owns the record for Most Lemons Rollovers In One Race. I believe Thunderhill averages about two per race. When the ground gets soft and you hit it sideways, the tires tend to dig in (also known as "The Thunderhill Effect").
All you dudes who complain about our "overkill" safety requirements are free to explain how you'd rather be thrown clear from the wreck. Also, comparing MSR to Nelson Ledges in terms of safety is like comparing a dachshund to a pack of starving, rabid Rottweilers; would you rather flip at 25 MPH or get T-boned at 115?
Rolls are a little strange...even a high speed roll is just a blur from the driver's seat, but you remember that last slow tipover and the hard thud, hopefully wheels down...but I'll still take it over a T-bone, even at 25mph....that sideways action on your neck isn't good.
I think We will have to wait until the track people at NL try ( and fail ) at their own half ass attempt to do a Lemons style race before beginning any serious discussion of the "real thing " returning there.
Im actually pretty curious to see how their event will turn out considering its the weekend after American Irony anyone planning on racing it ? show of hands ??
What's the story on Nelsons? They don't want us back, or Jay didn't want to go back? I've never been there before based on its rep as a bumpy track, but I thought it was fun and an easy track too....
What's the story on Nelsons? They don't want us back, or Jay didn't want to go back? I've never been there before based on its rep as a bumpy track, but I thought it was fun and an easy track too....
This was alluded to earlier. Fast track + some tricky corners + god-awful downhill runoff areas + crappy novice drivers + $500 shitbox racecars = more risk than the organizers really want. Just because nothing bad happened before doesn't mean nothing bad will happen next race. I felt very comfortable on the track, but I saw several cars buried deep in the tires on the outside of the carousel in my 2 hours on track.
Gotta love Hijacks!!
I got my rat claws on an old Chevy Laguna S3. hehehe....
Vintage NASCAR AND underutilized movie reference. Bonus!
Tiptoe The Rat wrote:I got my rat claws on an old Chevy Laguna S3. hehehe....
Vintage NASCAR AND underutilized movie reference. Bonus!
Excellent!
Jeff G 78 wrote:I don't recall ever hearing anybody ever complain about the requirements being too strict.
Many complain, loudly and frequently.
i was cut out of a dragster in 1986. did't havea scratch. that's because the sactioning bodies in racing ARE strict regarding safety equipment. espcially where cages are concerned. the lincoln has extra bars in the cage. feels like getting in a sherman tank.
i like that
I'm not sure why the Nelson's is being knocked for excess speed. The original plan was to add 2 chicanes but a decsion was taken prior to the start to put just a few cones in at the kink and let it go at that. A few well placed cones / chicanes would have slowed things down plenty. Re: tirewalls .... I'll take those ANY day over concrete walls!
Spud
Oh one more thing....Murilee wants a vinatage NASCAR Lemons car?
I got my rat claws on an old Chevy Laguna S3. hehehe....
That'll look sweet next to the Turino GT we might be getting... More details to come. What scheme are you going with?
Rolls are a little strange...even a high speed roll is just a blur from the driver's seat, but you remember that last slow tipover and the hard thud, hopefully wheels down...but I'll still take it over a T-bone, even at 25mph....that sideways action on your neck isn't good.
HALO... Yes... I said it. Get a seat with a HALO.
OMG, the rednecks from cannonball would be an AWESOME Theme!!!
what'd be epic, if we found a fiero kit-car disaster countach, and talked a bunch of our girlfriends/wives into being cannonball women, and organized with a bunch of other teams to get the whole cannonball fleet out there, because 90% of the cars in that movie are now total Lemons!
You guys just need to find a Subaru hatchback for the Japanese team (and someone who looks like Jackie Chan). Maybe some bodywork on the Brat?
haha, i was thinking about making the brat a hatch earlier for that theme, plus we get to be crazy azn ninjas
haha, i was thinking about making the brat a hatch earlier for that theme, plus we get to be crazy azn ninjas
Who gets to be Jackie Chan?!
mikespeed95 wrote:haha, i was thinking about making the brat a hatch earlier for that theme, plus we get to be crazy azn ninjas
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/aj629 … ll_run.jpg
Who gets to be Jackie Chan?!
Forget that, Who will be Jaws????
MUST... BE... DONE
I was thinking the Holly farms car that Cale Yarborough drove cause I like the colors.
Tiptoe The Rat wrote:I got my rat claws on an old Chevy Laguna S3. hehehe....
Vintage NASCAR AND underutilized movie reference. Bonus!
Here's hoping someone on the team st-st-stutters, and that you can magically turn your Laguna into a Monte Carlo at some point during the race.
funny how this thread turned into smiled-upon cars/safety/Nelson Ledges debacle.
I'll throw in my bid to return to Nelson Ledges as well. maybe in slightly warmer times? like late may...or maybe late august/early september.
Here's the thing on safety with NL. It was one of the first tracks in the world to use tire walls. i saw one car on it's side(not a flip) and one car in the bridge(had to happen at one point) Now, you want an example of safety? the Saab 900 that won Southern Discomfort was BURIED in the tirewall directly past the kink. I was genuinely worried about them but it seems that there was nothing major, thanks to strict rules and proper equipment. Yes, speeds are higher at nelsons but no hard braking zones made it a fantastically easy track to drive, but still interesting enough to take effort to master. Tales of 120MPH I think are exaggerated. In the buick, only ONE driver hit the limiter (~110) HOWEVER, the tire/wheel combo on the car probably exaggerated the speed reported by the gauges at nearly 15mph is my guess. Considering I can regularly hit over 90 @ CMP with a car that is heavier and has a more accurate odometer, they're probably not as far off as some would like to believe. the fact that it's so gentle on brakes and tires actually helps from a safety aspect as well.
From what I've heard I think it's the general location and facilities that really hurt ledges. If we could go back, then we really should play up and really get the social networking gears turning and have cook-offs, breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods, Make Jay & company fat n' happy, and maybe poke the NL track owners for some better pathways/bathrooms in the infield. I love the track but I think the isolation really made the off-track experience abysmal for some.
funny how this thread turned into smiled-upon cars/safety/Nelson Ledges debacle.
I'll throw in my bid to return to Nelson Ledges as well. maybe in slightly warmer times? like late may...or maybe late august/early september.
Here's the thing on safety with NL. It was one of the first tracks in the world to use tire walls. i saw one car on it's side(not a flip) and one car in the bridge(had to happen at one point) Now, you want an example of safety? the Saab 900 that won Southern Discomfort was BURIED in the tirewall directly past the kink. I was genuinely worried about them but it seems that there was nothing major, thanks to strict rules and proper equipment. Yes, speeds are higher at nelsons but no hard braking zones made it a fantastically easy track to drive, but still interesting enough to take effort to master. Tales of 120MPH I think are exaggerated. In the buick, only ONE driver hit the limiter (~110) HOWEVER, the tire/wheel combo on the car probably exaggerated the speed reported by the gauges at nearly 15mph is my guess. Considering I can regularly hit over 90 @ CMP with a car that is heavier and has a more accurate odometer, they're probably not as far off as some would like to believe. the fact that it's so gentle on brakes and tires actually helps from a safety aspect as well.
From what I've heard I think it's the general location and facilities that really hurt ledges. If we could go back, then we really should play up and really get the social networking gears turning and have cook-offs, breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods, Make Jay & company fat n' happy, and maybe poke the NL track owners for some better pathways/bathrooms in the infield. I love the track but I think the isolation really made the off-track experience abysmal for some.
Lol. I've seen no quantifyable evidence or results that suggest Nelsons is any better or worse than anywhere else. How many serious offs were there? Rollovers? Now compare that with the west coast hoonery... I thought it was fine overall, and not as bad as its reputation as a crumbling facility would have suggested... Lets go back!
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