1 Topic by chaase (edited by chaase 2020-08-11 02:26 PM)

  • chaase
  • Lemons Staff Stalker
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  • From: East Meadow, NY
  • Registered: 2009-08-06
  • Posts: 1,558

Topic: Thompson 2020 in the books!

Good afternoon all!

I think I've finally recovered from the very long weekend that was Thompson so I wanted to say it was great seeing everyone back at the track again. I've sorely missed racing this year and it seemed like there would never be an event in our neck of the woods.

This event was a little different than usual for me as I wasn't a racer. I was playing judge, gate wrangler, photographer, pit stop inspector and whatever else was needed. Between all of those jobs, you probably saw me and may not have even recognized me with my mask, hat and sunglasses on.

It was definitely a challenge between COVID restrictions and power outages  but I think it went quite well. It took a lot of work. The regular Lemons staffers, like Kim and Eric, had to do a TON of work to get this event setup. It was a personnel nightmare with the travel restrictions. Given what was thrown at them, I think they did a tremendous job.

Speaking for myself, I felt like the teams really did their best to comply with everything and rolled with the punches. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood and happy just to get outside and do some racing. I didn't feel like I had to fight with anybody to follow the rules. To Kenny and the Lemontarians, you guys are awesome!

Next race is NHMS everyone so lets fix what broke and head up there in a couple of months. It was fun being a judge but I do miss the time spent behind the wheel.

Thanks,
Chris

1992 Saturn SL2 (retired) - Elmo's Revenge -  Class B winner, Heroic Fix winner x2
1969 Rover P6B 3500S(sold) - Super G-Rover - I.O.E Winner, Class C Winner
1996 Saturn SW2 - Elmo's Revenge (reborn!), Saturn SL1  Dazzleshipm Class C x2 and IOE winner
1974 AMC Javelin - Oscar's Trash heap - IOE,”Organizer's Choice" and "I got Screwed" award winner
  • From: Plymouth, MA
  • Registered: 2013-06-07
  • Posts: 787

Re: Thompson 2020 in the books!

Hats off to the whole crew that pulled this off and busted their asses (while we busted our cars) to make this happen!  Including Jay, Nick, and everyone else that could not make it, but did a lot of behind the scenes work.  In fact, I think that the Lemons staff did a better job managing the track than the usual Thompson administrative staff in the past! (interesting that they had us do it, including entry, practice, opening and closing, wrist bands, parking, etc)
Everyone I know had a great time, the judging was great, corner workers great, penalties were fair, etc.  And actually, the whole awards thing worked out great and had a great feel to it.
And even the driving was relatively decent.  I just wish there was a better Class C turnout, for my own personal entertainment....but it was great to see the Sunbeam, Cadillac, TR8, Lancia, AMC Hornet, etc
In any case, I drove the GGOO cars (GreatGlobsOfOil), orange Maxima #33 and Probe #32, and had a great time, and hopefully did not annoy too many people on the track....although a bit scary when I lost all brake power in the Probe in the straight due to a broken brake line...and thought I was going to end up in the wall, like that other car a few years back....but due to great drivers around me who had good situational awareness and gave me plenty of room, everything ended up well.
PS: if anyone at this race comes down with the COVID thing in the next 2 weeks or so, let us know, so we can get tested, quarantine, keep our distance, be cautious and aware, etc. ; since people can be asymptomatic when they first catch this thing.  Seems like this contact tracing strategy helps the general population....

MarioKart Driving School: 1987 Honda Prelude Si (Opus #28) 
Loudon, NH 2014 - Millville, NJ, Lightening 2019 (RIP)
New and improved: 1987 Honda Prelude Si (Opus #11) Pittsburgh, PA 2021 - ??
and finally won something, Class C Win: Loudon, NH 2022