dp35

Lemons safety rules are decent - in regards to the cars. But when it comes to the drivers, that's another story.

Lemons allows people that have never done a lap on a track (including no race day practice) to RACE! It gets worse - they don't require any classroom education, and they don't even go over the flags at the "newbies" driver's meeting.

gomez1

Did not know that....SHOCKING!

dp35

That's right Bob. The Maxima driver received a lifetime lemons ban for his role in this incident. Seems like an overreaction IMO. Had there not been a wall there, this would've likely been a spin in the grass and a trip to see the judges, like hundreds of other lemons incidents.

Coincidentally (or not) the Maxima got a lot of grief at its first/prior BS inspection last year, and the owner later made himself infamous on the lemons forum by disagreeing.

IcemanG17

#1 Driver did fracture a vertebrae in his neck from the side forces when he hit the wall...which could have been minimized by a full containment seat and maybe a HANS style device....both of which I run in my lemons racer (Hans and Racetech 4009WHR)

Lemons racing is CRAZY....there are SO many cars on track (think 150 at Infineon entered, around 120-140 on track) that lines become just about useless....you drive where ever you can.....and the speed differentials between the car is BIG.... In our 928 we typically pass 5-8 cars PER LAP....

With that said....even the experienced racers on my team (both are on here) state its some of the most fun driving they have EVER had......think about it...your in the car for 2+ hours at a time...passing 100+ cars per hour.....heres a video where we passed 158 cars in ONE hour at the last race

http://www.vimeo.com/7875316

keep in mind the entire field is 156 cars including us

Glen

I thought Carl Edwards was running in Atlanta...

IcemanG17

Darin you know thats not entirely accurate...yes then don't mandate any instruction...but typically classroom instruction is offered and encouraged...same for practice day the day before....

As for flags....during drivers meeting they do the typical flag presentation we all have seen 1,000 times.....is that a bunch of information for a new to race driving driver to take in...HELL YES....but in general the new drivers do pretty well & by the end of Sunday they got it figured out or have been kicked out of the race by then!!!

We need to remember the whole thought process behind "lemons racing"....its not about guys like us who are RACERS.....its about the average guy and a few friends who spend months building some crap can to watch it grenade in spectacular fashion on the 1st day...then work all night to fix it....its more about the spectacle than the race itself.....

I am still struggling with this concept...I guess I just have too much "racer" mentality....

Wreck Me Otter

In addition to what others have said, no net on either side.

dp35

Brian,
I agree that they encourage the classroom stuff, but they don't require any of it.

I've only driven one lemons race, and since it was my 1st time at one of these events, I was required to go to the newbies driver's meeting. At that race they did not go over the flags. I was shocked. Hopefully they normally cover that stuff and that was the exception.

Despite my criticism of lemons racing, I admit I had a blast doing it, and have not ruled out doing it again.

mjb

I'd say one of the iffy'r parts of Lemons is the fact, as mentioned above, that no previous track experience is required - and we were racing at SEARS POINT! Given that though, I was surprised there wasn't more carnage. Suprisingly decent driving given that there were more than 100 cars starting the race(not sure what the final number was). I understand the organizers have tightened up the Lemons ship significantly since it's early days (at Altamont) and take safety very seriously. More than a few cars have been sent away for subpar cages and harness setups.
But there are very experienced racers driving in Lemons.... cause it's an absolute hoot. Racing in this series (although not terribly fast) will test your situational awareness. With the number of cars, coupled with the wide disparity in car performance and driving experience it can be pretty challenging. Kinda interesting going thru the carousel 2 or 3 wide.
Anyway, that incident was particularly egregious and as we heard above the team that caused it was banned forever. Here's a vid posted by one of those experienced (and fast) racers - http://www.vimeo.com/9979427
that you might enjoy more than the crash video.

jester911

Nice video. Maybe just a tad more than $500 prep on that car.

Mother

What a hoot! What I found interesting and positioning yourself depending on the cars type in front for a pass. I was amazed a corvair was in it because of dependability issues .... then saw it being towed in. Kudo's to ya!

SG_M3

Yup, its great fun. Friends and I are currently building a new car for lemons, having done two races, its great fun.

It is only as safe as you make it, not surprised to see such doubting opinions here. Its not hard to stay contact free in these races, you just have to drive smart and be aware that others have 0 experience. It is what it is, cheap cars with some people having little to no experience. That said, its pretty easy as an experienced racer to stay clean. Chill out guys.

joseph mitro

is this a quiz, or do you really know the specifics of what happened?

Veloce Raptor

I see a bunch of less-than-smart assclowns who can't drive in wheel to wheel racing, with cars that drive and sound like they're worth $500, wearing foam collars instead of a H&N restraint, with no fire system.









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onefastviking

When I have fun and party I take it seriously and have a lot of fun.
When I race I take it seriously and have a lot of fun.
But I don't mix the two together.
I'll never be in a LeMon event.