The Automobiles section of the NYTimes ran a story on the 24 Hours of LeMons. Modeled, loosely, after the famous 24 Hours of LeMans, perhaps the premier single event in the sport of auto racing, the 24 Hours of LeMons is a test of endurance, fortitude, and the strength of duct tape. Cars are limited to a total budget of $500, excluding safety systems, though cheating is admittedly rampant, and the “judges” assigned to weeding out rule breakers do so while carrying around a “bribe jar.”
Nevertheless, the competition exemplifies what racing is all about – namely trying to use zip ties and a bin of miscellaneous nuts and bolts to keep a car on the road. Track days represent some of my fondest memories from my days in the race car world, and I’m pretty sure that my crew from Hudson Historics could win this race by a landslide. Then again, with veteran LeMans team mechanics for Pratt & Miller as the defending champs, it’s clearly no easy task to take home the first place prize of $1500… in nickels.
Jordan Rapp 