We’re back at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan again, and for once we’re not getting miserably freezing weather by Lake Michigan in April. However, many teams opted to stay home for Easter weekend and/or 4/20, and so we’ve just got the 50 or so most hardcore of our Upper Midwest teams here. Let’s take a look at some of those teams.Donning the robes of the LeMons Supreme Court, we’ve got Midwestern LCS veterans Judge Eric and Judge Keith administering our special brand of justice. Both of these guys got their start in LeMons with Ford Escorts, with Judge Eric creating the terrifying animatronic Richard Nixon robot for Team Resignation and Judge Keith helping Byte Marx Racing become one of the most successful Escort teams in LeMons history. Judge Eric is also the LeMons correspondent for Hooniverse, so be sure to follow his live race coverage here.Midwestern LeMons racers just love their Fords, and so we looked at what seemed like a field comprised of about half blue-oval-equipped machinery.The Flying Pig Mustang has done very well during the last couple of LeMons seasons and the team keeps getting better with each passing race, so all eyes will be on the besnouted Fox Ford this weekend.Of course, we saw quite a few just-dragged-out-of-the-barn Ford heaps, too.In fact, Midwestern teams tend to bring the roughest-looking, most legitimately terrible race cars. Here’s the very convincing Craigslist ad brought as proof of their car’s low purchase price by a new 4th-gen Camaro team. The harsh 2013-2014 winter did a good job of lowering car prices.Speaking of the polar vortex that made winter in Michigan so unpleasant, here’s Team Polar Vortex.Speedycop, of Cessna race car fame, spent the last few days driving the Spirit of LeMons ’56 Cessna 310 around Manhattan, then packed up his Civic race car and took it the 650 miles from Maryland to Gingerman.Speedycop, with all his too-many-to-list-here LeMons achievements, has yet to lead a team to a LeMons win on laps. This quick-looking ’89 Civic, which boasts the fins from his team’s 1962 Cadillac Fleetwood campaigned at the 2009 Nelson Ledges race, is the car that Speedycop and the Gang of Outlaws hope to pilot to a Class A win this weekend.The favorite to take this race appears to be the Little Lebowski Urban Achievers Volvo 245. This car, which gets its power from a naturally-aspirated, 8-valve B230 engine, has finished in P2 or P3 quite a few times at Gingerman LeMons races, and now many of the teams that have beaten the Little Lebowskis in the past are taking the weekend off.The Vermont-based Bert One team towed their Volvo 262C Bertone out to California for the 2013 Arse Freeze-a-Palooza and 2014 Sears Pointless races, and they’re stopping in Michigan for the Campaign To Prevent Gingervitis race on their way home. The turbocharged Bert One car has been very quick in the East Coast races in recent years, and it should be tough competition for the Little Lebowskis.The MetSHO Geo Metro, which features Taurus SHO Yamaha V6 power, will be taking yet another crack at a Class B win.The MetSHO has an innovative splitter that can be removed and used as a handy autograph table for the team’s superstar driver.As always, the most interesting action will be taking place in Class C. Due to the low car count, we’ve got only three competitors in the most LeMon-y of the three car classes. There’s this S-10, with 2.8 V6 power and a very entertaining cheap-beer theme.This Fiat X1/9 and a battered Ford Tempo will be battling the S-10 for the class win. We’ll keep you updated on the struggle between these historical rivals.Technological innovations abounded, as usual. This cold-air intake was made of medical casting tape and fiberglass resin.The We Are Not Really From Iran Mazda B-swapped Ford Festiva appeared to be having some problems with its massive powerplant as the sun went down.The LeMons Supreme Court justices have been given the use of this excellent Suzuki Sidekick-based dune buggy for their Judgemobile.And, as always at Midwestern LeMons races, the smell of bacon fills the paddock. Check in Saturday night to see how the first day of racing turns out!
Reported by Car and Driver 14 hours ago.
We’re back at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan again, and for once we’re not getting miserably freezing weather by Lake Michigan in April. However, many teams opted to stay home for Easter weekend and/or 4/20, and so we’ve just got the 50 or so most hardcore of our Upper Midwest teams here. Let’s take a look at some of those teams.Donning the robes of the LeMons Supreme Court, we’ve got Midwestern LCS veterans Judge Eric and Judge Keith administering our special brand of justice. Both of these guys got their start in LeMons with Ford Escorts, with Judge Eric creating the terrifying animatronic Richard Nixon robot for Team Resignation and Judge Keith helping Byte Marx Racing become one of the most successful Escort teams in LeMons history. Judge Eric is also the LeMons correspondent for Hooniverse, so be sure to follow his live race coverage here.Midwestern LeMons racers just love their Fords, and so we looked at what seemed like a field comprised of about half blue-oval-equipped machinery.The Flying Pig Mustang has done very well during the last couple of LeMons seasons and the team keeps getting better with each passing race, so all eyes will be on the besnouted Fox Ford this weekend.Of course, we saw quite a few just-dragged-out-of-the-barn Ford heaps, too.In fact, Midwestern teams tend to bring the roughest-looking, most legitimately terrible race cars. Here’s the very convincing Craigslist ad brought as proof of their car’s low purchase price by a new 4th-gen Camaro team. The harsh 2013-2014 winter did a good job of lowering car prices.Speaking of the polar vortex that made winter in Michigan so unpleasant, here’s Team Polar Vortex.Speedycop, of Cessna race car fame, spent the last few days driving the Spirit of LeMons ’56 Cessna 310 around Manhattan, then packed up his Civic race car and took it the 650 miles from Maryland to Gingerman.Speedycop, with all his too-many-to-list-here LeMons achievements, has yet to lead a team to a LeMons win on laps. This quick-looking ’89 Civic, which boasts the fins from his team’s 1962 Cadillac Fleetwood campaigned at the 2009 Nelson Ledges race, is the car that Speedycop and the Gang of Outlaws hope to pilot to a Class A win this weekend.The favorite to take this race appears to be the Little Lebowski Urban Achievers Volvo 245. This car, which gets its power from a naturally-aspirated, 8-valve B230 engine, has finished in P2 or P3 quite a few times at Gingerman LeMons races, and now many of the teams that have beaten the Little Lebowskis in the past are taking the weekend off.The Vermont-based Bert One team towed their Volvo 262C Bertone out to California for the 2013 Arse Freeze-a-Palooza and 2014 Sears Pointless races, and they’re stopping in Michigan for the Campaign To Prevent Gingervitis race on their way home. The turbocharged Bert One car has been very quick in the East Coast races in recent years, and it should be tough competition for the Little Lebowskis.The MetSHO Geo Metro, which features Taurus SHO Yamaha V6 power, will be taking yet another crack at a Class B win.The MetSHO has an innovative splitter that can be removed and used as a handy autograph table for the team’s superstar driver.As always, the most interesting action will be taking place in Class C. Due to the low car count, we’ve got only three competitors in the most LeMon-y of the three car classes. There’s this S-10, with 2.8 V6 power and a very entertaining cheap-beer theme.This Fiat X1/9 and a battered Ford Tempo will be battling the S-10 for the class win. We’ll keep you updated on the struggle between these historical rivals.Technological innovations abounded, as usual. This cold-air intake was made of medical casting tape and fiberglass resin.The We Are Not Really From Iran Mazda B-swapped Ford Festiva appeared to be having some problems with its massive powerplant as the sun went down.The LeMons Supreme Court justices have been given the use of this excellent Suzuki Sidekick-based dune buggy for their Judgemobile.And, as always at Midwestern LeMons races, the smell of bacon fills the paddock. Check in Saturday night to see how the first day of racing turns out!
Reported by Car and Driver 14 hours ago.