Bench Racing

Five weeks have elapsed since our entry was approved for the 2009 Lemons race. In that time we have accomplished nothing. We have discussed getting 200 hp from an Escort engine with 1.9 tired litres. I had a great idea about hooking a leaf blower up to the intake, but learned that some other idiot had the same idea, tried, and failed. Eric wants more leg room. Kevin spent a lot of effort proving that I was wrong about shaving the tires. Unfortunately, his findings agreed with my hypothesis.

YEAR TWO

We have been accepted to compete in the 2009 running of the 24 Hours of LeMons - this year at Nelson Ledges Race Course in Ohio. To avoid prancing around in nomex underwear like the rest of the boys, I have elected to participate as a crew member (at-large), rather than a "driver". This will release me from any of the feelings of anxiety and self preservation that led me to agree to "quitting" last year because of the fuel leak. This year, I can provide much needed encouragement to the drivers, like "Get back out there dammit, it's just a little fuel leak. What are you, a scaredy-cat?"

Postscript

In an act of unbridled honesty, a senior team member admitted that one of the drain holes drilled in the floor pan quite possibly was the cause of our fuel leak. He even sent out incriminating photographs, which I will not stoop so low as to re-print here.

The team captain wants to make another go at it in 2009, as there are several areas of the car that aren't bent yet.

The End

Our race ended about 7 hours after it started with the pool of gasoline you can see in this picture. The decision was made to throw in the towel, rather that patch together the gas line and continue with the risk of being incinerated. Within an hour, we were in the stands, drinking beer.

Intense Wheel-to-Wheel Action

The car was running well. Although we were a little below the curve in horse power, we had perhaps the finest brakes out there. Some folks seemed to have better tires than us, though. Some fine footage of the Gulp Excort can be seen from Team Cougar Bait's in-car video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvw7aLTwYKM Just watch off the left side (before they run their car into a wall).

Brian

My nephew is, well, a little aggressive out there. Many of the little dents and scratches on the car came from Brian's friends that he traded paint with out on the track.

Captain Vogler

Here, as Mr. Vogler awaits his turn at the wheel, he is enjoying the fact the the brake cooling duct he attached is still in place. The car returns a little rougher every time it goes out.

Micki was nice enough to run out and buy us a clock for the interior car so that we would know when our "turn" was up. This way no one had to stay in the crap can more than an hour. It was a rather large clock for the interior of a car. I noticed that other drivers were using it is, as well as some of the fans.