PTP 24hrs of LeMons Race Report
Jun 10, 2010, 11:20 AM
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PTP 24hrs of LeMons Race Report
Fort Worth, TX - Pro Tuning Performance took our latest LeMons creation, a 1991 Honda Civic hatchback, to Eagle's Canyon Raceway this past weekend for the first ever North Dallas Hooptie edition of the 24hrs of LeMons. The team has spent the past two weeks finishing the long to-do list for the car after-hours. The safety systems were sorted out early on including: proper driving position relative to the steering and pedals as well as the roll cage, proper belt orientation for the 6-pt harness and the proper fire and electrical suppression systems. Ethan Hopkins of Trackstar Motorworks, Arlington TX, wired the ZC motor into the car and provided the miscellaneous swap parts the car lacked. Finally on Thursday night, the car was ready, decals were applied and it was loaded into the trailer.
Friday morning the car rolled out on track but only finished a few hot laps before the water temp gauge started to climb. While the team sourced a minor water leak and prepared to fix the car it was pushed to the technical and BS inspections. The car passed the technical inspection with flying colors and high praise from the inspectors. When the car rolled up to the BS judges, who examine how legitimate the car is per the $500 rule, they had sinister smiles. The loud orange paint, sweet body kit, new coilovers and dual cam motor attracted their attention. They were dismayed upon reading through the budget, conveniently written on an old What-a-burger bag, that all the additional parts were budgeted correctly. They were quite confused how to handle this situation and wanted to penalize the team 20 laps until they reached under the hood for the gracious offerings of vodka and tequila. A sentence of zero penalty laps was given and the team hurried back to the pits.
While a few leaks were fixed during the rest of Friday's practice session, the "big leak" was found as things settled down in the evening. During the ongoing quest to remove as many of the brackets and excess parts from the car to lighten it, one of the team members accidentally drilled a hole into the top of the gas tank. This was realized when the team topped off the fuel for the first time. A rubber sealed screw along with a mountain of JB weld fixed the issue.
When the green flag dropped on Saturday, the team's first driver made his way through traffic and after the first hour had moved the team to 5th place. It was short lived though as contact with an erratic driver brought the team into the penalty box. After a driver change the car proceeded back out onto track but more bad luck struck with additional water leaks. The car spent the next three hours on and off the track as it seemed every old brittle hose took it's turn leaking, causing a constant overheating issue. Finally with the leaks solved, the car ran the last 4 hours of the day with no issues. Unfortunately the excessive time in the pits ruined the team's chances of a top ten finish.
After a good night's sleep the team replaced a front upright and bled the brakes Sunday morning. Sunday was a great success as the car was rock solid all day and ran problem free for all the drivers. One of our hot shoe drivers was able to click off a 2:15.8 which landed the PTP team with fastest overall lap of the entire race. This was a huge boost for the team in addition to picking up twelve positions to finish 37th overall. The team looks forward to stronger showings in the upcoming Texas races.
The PTP team would like to thank:
Ethan @ Trackstar Motorworks
Joey & Denise @ Vick Racing Outfitters
Angel @ Synthetic Designs
All of our customers who came out to support our crappy LeMons car.
On Jalopnik: http://jalopnik.com/5555877/bs-inspections...emons/gallery/6
Friday morning the car rolled out on track but only finished a few hot laps before the water temp gauge started to climb. While the team sourced a minor water leak and prepared to fix the car it was pushed to the technical and BS inspections. The car passed the technical inspection with flying colors and high praise from the inspectors. When the car rolled up to the BS judges, who examine how legitimate the car is per the $500 rule, they had sinister smiles. The loud orange paint, sweet body kit, new coilovers and dual cam motor attracted their attention. They were dismayed upon reading through the budget, conveniently written on an old What-a-burger bag, that all the additional parts were budgeted correctly. They were quite confused how to handle this situation and wanted to penalize the team 20 laps until they reached under the hood for the gracious offerings of vodka and tequila. A sentence of zero penalty laps was given and the team hurried back to the pits.
While a few leaks were fixed during the rest of Friday's practice session, the "big leak" was found as things settled down in the evening. During the ongoing quest to remove as many of the brackets and excess parts from the car to lighten it, one of the team members accidentally drilled a hole into the top of the gas tank. This was realized when the team topped off the fuel for the first time. A rubber sealed screw along with a mountain of JB weld fixed the issue.
When the green flag dropped on Saturday, the team's first driver made his way through traffic and after the first hour had moved the team to 5th place. It was short lived though as contact with an erratic driver brought the team into the penalty box. After a driver change the car proceeded back out onto track but more bad luck struck with additional water leaks. The car spent the next three hours on and off the track as it seemed every old brittle hose took it's turn leaking, causing a constant overheating issue. Finally with the leaks solved, the car ran the last 4 hours of the day with no issues. Unfortunately the excessive time in the pits ruined the team's chances of a top ten finish.
After a good night's sleep the team replaced a front upright and bled the brakes Sunday morning. Sunday was a great success as the car was rock solid all day and ran problem free for all the drivers. One of our hot shoe drivers was able to click off a 2:15.8 which landed the PTP team with fastest overall lap of the entire race. This was a huge boost for the team in addition to picking up twelve positions to finish 37th overall. The team looks forward to stronger showings in the upcoming Texas races.
The PTP team would like to thank:
Ethan @ Trackstar Motorworks
Joey & Denise @ Vick Racing Outfitters
Angel @ Synthetic Designs
All of our customers who came out to support our crappy LeMons car.
On Jalopnik: http://jalopnik.com/5555877/bs-inspections...emons/gallery/6
Last edited by PTPKyle; Jun 10, 2010 at 12:41 PM.
Jun 10, 2010, 12:41 PM
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