24 Hours Of Lemons
Event Information
Date: December 12-13th, 2020
Type: Track (Road Course) Racing – Competitive
Location: Road Atlanta
Cost: $30 to watch (under 12 free with paying adult), $1380 to drive (includes 4 driving slots and up to 14.5 hours on track). There is an additional $75 Lemons License required for drivers
Entry Deadline (for racers): October 17th
More information: https://24hoursoflemons.com/race/?id=280
COVID Update (7/1/2020): Currently events are limited to racers and crew only due to COVID.
Event Overview
Everyone is familiar with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or even the Petit Le Mans, the famous races that bring some of the worlds largest manufacturers and drivers together. Well, the 24 Hours Of Lemons is that, just with the worst cars and probably equally bad drivers. That is also the beauty of it.
The 24 Hours Of Lemons is the most accessible competitive racing there is. The focus is on cheap, fun and safe. Cars must be not more than $500 (ish), are generally themed (the more ridiculous the better) and are made up of teams of semi-amateur drivers.
Just how ridiculously themed? Glad you asked.
Despite these crazy cars, its still serious racing. The event is held at Road Atlanta, the Atlanta areas premiere road course where they also run Petit Le Mans. The cars are all fully race prepped. They are stripped of the interiors and loaded with safety equipment.
Highlights Video
Here are some more highlights because posting video is easier than writing blog posts. But I’m going complain about it because I’m trying to get the word count up. Plus video is all kids want to watch on these devices.
Spectating
Spectators are allowed and encouraged. The Road Atlanta facilities will be open and available, though expect some limited operation. Spectators who are not registered members of a team (driver or crew) will not be allowed in the pit area.
COVID Impact
With COVID-19 in 2020 most Lemons racers are currently restricted to drivers only. We will keep an eye on Georgia’s reopening progress and the Lemons teams rules. For now if you are interested in the Lemons race it would be best to focus on participating.
Participating in 24 Hours Of Lemons
One of the reasons we’re big fans of the 24 Hours of Lemons besides their sense of humor is surprisingly close to ours, is how accessible it is. There are a number of ways to get involved. And track time per dollar it is one of the best values available.
Join A Team
If you don’t have a car that qualifies and don’t want to put together a team you can actually use the team finder on their website and in their forums. There are a number of teams each event looking for drivers and crew (or combo roles).
The details of what the team is looking for, costs and other factors are up to each team so check their website if you are interested in potentially joining a team but do not have a car or plan to build one.
Create A Team
If you have a car and a group of friends, or are willing to find them, you can always create a team. As we note above you can also seek drivers if you lack friends. If you are building a Lemons cars, you probably do lack friends.
Cars should cost no more than $500 (a beater essentially). They are required to be race prepped which includes roll cage, seat, helmet with HANS (head and neck restraint) system, kill switch and other safety equipment. This isn’t an exhaustive list so check there website for the requirements.
Each team costs $1380 and includes 4 driver slots. For the Atlanta race it ads up to 14.5 hours of on track time at just over $300 a driver. While you can’t just bring your own car, compare that cost to your typical HPDE where you maybe get an hour for $300. You can see why this is a very accessible form of racing.
Join A Crew
If driving isn’t your thing but you want to be close to the action you can find a team to join as pit crew. With the cars being beaters and the race lasting 14.5 hours on track you can imagine there may be some wrenching to do.
Event Schedule
Below are the event schedule highlights for spectators and those considering joining a team.
Saturday, 12 December 2020
9am-5pm: Race Session I
Sunday, 13 December 2020
8:30am-10am: Race Session II
12pm-5pm: Race Session III
5:30pm: Awards
