My weekend at Lemons was awful

[SirHustlerEsq]

I'm writing this so everyone can see that it's not all great like the Miagra team and that it's really hard to get your foot in the door to this if you don't build the car yourself. The theme around the DFW Miata crew was, "Trey, why didn't you get on a better team?!?!" Well, that's because no one wants a novice on their team, so you basically have to build your own car to get started.

My lemons weekend:

• Show up Friday morning at the track, I'm told to go help with the car 1-hour south...they said it was 15-minutes south.
• Car is not ready, so I fucking worked on it from 8-11am
• We get to the track and these idiots did not wire-in a kill switch so I did that
• I couldn't even get these idiots to zip-tie a timer into the car. Fucking retarded.
• I was told they bought tires...they bought used tires in the barrio.
• We finally get through tech to realize, the team owner never paid for the test day we were trying to run
• The next day, I discovered the tires were from the barrio and not the Dirrezzas I told them to order
• We looped the car three times in 5 laps
• I took the car out and discovered the tires they had were soooooo old, they were like plastic, car is dangerous.
• I get back to find they never hooked up the front sway bar, car owner refuses to hook it up.
• So they decide to go buy tires, but they only brought 1 jack stand., solution is to tow the car to the tire shop.
• Car won't start at the tire shop
• They come back, decide to put the shitter tires on
• I packed my shit up and left.
• I get a text where they took the car out looped it, sat for one hour
• Then, they took the car out at the end of the day and apparently they never torqued the wheels, so the front wheel fell off and they crashed into two cars.
• The team was told to never return and Lemons people did not want to see their faces at the track tomorrow.

I'm never doing that shit again. This car was the scariest, most dangerous car I've ever driven. We would have known this if the first test day were not lost to a car that would not start because wire the ground into the kill switch, or if the second test day weren't lost because the brake lines were dry and they didn't know why.

The next time I go W2W it will be in a kart and finally a car I build for PTE. I originally did this to get some W2W experience so I could drive with RHarris at their next Chump race. I knew these guys were idiots and should have bailed a long time ago, but I really wanted to get on track before running Chump with my buddies. Now, I am not really sure I want to do this whole "crap car endurance racing" thing. I want to drive cars that handle well and are safe.

It's going to be a very, very long time before I get back into a car for fun again.

[Nails]

Sorry to hear this. Glad you're uninjured and hope it didn't cost you much cash. Why not start a second dfw team?

[SirHustlerEsq]

When I finally get a truck, trailer, and garage, I'm racing my current daily in PTE. I don't have much desire to race a car that handles like shit. I lost about $900 all said and done.

[SirHustlerEsq]

Can I get dirty, nasty, competitive W2W racing at DKC?

[johnwag]

Can I get dirty, nasty, competitive W2W racing at DKC?

no

[MINI-P]

Dang Trey, this sucks. Sorry you had a bad experience.

Kart racing is expensive too. I have a buddy that does it and it's not cheap. Sounds fun though.

[SirHustlerEsq]

no

Dang Trey, this sucks. Sorry you had a bad experience.

Kart racing is expensive too. I have a buddy that does it and it's not cheap. Sounds fun though.

I'm just trying to get on track with W2W type conditions a few times before I screw-up everything for an entire team because I'm inexperienced. Frankly, I'm worried I'll get out there and the whole deal will be too intense and I can't handle it.

[patf]

Sorry you experience was so poor. did you not see the car before the weekend? i did the opposite for the TWS race, spent several weekends prepping the car with a pretty well organized group. then had to back out for the race. the team went on to do very very well. i wouldnt sign up on a team if i wasnt involved with the build/prep, even on a returning car there is a ton of work for a race like this.

[SirHustlerEsq]

I saw the car and expected some reasonable handling, I clearly did not get that.

[jrj512]

Frankly, I'm worried I'll get out there and the whole deal will be too intense and I can't handle it.

I think people can write this off too easily. Glad you are trying to take a smart route.

[goofygrin]

You might buy a $1500 chonda, join NTKarters and drive at their track. It's far closer to you than DKC and you'll come out ahead $ wise since the membership is like $350.

[SirHustlerEsq]

You might buy a $1500 chonda, join NTKarters and drive at their track. It's far closer to you than DKC and you'll come out ahead $ wise since the membership is like $350.

I'm trying to rent a kart and get on a track a few times. I do not have the desire to go field a kart.

[Sharpie]

I saw the car and expected some reasonable handling, I clearly did not get that.

Was it a miata?

[SirHustlerEsq]

Was it a miata?

No, but I have little desire to drive anything other than a Miata, Vette, prepped Civic, or MP4-12C.

[miataspeedracer]

You unfortunately ended up with the biggest group of idiots I've come across at Lemons. But don't throw in the towel. Talk to people on the Lemons board and explain your situation and driving experience. I'm pretty certain you can find a ride for the ECR race in December.