If you take four slightly crazy middle-aged men (ages 40 to 57), one clapped out 1988 2.3 liter Ford Mustang add a few beers and you‘ll have the Infidel Race team and finishers of the 24-Hours of LeMons South Fall Race. Out little ’88 Mustang was showing nearly a quarter million miles on the odometer. Where 88 romping stomping Clydesdale horses had once grazed under the hood were probably 50 or less little Shetland ponies now awaiting the glue factory. We went to a gunfight but showed up with a pocket knife is probably the best way to describe it.

Our original theme was one of a military type because we represent the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and American taxpayers in one way or another. The LeMon’s Judges took offense and made us paint hippy and flower power things on the car as well as a little repainting of our “Air Superiority (USAF) Low-Visibility (USMC), or Battleship gray (Navy)” we started out calling it. Of course it was actually just gray primer to everybody else.

It’s probably the most fun I’ve had in years … with my pants on. We had a road course a little over a mile long with 114 original entrees. Somebody told me later they “only” counted 106 cars on the track at the beginning. If you’ve ever driven in big city traffic around the outer city loops at rush hour, then this is for YOU. Imagine sweepers, sharp corners, and cutbacks, that you’re slamming through the gears and power sliding through the turns to beat the other “commuters” to the line or exit. Only here you got numbers and all kinds of other approved craziness riveted, wielded, and painted on the side of the car.

There is more testosterone flowing at the starting line than in the entire state of Texas thinks it produces annually when the green flag drops. It was kind of like going into combat your time, or lining up on the field waiting on the opening kickoff in high school. There are a few that think they are professionals (and some probably are VERY experienced) and then there are the rest of us, just plain crazy car nuts and willing to burn up a set of tires, smoke a clutch, slide through turns and hit that apex perfect about one out of every five laps. The other four, you’re just plain out gunned because you brought your pocket knife to a gunfight. Next year you just know you have better tires, bigger sway bars, and stiffer /lower springs.

We nicely feathered a new set of cheap-o tires in the first hundred miles and blew chunks out of our old, hard backup set till the steel belts showed through. By the end of the race we had run 481 laps and spent 13 hours and 33 minutes on the track of a 14 hour race. That included driver changes, refueling, tire changes and fluid top offs. The most time on the track by any team was about 13 hours and 48 minutes so we did pretty good in that respect. We finished 33rd overall and 15th in class. We might have got slightly more track time but I got a little “aggressive” and was black flagged twice during the last 30 minutes (hey, if you ain’t rubbing you ain’t racing). With less than 5 minutes to go someone took an off track excursion and caused the red-flag to come out which meant you stopped your car in place on the track. As I sat there I watching the temp gauge climb I kept hoping they’d get the yellow flag up so could start moving again and get air across the radiator but my luck ran out just a couple of minutes from the end with a blown lower radiator hose. I was pulled off the track by a wrecker to the pits where we let her cool down a few minutes. We then replaced the lower hose clamp and then refilled her with our final case of bottled Deer Park Spring Water. She fired right up and we put her on the trailer for another day.

All in all, it was a great time to be had by all. One team went through three engines, another two and people were rebuilding, swapping and trading parts throughout the night. We were dually impressed by some the large transporters, multiple cars, and equipment displayed in the paddock area by more experienced teams as we pulled in with our rented U-Haul trailer, two spare tires, a tool box your wife could lift, and a couple of fuel cans with 87 octane gas in the back of a pick-up truck.

The little LX has a few battle scars as we traded paint a few times. One time I was battling for the inside of a corner and “tapped” a Dodge Neon on his inside rear fear fender behind the back tire. It was cool as he did about 720 degrees of turns off into the dirt. That cost me a couple of laps with the black flag (he he he, it was worth it). It was a testimony to that motor the way she ran. It was throttle on the floor nearly the whole time. You'd slide into the turn in 3rd with enough speed to run it out to 75 mph and shift into fourth. There was one quarter mile straight you could hit 80 to 85 by the speedometer before you had to hard brake and downshift to third. You’d slip the clutch to keep the rev’s up, mash it to the floor and slide through the next three sweepers without letting up.

We did 481 laps like that in 13:33 hours with a lot of laps run under caution. We figured the little car still got around 14 mpg. We talked to some teams getting 3 to 6 mpg and a few were using 4-cylinders also.

What a Trooper, she deserves a Medal and a full tank of 93 octane as she was drinking 87 octane all day long.  

We plan on letting rest over the winter and take it easy for a little while and then buying her some "new shoes" and a few other little items for the LeMon's Spring race next year.

This is our 24 Hours of LeMons South Race Car.  We are four older Mustang guys out for a little fun that our 1970 Mach I, 1995 Cobra R, 2003 Mach I, 2009 Roush Mustang 427, 2010 Shelby GT-2010 along with one stray 2008 Corvette Z06 just won't give us.  

So we saved our beer money from one night of fun and bought a $450 dollar "race" car for the 24-Hours of LeMons Event and here it is.