24 Hours of LeMons

The 24 Hours of LeMons is a nationwide series of endurance races for cars that are purchased, fixed up, and track-prepped for total of $500 or less. At most venues, the racing consists of 6+ hour endurance-race sessions on Saturday and Sunday, with a break for sleeping, eating, and Band-Aid application at night. At least once a year, a straight 24-hour endurance race with no interruption is also held. Each 24 Hours of LeMons race features up to 150 cars racing wheel-to-wheel. Teams are accepted based on how interesting the car and the theme of the team are. The teams that make the cut are those that have a creative team theme (often involving outlandish costumes and car designs) and those that enter vehicles that are unusual and/ or spectacularly unlikely to appear on a racetrack (cars with homemade turbochargers derived from leaf blowers, ancient vehicles from the former Soviet Union, hearses, etc.) Winners are rewarded with rusty trophies and plaques made from discarded car parts and four-figure purses paid out in canvas bags full of nickels. Punishment for bad driving may include anything from tarring and feathering to having metal farm animals welded to a car’s roof. In addition, one team’s car may be selected by popular ballot for the People’s Curse: the car selected is summarily and creatively destroyed before the crowd on the second day of racing. Spectators can purchase one-day or full-weekend all access passes at the track. Count on plenty of noise, prizes, and questionably civilized fun before, during, and after the track sessions. Started in 2006 as a single race in California, The 24 Hours of LeMons has grown into a nationwide series of events with 23 races held across the country in 2010. The series has been extensively covered by a wide range of media outlets, including Car & Driver, ESPN, and the New York Times.