24 Hours Of LeMons History Lesson: The Winner's Circle, 13 Races In
Whether your team is considering a run at the overall win or the Index Of Effluency at the 24 Hours Of LeMons, it helps to know which cars have had success in the past.
Now that 13 LeMons races have been run, we figure it's time to show the winners of each event. Since the Index Of Effluency is considered the real top prize of the race, we'll start with the IOE Champeens. Chief Perp Lamm didn't invent the IOE until the third race, which is the reason you're only seeing 11 cars. Detroit really dominates the Index Of Effluency, with five total winners; Germany has three, and Japan, Sweden, and Italy have one apiece:
LeMons SF '07 II: Ecurie Ecrappe, Alfa Romeo Spider
LeMons Detroit-ish '07: One Night Stand Endurance Racing Team, Chevrolet Cavalier
LeMons Arse Freeze-A-Palooza '08: Size Matters Chrysler, Plymouth Fury
LeMons SF '08: Autobahn Society Racing, BMW 1600
LeMons South '08: Tunachuckers, Volvo 122
LeMons New England '08: Chard Beef Racing, Buick Regal
LeMons Detroit-ish '08: The 98ers, Oldsmobile 98
LeMons Yeehaw It's Texas '08: Never Give Up, BMW 1600-2
LeMons Arse Freeze-A-Palooza '08: B210 Racing, Datsun B210 Honey Bee
LeMons Gator-O-Rama '09: Opular Dependence Team Israel, Opel GT
LeMons South Spring '09: Heavy Metal, Ford LTD
For reasons we don't quite grasp, some 24 Hours Of LeMons fans are more interested in the car that takes the overall win. While others scatter parts all over the track, hit walls and/or each other, and catch on fire for no apparent reason, one indefatigable team keeps grinding out lap after lap and ends up experiencing checkered-flag glory. Japanese cars pretty much own the LeMons track, with 9 out of 13 overall winners being Japanese-made (four Toyotas, three Mazdas, one Acura, and one Honda-powered rebadged Suzuki). BMW has two winners, and Detroit has two. Here are all 13 LeMons champions, starting with the very first race:
LeMons SF '07 I: Lemons Lappers, Dodge Neon
LeMons SF '07 II: Black Iron Racing, BMW 535i
LeMons Detroit-ish '07: Bernie's Revenge, Toyota Supra
LeMons Arse Freeze-A-Palooza '07: Red Meat And Poontang, Mazda Protege
LeMons SF '08: Krider Racing, Acura Integra
LeMons South '08: She Got It All, Mazda RX-7
LeMons New England '08: Team Endurance Karting, Mazda Miata
LeMons Detroit-ish '08: Sofa King, Toyota Supra
LeMons Yeehaw It's Texas '08: The SCHWING Team, Toyota Corolla FX16
LeMons Arse Freeze-A-Palooza '08: Metro-Gnome, Geo Metro
LeMons Gator-O-Rama '09: Formula M For Mullet, Ford Mustang
LeMons South '09: Dorifto Dogs, BMW 325e
By the way, remember the Guess The LeMons South Effluency Contenders' Laps contest? I've finally figured out the winner, and it's JapanFor! We threw out all the guesses for the Living Waters Church of Subaru; Beauty of All Wheel Drive Tent Revival Subaru SVX, because that car turned out to be so effluent that it grenaded its transmission a few days before the race even started. JapanFor guessed 150 laps for the Heavy Metal Ford LTD (actual laps: 254), 326 laps for the Dog Ciao Alfa Romeo Spider (actual laps: 327), and 511 laps for the Ponticrap Fiero (actual laps: 575). AlienProbe took second place, and Engineerd came in third. So, JapanFor, email me and I'll twist some arms at LeMons HQ and get some prizes headed your way.