We already have a handful of entries for this year, and I'm excited to see what you all show up with this time around.
Photography Credit: Dave Green
Usually the plan when buying an abandoned project car is to get it back up and running. Wyatt Fletcher, on the other hand, abandoned this Merkur XR4Ti a second time: “I bought it as an abandoned car, and then I abandoned it.”
Photography Credit: Courtesy Wyatt Fletcher
To be fair, Wyatt did have a few obstacles to overcome in an attempt to compete at our annual Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge Presented by Tire Rack–including Hurricane Irma.
At the 2022 running of the $2000 Challenge, Wyatt scrambled to get the Merkur going in the paddock, finally making a run late in the competition. For 2023, he hopes to have the car in better form.
What is the $2000 Challenge? It’s our annual low-buck automotive festival that celebrates autocross, drag racing and ingenuity, which returns to Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida, on a new weekend for 2023, May 27-28.
The real challenge is in the event's name, however, as entries are required to prepare their vehicles for less than $2000. Each of these sub-$2000 cars will compete in autocross and drag racing sessions followed by concours judging the next day.
Rather see if more money equals more speed? Over-budget builds are also allowed to enter. Need more time to get your build ready? Spectators are welcome, and there will also be a Hagerty Cars & Caffiene, swap meet, model car concours and even a post-event track day at the Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park.
Think your low-buck racer or over-budget car is up to the challenge? Enter your build here, and learn more about the $2000 Challenge at 2000challenge.com.
The Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge is presented by Tire Rack, in association with CRC Industries and Miller Electric, with trophies from Lamin-X and ACI Automotive & Performance.
We already have a handful of entries for this year, and I'm excited to see what you all show up with this time around.
We were all watching the last minute thrash hoping to see you guys make it to the race. At the last minute it looked bleak but you pulled it out!
That's as flattering an account of my brining the XR as I could hope for. I guess I really should get to getting it into shape for this year's challenge.
Btw, any success we did finally have should be credited as much to the good advice and encouragement we received while toiling away as our own efforts. Seriously, for all the stuff we did get sorted (skipped timing belt, broken wiring, stuck injectors, fouled plugs, etc), it was the kind advice of a fellow GRMer that suggested we double check the plug wires weren't crossed, and that was the final hurdle to getting the engine firing on all cylinders. But given it had been someone else's abandoned project, can't be surprised we inherited a few previous-owner-problems.
Gotta admit this little article has me encouraged and totally looking forward to another go at it in May!
In reply to darkbuddha :
Cool and looking forward to seeing you all.
We’ve had a few XR4Ti’s over the years, so nice to see another one entered.
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