Driving in two races on the same weekend is enough of a challenge, but what about running in two 24 Hours of Lemons races that take place some 1300 miles apart from one another in the same weekend?
That's what exactly what drivers Christian “Mental” Ward and Derek Steinkamp are planning on doing by running in both the Lemons Block Party at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina and the High Plains Drifter at High Plains Raceway in Deer Trail, Colorado on the same September 12-13 weekend. Lemons has stated that both drivers will be competing against each other for the "Idiot of Effluency trophy," a take on the coveted Index of Effluency trophy.
For more information on both races, or how you can participate in upcoming 24 Hours of Lemons races, visit 24hoursoflemons.com.
Read the full press release below:
Emeryville, CA—Lemons will again make motorsports history with two 24-hour races on the same weekend from September 12-13. While the budget-endurance series admits it’s sense of motorsports history is “limited,” Lemons organizers insist this is the first time anyone has been dumb enough to run a pair of 24-hour events at the same time, more than 1,300 miles apart.
The races include the Lemons Block Party at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina, and the High Plains Drifter at High Plains Raceway in Deer Trail, Colorado. The Lemons Block Party starts at 11 am ET while the High Plains Drifter race will kick off at 2 pm ET/Noon local.
“Wait, we said we’re doing what now?” said Jay Lamm, 24 Hours of Lemons Chief Perpetrator. “Huh. Well, I guess we’re stuck with that horrible idea if it’s already in a press release.”
This isn’t the first time Lemons has made elaborate, confusing, and pointless racing history. The 24 Hours of Lemons holds the official Guinness World Record for Most Participants in a Car Race, set at Thunderhill Raceway in 2013. That title also follows Lemons’ previous achievements of “Dumbest Sporting Event on the Planet” and “Most Participants Likely to Survive an Apocalypse On the Basis of Dietary Habits and Unlikely Resourcefulness.”
Double-Down on the Double Dumb
As if the series holding two concurrent 24-hour races isn’t dumb enough, two Lemons racers will participate in both races. In the interest of competition, Lemons will pit them against each other to win the Idiot of Effluency trophy, a take on the series Index of Effluency trophy (for doing the most with the least, as determined by a completely subjective formula).
The two competitors are W. Christian “Mental” Ward and Derek Steinkamp. Former auto journalist and current host of the Everyone Racers Podcast Mental Ward will drive a BMW 3-Series at CMP, hop a flight out of Atlanta, and then drive a Miata at High Plains. Longtime racer and aficionado of breaking cars Derek Steinkamp will complete a pony-car duo with a V8 Ford Mustang at CMP followed by a second-generation Chevy Camaro at High Plains.
Each driver will earn points for things like clocking laps on the track (boring), stopping at roadside attractions along the way, and wearing their driving gear all the way through transit.
Lemons will have updates on the Idiot of Effluency proceeding and on both 24-hour races via the 24 Hours of Lemons Facebook page and Instagram accounts
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Ooph. That sounds like too much in 1 weekend.
Also, is t it like a 6 hour drive to Atlanta from Kershaw, plus getting through security, then driving the 2 hours from Denver to high plains, plus the 3 hour or so flight....
That leaves little time to actually race the cars!
Good luck dudes! More than I'd wanna take on in 1 weekend!
Wow the logistics of that sound...nightmarish. I wonder if their flight plans are flexible, meaning, let's say one of them breaks down early on. Will he be able to move his flight up to get to the west race earlier and maybe clock more laps in that car?
Let's be real, it's Lemons, so there's good odds that one or both of them will end up with basically no laps at all because both of his cars will break down before he even gets to drive them. 
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