'Shine Country Classic Day One Over, Mazda MX-3 Leads

by Murilee Martin

Published: May 21st, 2011

shine country classic day one over mazda mx 3 leads

It was a hot, muggy, rod-throwin’ day here at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina; when the checkered flag waved to end the session, only 36 of 68 starters were still moving under their own power.

Still, somebody has to be leading, even with a near-majority of entrants sitting in pools of oil and broken engine parts. As of now, the race leader is the Hong Norrth Mazda MX-3, which took the overall win at the Southern Discomfort race a few months back. Zero black flags, zero breakdowns.

The Index of Effluency battle could still go any of several directions tomorrow. The Nissan Stanza wagon of Team Sputnik leads Class C by a good 20 laps, the NSF Racing Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 remains in the game in spite of breakdowns every quarter-hour, and the Greene County Moving Company S10, complete with couch and handtruck in the back, is making a strong IOE bid.

Meanwhile, the Tunachuckers’ 1975 Ford LTD Landau remains in the IOE conversation, but just barely, after managing just 43 laps today. The culprit was their varnish-and-rust-filled factory fuel tank. The solution: a fuel cell purchased from a nearby dirt-track roundy-round racer, with the LeMons-rulebook-mandated bulkhead separating the fuel cell from the driver manufactured using a piece of sheet metal cut out of the car’s roof. Now that’s ingenuity!

#24HoursOfLeMons #24HoursOfLeMonsSouth #24HoursOfLeMonsSouthSpring #Mazda #MazdaMX-3 #Racing #SouthCarolina

Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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3 of 8 comments

Akaishi on May 22, 2011

I think Yosemite Sam tried doing that "standing on the surface I'm sawing a chunk out of" in a cartoon once.

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James Mackintosh on May 22, 2011

I'm sorry; how does one procure a 450SEL 6.9 for $500? What did I miss here??

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- NSF Racing on May 23, 2011
  
  The car had an engine fire. We spent more than that on gas to keep it on the track. The suspension was freaky, the sunroof had a hole in it, the transmission needed sprayed with brake cleaner between runs, 4-5 baseball size holes in the floor, power steering pump was shot and the leather seats were consumed with mold. You don't even want to know about the brakes. All the power windows were shot and the starter needs a 400 amp boost to turn the engine over. Simple, the car was a giveaway. We had a blast giving it a second life on the track.
  
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Recent Comments

RHD The analyses above are on the nose.It's a hell of a good car, but the mileage is reaching the point where things that should have worn out a long time ago, and didn't, will, such as the alternator, starter, exhaust system, PS pump, and so on. The interiors tend to be the first thing to show wear, other than the tires, of course. The price is too high for a car that probably has less than a hundred thousand miles left in it without major repairs. A complete inspection is warranted, of course, and then a lower offer based on what it needs. Ten grand for any 18-year-old car is a pretty good chunk of change. It would be a very enjoyable, ride, though.
Fred I would get the Acura RDX, to replace my Honda HR-V. Both it and the CRV seats are uncomfortable on longer trips.
RHD Now that the negative Nellies have chimed in...A reasonably priced electric car would be a huge hit. There has to be an easy way to plug it in at home, in addition to the obvious relatively trickle charge via an extension cord. Price it under 30K, preferably under 25K, with a 200 mile range and you have a hit on your hands. This would be perfect for a teenager going to high school or a medium-range commuter. Imagine something like a Kia Soul, Ford Ranger, Honda CR-V, Chevy Malibu or even a Civic that costs a small fraction to fuel up compared to gasoline. Imagine not having to pay your wife's Chevron card bill every month (then try to get her off of Starbuck's and mani-pedi habits). One car is not the solution to every case imaginable. But would it be a market success? Abso-friggin-lutely. And TTAC missed today's announcement of the new Mini Aceman, which, unfortunately, will be sold only in China. It's an EV, so it's relevant to this particular article/question.
Ajla It would. Although if future EVs prove relatively indifferent to prior owner habits that makes me more likely to go used.
28-Cars-Later One of the biggest reasons not to purchase an EV that I hear is...that they just all around suck for almost every use case imaginable.