And the Winner Is…

by Murilee Martin

Published: April 10th, 2011

For the second time in a row, a BMW E30 has taken the win on laps at a 24 Hours of LeMons race. Does that mean that the E30 is an inherently superior low-buck road-racing machine? Not exactly; of the 11 E30s at the Real Hoopties of New Jersey, only four cracked the top 20. What happened over the weekend was a combination of excellent, screwup-free driving by Team Cardorks/Invisible Pink Unicorn… and a pair of lead-destroying black flags on the Alfa Romeo Milano that led for most of the race.

The Cardorks’ 325e (this three-car team also brought a pair of Acura Integras, one of which came in 6th overall and had a best lap time a full 2.6 seconds quicker than the Invisible Pink Unicorn) was actually pretty terrible, as LeMons E30s go, but the team just kept on knocking out fairly quick laps and waiting for the leader to stumble. When that happened, they made their slim two-lap lead hold until the checkered flag waved. Congratulations, Team Cardorks!

#1980s #1986 #1986BMW325i #24HoursOfLeMons #24HoursOfLeMonsNewJersey #BMW #Bmw3Series #BMWE30 #E30 #NewJersey #Racing #RealHooptiesOfNewJersey

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.

More by Murilee Martin

Comments

Join the conversation

1 comment

Hogie roll on Apr 12, 2011

So when are these and miata's going to get banned? So boring.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Pianoboy57 Oh the looks you're going to get showing up at the club in the non-foundation model. I hope your self-esteem can take it.
Bd2 Hoping for more youtuber fatalities.
YellowDuck 110 makes sense. The part of Hwy 400 S of exit 189 is 100. In light traffic and good conditions, most people drive 125, because that is what feels appropriate. North of exit 189, the limit goes to 110, and in my experience people just keep driving 125...because it's what feels appropriate. I doubt average speeds will increase much if the limit goes to 110 elsewhere. It will just make it less likely that you get a big ticket for driving at the appropriate speed. Give the tickets to the people doing 20+ km/h more than the rest of traffic, weaving in and out like the rest of us are moving obstacles in a video game.
Redapple2 Shame. Cool car. Cool brand.
Daniel J Crown, Crown Signia, Camry