Did She Just Say "Mile Of Cars"?

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

(Clip contains NSFW language)

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the famous “mile of cars” quote from Used Cars — but no matter. This weekend, nearly a full mile of cars went racing. The goal? A Guinness World Record.

This was the scene yesterday at Thunderhill when two hundred and forty two cars lined up for a LeMons race. And here’s the information:

Q: What’s this about a world record something Thunderhill something Lemons something?


A: We are (collectively, as a group) going to attempt to a Guinness World Record for “Largest Auto Race” at the Thunderhill Lemons race Sept 13-14th.

Q: Who the hell are you?


A: Just some run-o-tha-mill Lemons racer ( Snowspeeder) with his own fancy sheet of paper from the GWR folks in London. Seriously, they’ll hand these things out for just about any ol’ thing dudes want to do these days. Anyway, Jay thought I’d be just the right kind of idiot to see this through for us, so I’m coordinating all of this world record bidness.

Q: So what’s the current record?


A: Surprisingly, there is no current world record for this category with GWR. In some ways, this is easier, and in some ways, this makes it harder. I’ve had to negotiate things like not having FIA certification, using flags for the race start as compared to audible signals and other super detailed items.

Q: Ok, cool. Why bother doing this?


A: To help raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, for starters. Also, Jay thought David Vodden needed something new to talk about over the loudspeaker, so…

Q: So Guinness World Records will be there, I hear?


A: No. Not that *I’m* aware of. GWR’s “adjudication process” is where they fly out from London/New York and personally certify your record after the attempt, and it’s very expensive (north of $7,000 USD). Eff that noise. We are collecting our own evidence to “prove” our record, and GWR will review it and make a judgement on if our record will be certified at a later date. I will, however, be putting cool GWR “Official Attempt “stickers on the cars during Friday tech inspection. If you see me in the GWR shirt, say Hi!

Q: So what do we have to do to get the record?


A: In short – nothing special, other than take a look at the ALSF question at the bottom. Participants have plenty to do to keep things safe, so please concentrate on that. I’ll try to dot all of the “I’s” and cross all the “T’s” to give us the best chance at getting marked official.

Q: When do we get our World Record ?


A: Whoa, hold your horses there, speedy. *IF* GWR reviews our evidence and decides to certify our attempt as a world record, we should know by the end of the year. Yes, it takes a long time. After that, you’ll certainly be eligible for your own personalized GWR certificate. I’ll talk to Jay about how folks get the information they need to buy their own yellow participation certificates, if they want. Maybe we’ll figure our a group buy or something to save on shipping from London.

Q: So we’re going to be in THE Guinness Book of World Records?


A: Maybe. They publish it once a year, and not every world record is printed. If they do, my guess is that the full record won’t name names, just refer to the event.

MOST IMPORTANTLY:


Q: How can we use this to raise money for our awesome charity partner, Alex’s Lemonade Stand?


A: Good question. I’ll be chatting with ALSF on some ideas. My initial thought is that we ask teams/individuals to share news of the GWR attempt on social media, and ask their fans to donate to ALSF on behalf of the team, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. Ideas?

They say club racing is dead; I say it’s never been more alive.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • 6250Claimer 6250Claimer on Sep 15, 2014

    Used Cars was filmed around the corner from my GF's house in Mesa, AZ. One of the 2 dealerships used in the movie was shut down during the Chrysler "cull" from a few years back, but the buildings and sign remain largely intact, and VERY close to what they looked like in '80 when the movie was shot. The other lot, New Deal, is long gone, with condos where it sat. This is pretty much the best car movie ever made, and a VERY underrated comedy from that year. Unfortunately the summer of '80 had some stiff competition at the box office, and it wound up being pretty obscure. But it's definitely worth a watch, especially for anyone remotely connected to the auto industry. iTunes has it in HD and I'm pretty sure it's on Nexflix as well.

    • Econobiker Econobiker on Sep 16, 2014

      Used Cars came into its own on cable movie channels like HBO and Showtime (back when they only showed MOVIES). It was the absolute first movie my family (dad,mom,me, and little sister) saw on free Showtime with our cable ready (hence free Showtime)remote controlled first color tv in 1981 or 1982. The DVD also has one of the better voice over commentaries from Russell, the director and someone else. It sounded like they were having a few beers while commenting even...

  • -Nate -Nate on Sep 16, 2014

    Glad to hear this ~ I remember seeing it in the Theater and loving it , everyone else told me it was beyond wretched.... The press kit had AMC plastic models in boxes that claimed " it can't be built ! parts don't fit ! " etc. , I kept that for a long time , not sure whatever happened to it . I'll have to go see if I can find it on NetFlix , my Lady has that . -Nate

  • El scotto Oh, ye nattering nabobs of negativism! Think of countries like restaurants. Our neighbors to the north and south are almost as good and the service is fantastic. They're awfully close to being as good as the US. Oh the Europeans are interesting and quaint but you really only go there a few times a year. Gents, the US is simply the hottest restaurant in town. Have to stand in line to get in? Of course. Can you hand out bribes to get in quicker? Of course. Suppliers and employees? Only the best on a constant basis.Did I mention there is a dress code? We strictly enforce it. Don't like it? Suck it.
  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
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