24 Hours of LeMons -- BMW & BMW Get Friendly...

During the First Annual 24 Hours of LeMons Buttonwillow Histrionics, August 15-16, 2009, our #88 Barbarian Motorworks Charity Case BMW E30 325es gets a little friendly with the #65 Black Iron Racing BMW 540i on Saturday afternoon.

Watch closely for the yellow flags waving just before impact. Both drivers missed it at first -- when Black Iron saw it, they decided that a full stop on the race track was the best course of action. On the fastest turn of the track, while passing a car on the high side. Unorthodox? Yes, but it did bring both cars to a full stop. Both teams pitted, fixed their cars, and were back on track by Saturday evening.

As a side note, it wouldn't hurt if LeMons judges came down harder on teams for proper brake lights. The Black Iron guys had simply ziptied the stock 540 brake lights to the roll cage in the trunk, about 3 feet inwards of the rear bumper. That put them in one hell of a hard-to-see spot.

Presumably based upon the description of this event as well as supposedly multiple complaints about their driving style, the #65 car was voted for the People's Curse award on Sunday morning.

At the end of the day there were no hard feelings. After all, rubbing is racing.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• 24
• Hours
• of
• LeMons
• Barbarian
• Motorworks
• Charity
• Case
• Black
• Iron
• Racing
• BMW
• E30
• E34
• 325es
• 540i
• Buttonwillow
• Riverside
• Talladega

[hybriddet1]

it happens to the best of us man. Hope you were able to run the rest of the race. See you at Thunderhill?! Team 1UP

[bencarufel]

Damn right, we had her kludged back together in a few hours and got some more time in before the end of the day Saturday. We ran a full race Sunday.

Definitely see you at THill!

[BlackIronRacingV]

At exactly the 53 second point you are passing the race leader (V8Volvo- who is also on the brakes and you can see his left hand waving out his window) like he is standing still...is it any surprise that the next car is also slowing down? And why not pull off to the left and slow down on the nice and smooth runoff concrete? Gotta pay attention to the guys with the flags next time!! Oh well, rubbing is racing, the e30 took way more damage than the e34, but it didn't help either car. Goodrace!

[bencarufel]

I'm with you all the way. Our driver completely missed the yellow, no excuse. However, two things: Even when a yellow is spotted, the correct course of action is to slowly decelerate to a safe speed. Not slam on the brakes. A red flag, even does not call for slamming on the brakes. Second: THERE IS NO NICE SMOOTH RUNOFF CONCRETE ON THAT CORNER! :). This is Talladega, where the high (left) side of the corner is soft dirt...a nice place to roll the car.

Regardless, both drivers messed up.

[jet79637]

This racing makes nascar look like a game of pattycake!

[TandemDawgBMG]

wow what a couple of idiots

[JGlucker]

Thanks for bringing that car out... I signed it.

Great stuff.

[turvovo]

Yeah... gotta watch those flaggers!

[philyt]

If you keep clicking the 54 second mark, to some sort of regular beat, it makes for a nice beat.

[CGreenbush]

Ummm, let's see. Your driver missed a clearly waving Yellow Flag(no spotter on a radio?), a clearly waving Black Metal Volvo driver (indicating a Yellow) and then failed to see the whole pack slowing down or just thought he was soo fast that he could blow around all of them on the outside. Oh wait, there's a car already on the outside.

Can anyone say BLACK FLAG????? Glad everyone was ok.