Fancy Chicken Racing

The Thunderhill Video just dropped! Hiromi Bush said, this is just like Top Gun Maverick with the old guy, and the young folks... except none of you have any idea what you're doing.
https://youtu.be/MMqp3fpp-Sg?si=RLMD_IZecre0gThR
Much respect to the team! We had to do the clutch in the new powertrain before we swapped it in. 16 hours drive each way, and slightly over 6 hours on track. Still, a good time was had by all. One correction, we managed that everyone got about an hour behind A wheel. We had to be EXTRA creative, and rented the BRZ to get one person that time. Ine thing I am really proud of. In our brief career in Lemons, we have brought 22 new drivers to the program. SO fun!!

Hot Diggity Dog│Thunderhill 2026│24 Hours of Lemons The Thunderhill race was 25 hours and one minute full of weird stuf...

Well, it's the end of a very brief era for FCR with the Georgie Boy. Jeff, the new owner is a super amazing story. He struggled with addiction, but got himself clean. He won $500,000 on a $10 scratch ticket, and embarked on a mission. He gave half to his kids, and has now set up a transition house to help others get clean, sober and back to life with their families. He bought the coach for his friend Wes, who came through rehab with him. Both of them were insanely nice, and super generous. There's a parable in this old book I read. Matthew 12:38-45 talks about a demon kicked out will come back, and if the house is empty, go back in with 7 more demons. Jeff and Wes have a purpose now, and something to live for; a mission! The 24 Hours of Lemons has blessed me. Certainly an addiction, but one that has allowed me to help a bunch of people live a dream. John 'Jay' Lamm you have done a great thing, and I am grateful!

I figure if I can mount this under the bumper of one of the cars, we can do a whole Garth Brooks theme!! Ultra appropriate for Lemons. Maybe he even wants to come be a driver!! Take his song to a new level! He could sing Thunder Rolls to our SouperCoupe at the potluck Karaoke!! Real question, if it's the original artist doing it, is it still Karaoke, or did we move to mini concert?? (I felt Lee Childers ears peak at the mention of Mini!)

Well!! This is a thing. We have been granted the high honor of hosting the potluck for the August race in Kent, Smells Like AMC Spirit, August 29-30. We shall deliver the Fancy Lemon Chicken Feast and Music Festival. The only rule is that no food can smell like an AMC Spirit! A box of Maple Cream cookies will be awarded to all teams that bring a chicken dish.

🍋 “LEMON” vs “CHICKEN” 🍗 #shorts Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

WHAT happened is solved. There is no head on the exhaust valve. Why is a mystery still, but it is what we suspected. The Duratec has been bulletproof until this. It only did 120,000 miles on the road, then 240 laps at Kent, 195 at Sonoma, 260 at Kent again, and for no reason at all, after only 47 laps at Thunderhill, a valve let's go! I should complain to Ford!

The 25 hour and 2 minutes (for a NEW World record) was amazing. Me and 5 young fellows with VERY limited mechanical knowledge/experience found ourselves with a busted Focus about 4 and a half hours in. We did a clutch in the spares powertrain 1st, then a complete subframe swap, and got back on track with 2 hours to go. Epic!! New friends and family now. The 24 Hours of Lemons is an experience unlike anything else on the planet.

So ends an EPIC weekend! Hiromi Bush and I made the trip down and reconnected with Ashwin Sundaresan Balaji who raced with us at Sonoma last December. Then we added Robert Yu and Allan Zhao friends from San Francisco. Then came Justin Wayne and at the totally last minute Dashiell.Hill.26. About 4 hours in Lil Bette dropped a valve. I brought a full powertrain, but it needed a clutch. We did that on the trailer, then a full powertrain swap overnight. We went for a shower and nap about 4am, then back at it at 6. By 10am we were back on track tl get the checkers. H said this is just like Top Gun Maverick with the old guy and the young bucks, except none of you know how to do what you are about to take on.

So, doing the math... The little Focus was doing 2 minute laps. We broke around 2PM, with 120 minutes of racing left. Even allowing for the fuel/driver changes, we would have done 50 more. That would have put us 4th in C! We were ahead of a BUNCH of way faster cars, and we're still sloppy in the pits!! We can win with this car! Bette the Middler may need a new name!

We're trying something new for the Pacific Northworst GP 26 in the The 24 Hours of Lemons. Cages and all safety gear has been through tech on all 3 cars. 2 of the 3 cars have been SUPER thouroughly gone through with fresh motors, transmissions tires, brakes etc. Other than the seats (Jetta/SC) and moving one battery (SC) the cars are all READY, with a week to go still!! The cube van, Georgie Boy and the Karaoke Canoe are still outstanding worklists, but perifferial. The weather prediction, if it holds, should be just enough rain to be miserable in the pits, and HIGHLY entertaining on the track. Oh Lemons friends, how I have missed you!!