2011
TeamRemmers started the year with a celebration in Florida with the Adopted by Jets2 team of Eric Nelson after they won the Index of Effluency award for the 24 Hours of LeMons Season Ender Miami race. We didn't make it to any AMEC ice races this winter, but we anticipate running at least 4 LeMons races this year with our family team of Tim, Brian, Renee, and Grainne. We introduced another family member to racing this year (see April 9 event).
Next Event: October 8 - Chump Car at Nelson Ledges with Team Paisley
Event Updates:
July 23 & 24 Lemons Race - Stafford Motor Speedway
We debuted a newly acquired Lemons car at this race. Alas, it would be its last race.
This Saab was very fast. TeamRemmers was actually in first place after Brian finished his run as our 1st driver of the event. After cycling through all our drivers, we were still a top 15 car. Because of the heat, we ran shorter stints, which cost us places. Now the trouble started -- Brian was back out on track and the car right in front of him lost it and went sideways. With nowhere to go, Brian T-boned the car and had to come in for repairs. He was back out on track and during a caution the Saudi Audi braked and stopped as it approached an emergency vehicle on the side of the track. Unfortunately for us, the Audi's brake lights weren't working and Brian, who was obviously too close behind, rearended them. Now we had an even longer stop as the grill was pushed in quite a bit. Still, Tim managed to repair the car and Grainne went back out on track. She had a fabulous, and long, stint which gained us back several positions. Since the sun was going down, it was not so oppressively hot and she stayed in the car for 2 hours. Grainne came off the track at 9 p.m. Only one more hour of racing for the night, and Renee was going out. They did a fueling and driver change. While in the fueling area, there was a commotion on the other side of the building. The PT Cruiser had caught fire and they were extinguishing it, so billows of smoke could be seen rising over the building.
Renee went out on track, did a few laps to warm up, and was proceeding to pass a couple cars on the outside around the bowl. She felt the tires lose grip and she kept hoping they would catch, but they didn't. She hit the wall hard and slid along it and came to a stop just short of the start/finish. Meanwhile, I was walking from the fueling area to the bleachers to spectate when I saw the yellow flag. I was looking to see where Renee was on track and wasn't seeing her. I tried to get her to respond on the radio and got nothing. That's when I knew that our car had been in an incident. Unfortunately, it was a lot worse that I had ever expected. As I ran up to the area by start/finish where everyone was congregating, I saw that the rescue workers were all around the car and I didn't see Renee moving. The starter let me know she was conscious and talking to the workers, but that she complained of some neck pain so they were going to use the board to remove her from the car, and then transport her to the hospital to be checked out.
When Tim and I got to the hospital, we had to wait a few minutes but were then able to join Renee and the doctor. While Renee was getting a CAT scan, the rest of our team showed up to see how Renee was doing. The CAT scan results were good, so Renee was released. We got home just after midnight. We got a late start in the morning and went to the track to assess the damage. It was bad, but Tim isn't a quitter, so he soon got to work trying to replace the damaged parts and patch together what he could so he might be able to get out and at least finish the race. This was a huge task and while Tim tore apart the bad parts, Brian and Ashley went hunting for replacements. With 30 minutes left in the race, it looked like Tim would be able to take the car out on track and at least try and take the checkered flag. Suited up in some borrowed race gear, Tim was in the car and headed toward the track. What a great feeling! And then it happened--about 100 yards from our paddock spot, the drive shaft starting losing parts. What a disappointment, especially for Tim who worked so hard all day to be able to get back on the track.
TeamRemmers would like to thank everyone for the well wishes for our driver Renee and those that helped or loaned us tools, driver suit, etc.
April 9 & 10, 2011 -- 24 Hours of LeMons, New Jersey Motorsport Park
Thanks to Tim's shovelling and finally getting weather warm enough to melt the snow, we were able to get the racecar and trailer out for our spring race in New Jersey. We were very excited to have Tim's brother Lou join the team. This was his first experience in a racecar, so we were hoping the car would perform well. Brian went out for the beginning of the race and by the time he came in 1.5 hours later, we were 7th overall and 1st in Class C (the "Ugly"). Renee was next behind the wheel. She was experiencing some issues with the car and came in to have it checked out. Not seeing anything, she was sent back out. Renee had a solid run and was making progress moving our team back up after the stop. She relinquished her seat after about an hour and because of the one pit stop, we had fallen back to 26th spot and 3rd in our class.
Grainne was all set to go racing, so she was our next driver. She too had a solid run, moving the team up. Grainne was almost finished with her drive when she lapped the 4th place C Class car. Unfortunately, the next lap she radioed that the car had lost compression and she was coming in. She made it just off the track when the car stalled and Brian, Renee, and Tim went and gave her a push. It was to be bad news for the team--upon inspection a cam follower had busted, now we only had 3 cylinders and no spare cam follower. Tim started making phone calls, and in the meantime Brian pulled out the broken pieces. About an hour later, we got the brilliant idea that we should go back out running on 3 cylinders, because at least we were getting laps. Well, that's what we did and Lou's first chance to get on track was to be in a car running on only 3 cylinders 30 minutes later.
Lou was doing a pretty good job, managed to stay out of trouble for 40 minutes, then cam the "spin" and, of course, a black flag. He made nice with Judge Phil and was allowed to go back out since it was our first flag of the day. It would be a mere 15 minutes later that Lou missed an apex and went off course for a second time and another black flag. Judge Phil, while seeming to enjoy Lou's southern wit, politely asked him to get another driver to suit up. We also had to place a 200,000 mile Volvo emblem on the front grill of our Saab.
Tim was successful in finding parts--but had to drive 2 hours to get them, meaning the parts wouldn't arrive until after 8:30 p.m.
We need a big thaw so we can get shoveled out! 
December 31, 2010 -- 24 Hours of LeMons Miami Season Ender
The craziness has ensued! Team Remmers decided to celebrate the New Year LeMons style by participating in the 24 Hours of Lemons 2010 Miami race in Florida. In lieu of towing our car, the "boys" got rides with other teams in order to compete. Tim ran this event with Team Paisley in their Subaru and Brian ran in the Saab 96 2-stroke of the Adopted by Jets2 team. We rented a car and Tim drove the entire way to Jupiter, FL and back--I did say crazy! Donna took the easy way down and flew into West Palm Beach where the guys picked her up at the airport, but joined them on the drive home.
The race was to begin at midnight, but started about 12:30 a.m. Friday, December 31 after many laps under full-course yellow. Both Tim and Brian were scheduled to drive from 4-6 am, so we had a long wait. Tim managed to catch a couple hours of rest, while Brian and I barely got an hour. Both Tim and Brian ran well, unfortunately the tires on the Subaru were shot when Tim went out, so he wasn't able to gain any positions. When he brought the car in off the track, the cords were completely showing through. Brian managed to turn some decent times, but since it was a 2-stroke, the team's goal was to be able to finish the race, knowing there was no way to win overall.
After Brian's run, Matt took the wheel. Unfortunately, partway through his stint the engine blew. Luckily the team had a spare, so they got to work making the replacement. Meanwhile, the Team Paisley Subaru was still out on track, after a driver and tire change when Tim came in. After cycling through their 5 dirvers, Ed Womer went back out on track and got just a few laps in before their engine let go. Their race was over.