24 Hours of LeMons
David Price
The “British Invasion” team of Montgomery cut its teeth the hard way in fielding a Triumph Spitfire in the 15 hour endurance race held at Barber Motorsports.
To say we had a blast would be an understatement. We had issues and snags as most other teams, however we steadily moved up the board on day 2 after the gremlins had been chased away. The gutsy Spitfire finished 3rd in class after being 7th on Saturday. Not a bad showing at all considering there were 14 cars in our class.
How we got there is filled with many stories. Once the decision had been made, the car had to be readied. The mantra became “roll cage, roll cage, roll cage”. Other areas of the car progressed smoothly – with every 20 minute job taking 2 hours or more! At times it seemed we would not make it. The last couple of weeks were every day and late into the night. The final night – the Thursday before we were to leave for Birmingham – the roll cage was finally finished at 2:00 AM with the Lexan covering attached by 3:00. Back at the shop a little after 9 and the seat and harness were put in, car started, fuel problems sorted, tools and car loaded, and finally at 5:00 PM we were off.
Tech had us worried. The car must pass or we would not race. Thankfully Porsche had rented the track and tech was pushed late into the night. We think we benefitted, because at 9:00 it seemed tech was a breeze. We had three issues to contend with. Move the front harness location – about 3 inches, tape the edges of the Lexan cover, and weld in a brace to the cage in the neck area of the seat. By 11:00 we headed for the hotels.
The next day the racing began. Our guys decided to rotate at 30 minutes to make sure everyone drove. Good idea as I visited several teams whose car failed under the first driver. We had a few issues with brakes and a fender was cutting a tire. Once remedied and getting accustomed to the track our team of drivers did very well. Narinder had the most exciting lap as he was rear ended by a faster car – spinning the little Spitfire around. Minimal damage to us – the other driver was disqualified for the remainder of the race. The name of the game was laps. Our car finished on Sunday with 526 miles or 221 laps taking 3rd in our class. The fast cars – did over 1,000 miles! Don’t think this is just a fun local race – cars were from Chicago, Pennsylvania, several from North Carolina, Texas, and Florida.
The faces of our drivers exuded excitement and fun. Be sure to congratulate the guys – Blitz Welch, John Foshee, Narinder Bhalla, and Andy Martin. The car was a hit – two guitars with a working keyboard as a spoiler. Other teams even played a tune on the keyboard. John and Blitz provided these – with John fabricating a way to hold it all together and it never fell off! The Mick Jagger lips and tongue were the artistic addition of Narinder and Tracy.
The guys are excited and planning the next move. A more powerful engine, better brakes, more races. The Race Bug has bitten!
Race results (All) By Lap Times By Laps Completed
Shine Country Classic 2015 El Banchero Battles plus Neon and Triumph Crash: http://youtu.be/g9g5hJx7Q_s The last 30 seconds shows the crash from a few cars back:
I think this is some of Blitz’s fancy driving. The track clock says 9:45 at one point in the video: Shine Country Classic 2015 El Banchero vs Triumph Spitfire: http://youtu.be/AuAuifUC094
Car & Driver Magazine Coverage
LeMons Wrap-up – Barber 2015