Welcome to the webpage of the Looks Good On Paper Racing team. We are a team of friends and family that build and race a car in the 24 hours of Lemons Endurance series.
We will try to keep the site up to date with the latest race news, and keep you in the loop of all the wacky things that happen behind the scenes.
We are officially accepted for The Real Hoopties of New Jersey race at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The race is April 14-15 on the Lightning Circuit.
The list of things to do is much shorter than last year, but there are definitely areas to improve, and to fix from the last race.
We are also adding another driver to the team, Chris Sutton.
Welcome aboard Chris!!!
The weekend after the Lemons race Ryan took the BAD J out for some autocross fun.
Day two began with another driver’s meeting. The best news was the addition of a number board at the black flag station. The team had come in for two black flags on day one, and neither was directed at them. It had rained overnight, and the track was mostly dry, but there were still a few wet spots. Chuck took the first stint. Despite having to fight through traffic, and not knowing the true condition of the track, he still managed to put in respectably fast times.
We woke the next morning to find that the kill switch was left on all night, and the car now had a dead battery. While we charged the battery with Ryan’s truck we performed checks on the car for what seemed like the millionth time. As the start of the race approached we attempted to start our Lemon, but had no luck. A push start and a few laps around the skidpad where our pits were, seemed to do the trick, and the car would stay running. This wasn’t a good way to start the day.
After an exciting driver’s meeting Ryan suited up to take the wheel for the first stint.
We left a little later than planned, and caused quite the traffic jam on the way to the track. Who knew a BMW with a rollcage, but without a roof, painted like a submarine, sporting a periscope would attract attention going down the highway, or while getting gas, or while getting breakfast, or….. you get the picture.
When we arrived at the track we found our spot, unloaded all of our possessions, and set up camp.
The night before the race was a sleepless one, as everything came together and was triple checked. Our friend Mike came over to put the graphics on. He probably doesn’t want to be recognized for his work though (Let’s just say his company rhymes with SSC Tint and Braphics). He told us something to the effect of “It’s a Lemons car, the decals aren’t going to be straight, and I’m not going to measure anything.” Fair enough. Still looks pretty darn good. Hopefully not too good…
With the exhaust made we set about refitting the front bodywork. The hood was modified slightly to clear the plenum, and holes were drilled for hood pins. That was the easy work. The passenger fender needed a lot of massaging to clear the exhaust. We decided to go with a box flare of metal mesh to not only clear the pipes, but also allow some heat to escape.
We needed to fabricate an exhaust system that would meet the rules and not take away ground clearance. While ground clearance isn’t at a premium right now, it may be in a later iteration of the car. The only “logical routing of the exhaust was across the front of the car, up and over the right front wheel, and out the bottom of the fender in a side pipe. So with lots of bends, and pieces of pipe we made it work.
After a successful test day we still had a long list of things that needed finished before the race.
To start with Ryan and Tom hit the junkyard in search of some tail lights, and mirrors. Luckily there were three E30s in the yard and between the three of them they had all the parts we needed and a nice, only slightly cracked grille. Now we are styling.
Looks Good On Paper Racing 