LeMons Button-Turrible Day 1: Model T, Harlequin Golf and Lone Ford Ranger Leading Classes

The first day of racing in Buttonwillow has been predictable, at least in terms of the weather. Yesterday we discussed at some length the temps at the track being on par with those on the surface of the sun. Much of the field could be seen throughout the day staring at the steaming lump that used to be their engine. The top of the leaderboard also doesn't offer much of a surprise, with most of the lead positions being held by the Usual Suspects of west coast races. The Model T-GT, fresh off a win in Texas,  a race which the team drove its race car to, is leading the overall standings, but only by a few laps. Hot on its heels is the multi-race winning BMW 525i of Punk GP. Just two laps behind them is another multiple victor, "The most Interesting Car in the World" of Cerveza Racing. It should be mentioned that Cerveza's E28 model BMW 533i holds the fast lap of the weekend by several seconds. But wait! Don't go engraving the trophies just yet; there are 17 cars within 10 laps of 1st overall with another day of racing still to come. We're happy to report that "Bort" is among the top ten, holding onto 7th despite losing a gear in their transmission towards the end of the day. The Springfield residents are frantically swapping in a new unit over night. The '95 Volkswagen Golf of Team Harlequin is also one of the leading cars, currently sitting at 10th overall and leading Class B. There's a real brawl going on in the middle class of LeMons, and the always fast but rarely reliable Camaro from IWannaRoc is only a lap behind the colorful VW. One lap behind the Chevy is the mind-boggingly fast Kia Rio, aka the "Kia Pet," from As Seen on TV Racing. Yes, you read that correctly, a Kia Rio. The Class C contest is also shaping up to be an exciting one, currently led by a very well-themed Ford Ranger. The truck is sitting at 42nd overall and the team has done a great job of maximizing track time and avoiding black flags. Hot on the Lone Ranger's heels is the '79 Buick Skyhawk from Team Planned Obsolescence  it's on the same lap as the little Ford pickup, and turning faster laps. Although it will be a great battle between those two Class C cars, the wild-eyed lunatics from Bozos Sucko Racing and their Subaru powered, dual-control Super Beetle are in hot pursuit  Their Frankenstein monster has yet to complete a race, but the team and the drivers are highly organized and focused—they just need a little luck. Another cobbled-together car that shouldn't work but seems to be holding up is the "Saanda," a Honda 600 with a Saab turbo motor stuffed amidship driving huge rear tires. How can you not love a car like this? In any event, they're putting down some blistering lap times and are currently holding 38th overall. Though not in contention for a class victory, this car makes us grin every time we see it. On the flip side of that coin is a motor-swapped perpetual project that isn't working so well. We're talking about the bio-diesel–powered Vette, aka the "Corvegge." In the 7 laps the car's strung together, the fastest time around the track is more than double that of the next slowest car on track. Tune in tomorrow for the full results and winners of the other categories . . . assuming our cameras don't overheat like they did today (seriously). from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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