April 09, 2011. NO, not 24 hours of LeMans (La-mawh), this was a car race of hoopties. Hooptie is a term that means jalopy or clunker, old, decrepit, unreliable most times rusty, dented and not maintained. The Real Hoopties of New Jersey was host to this event held at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ and one of the rules was that the car could not be worth more than $500. It was a fun race and all the guys painted and decorated their cars in a fun way and guys with no racing experience raced along side guys who have raced for years. Each driver rents a unique 'sensor' that advances a lap counter each time the car passes a certain point on the track. The car with the most laps in 24 hours wins.
It was lunch time and while the racing area had a concession stand, a racing enthusiast told us about the club house and we drove back to check it out. We were a little early and had immediate seating. The food was excellent. When we left, the place was quite full of patrons.
After lunch we headed back to the North Paddock area and checked out the maintenance crews. Off hand I'd say, that when you tear out your engine and set it on the ground, you are a serious mechanic.
The stickers on this car cracked me up. I really enjoyed the humor.
This brother and sister team inquired about my photography, so here they are.
Motorsports park also had a Karting Track and it was very busy. Lots of young kids were racing today.
Adults were also racing and one guy misjudged the turn, and after the spill, he dusted himself off and kept going.
I wondered about the under $500 hooptie and found this on the internet: the hooptie $300, roll cage $2433, brake rotors and pads $300, brake fluid $35, plugs and cap and rotor and oil filter $138, kill switch and hood pins $94, wheel spacers $80, fuel $209, lug bolts $60, transponder rental $50, electrical parts $16, hub center rings $16, duct tape $5, 6 racing tires $992, entry fee $900 for a total of $5628. When you think of all other hobbies that guys have, this price is not bad.
Despite all the racing today, there were no injuries and everyone, both racers and spectators had a great time.
