Team Floodstang, who placed 68th out of 100, lasted for about 9 hours and 15 minutes, completing 305 laps. For reference, the winning team in laps — the Scooby Doobies — completed 517 in just over 14 hours and 24 minutes.
ADRENALINE MEETS ABSURDITY DURING A TWO-DAY RACE awn breaks cold and shrouded in fog at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on a midOctober Sunday, as folks slowly emerge from their campers. The scene is eerily reminiscent of the classic horror flick “Dawn of the Dead,” which only seems apropos for the Halloween Hooptiefest, the Granite State’s stop in the nationwide “24 Hours of Lemons” race series. By the 9 a.m. start time, the thick mist burns off, and a spectacular autumn day greets close to 100 race cars and teams of drivers assembled for Day Two of the weekend event. The rising sun seems fitting as well, given that these cars and trucks are enjoying a resurrection of sorts. None of the vehicles careening around the dozen turns of the 1.6-mile road course are in their prime.
Far from it. By rule, none should have cost more than $500. Most have been modified drastically post-purchase, with safety gear and souped-up engines and burly suspension systems installed. Many sport crazy paint schemes and festive ornaments, including giant skulls and skeletons and ghosts and ghouls. It looks strangely like a demolition derby, but with drivers intentionally trying to avoid one another at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour. Meanwhile, the central garage on the speedway’s infield is a beehive of activity, with cars and drivers and mechanics and support staff all buzzing about. A pink sedan, labeled the Snouty Audi, rolls by, followed by a bright red race car sporting large fins and a tail. “The Swedish Fish — we love those guys,” says racer Matt Farides, who flew in from California for the event. “Everybody’s got their own persona.”
BY BRION O’CONNOR / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JARED CHARNEY 52
nhmagazine.com | October 2021
