COVID Updates, May 29: New Jersey Race Postponed
We hate to cross another race off our calendar this year, but we must announce our June 13-14 race at New Jersey Motorsports Park has been COVID’d. If you were registered for the Real Hoopties of New Jersey, your team captain should have an email from us about your options. Basically, you can roll your fees to a new race (and get sent these cools patches & stickers), get a refund, or do nothing (which will enroll you in the next race at NJMP in 2021).
We had hoped for good news from New Jersey’s governor today, but that good news just didn’t materialize. And, while horse racing minus spectator will resume soon, the New Jersey Motorsports Coalition is still in ongoing talks with the governor’s office to determine a plan for motorsports. That may move forward next week, which is good news for New Jersey racers, as is the fact tthe Coalition is optimistic that an agreement will eventually be reached.
The bad news is that the time frame for that agreement extends past the point where holding the June Lemons race would be feasible.
We really appreciate your patience and input (especially from the one captain that suggested that all Lemons drivers dress like horse jockeys to sneak past government scrutiny). And, we hope that other Northeast races will be permitted to happen once those dates roll around–team registration is still open for Thompson and NHMS, and we hope you guys will join us there.
RESTART TARGET: GINGERMAN RACEWAY
We are moving forward with plans to resume our regular 2020 schedule with races at Gingerman, The Ridge, and Thompson. Those rely, of course, on timely and positive answers from local government, COVID data, and you guys. But rest assured, we want to be back at the racetrack as soon as we can.
A REMINDER ON COVID-RACETRACK GUIDELINES
We should point out that we do have a COVID information page with updates on our procedures and ideas for restarting Lemons racing. That’s the best place to start. We did post some updates a few weeks ago and did expand on some of our initial COVID regulations for the racetrack. Here are the basic ideas:
- First, everyone asked about face covers. Face covers are to help keep your own gnarly spit goobers in so that you don’t infect somebody else–they’re not to keep viruses out, because you ain’t an ICU nurse. This is a decency thing: Just wear something over your nose and mouth–the Surgeon General says a mask, a hankie, a buff, whatever–whenever you’re not in your own paddock space. Yes, balaclavas are also fine.
- Next, various teams had ideas for real penalties that wouldn’t increase drivers’ or judges’ cootie quotient (CQ). We’re totally fine with that, so in the next week or so we’ll be making an organized call on social media for your own Covid-safe-yet-humiliating penalty ideas to contribute.
- Hot-pit fueling came up as well. Yeah, there are still a few tracks where the pathways for fuelers can be made one-way or otherwise suitably distanced, and in those place sure–there’s no reason we wouldn’t keep doing that. In others, if it can’t be made reasonably safe, we’ll just have to do paddocks and pumps.
- The last topic was inter-team socializing, and this one’s just got to evolve as the pandemic progresses. For now, will we kick you out if you’re talking to a rival team six feet away? Of course not. Will we kick you out if you keep licking BBQ sauce off of Kim’s fingers? We absolutely damn will, and not just for Covid-19, either.
- So those are all good things, but there’s still one additional bummer: Until further notice, we can’t allow spectators or day-of registrations at any upcoming events. To get through the gates, everyone must be a pre-registered driver or crew.
Fingers crossed.
Best regards and—dammit, we hate to admit it—we miss you fools.
Jay Lamm & Lemons HQ
