COVID Updates, July 31: Brainerd/Ridge 2 COVID’d; CA Rally is on!

The COVID-19 virus has of course affected a whole slew of Lemons events, which we think is totally Butt Turrible. Unfortunately, this final day of July brings bad news for a couple more Lemons events but a bright side for our California Lemons peeps. Yes, our races at Brainerd International Raceway in September and The Ridge Motorsports Park in October are getting axed. However, we will press on with the newly rescheduled Hell On Wheels California Lemons Rally. Read on.

Hell On Wheels Rally is On!

Good news first: You can still sign up for the Hell On Wheels California Rally on August 14-16, starting and ending in the San Joaquin River Delta (in Stockton)! OK, so Stockton isn’t Monterey, but trust us: The roads on this weekend trip are gonna be totally Hella Sweet.

Approximate overnight stops will be Mendocino and Grass Valley. Since this whole bummer of a COVID thing means no real end-of-day meetups, you have some leash on where you want to stay overnight. We want you to feel comfortable wherever you stay, but take a look at the areas around and find accommodations that meet your comfort level during the pandemic.

On the rally, expect to follow all of California’s social distancing and COVID guidelines during the event. Stay informed and safe.

Brainerd and The Ridge

Now the bad news: We’re super bummed that two races this year with our favorite names—the Minneapolis 500 at Brainerd and Smells Like AMC Spirit at The Ridge—ain’t happening.

By way of explaining: For a race to happen during Covid-19, a ton of things all have to break the right way. Local regs, regional Covid-19 trends, staff availability, interstate travel rules, participation numbers, and more all add up to a really high bar, and some races just never clear it. We don’t like that any more than you do, and we’re really looking forward to the day when we’re all through this.

If you’re registered and paid for one of these races, you should have an email explaining your options for refunds or transfers of your payment. Your team captain is the one person who can decide for your team. However, should you choose to transfer your fees to another race, we’ll send you these bitchin’ IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL patches and stickers that have looked Hella Sweet on cars we’ve seen so far.

If you’re registered and haven’t yet paid for either of these races, you don’t have to do nothin’ but prep your crapcan for another later race.

Racing at Thompson!

We’ll leave you all with a good piece of news: The GP du Lac Chargoggacantspellourownracename is still happening next weekend, August 7-9! If you aren’t registered now, you ain’t getting in on account of our COVID regulations. However, we’ll have plenty of great social media coverage on Instagram and on Facebook from Connecticut and a new video up on our YouTube channel on Tuesday!

Don’t forget to tag your #LemonCarSpotting posts on Instagram, too!