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Rust Belt GP ’20: What You Need to Know

We’re buttoning down our final things for Gingerman Raceway and the Rust Belt GP this weekend (June 26-28). This will be our first race since March and, owing to the COVID-19 virus, some things will be different. Registered participants should already have this information available in an email, but we wanted this to be easily found. So here’s what Rust Belt GP Racers will need to know ahead of this weekend. If you’re going to be at the race, read all of this. It’s very important and you may end up hella lost during the weekend if you don’t.

GENERAL COVID RULES

Anyone not complying will be booted from the track. Simple as that.

  • Stay Home if you have any COVID-19 symptoms, if you’ve been in contact with anyone who has had COVID-19 symptoms, or if you’ve been in contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19.
  • Bring your own mask and wear it. In any shared public area, you’ll be required to be wearing a face covering. What is a shared public area? Basically anywhere except your paddock.
  • Maintain six feet of social distance with anyone outside your paddock.
  • Tell a Lemons official onsite immediately if you develop symptoms.
REGISTRATION & CHECK-IN
  • Gate Times will be more limited than usual. They are
    • Thursday: 4 pm to 10 pm. Gate will be unmanned at locked at 10 pm on Thursday. NO ENTRY/EXIT AFTER 10 PM. Gingerman is charging a $10 fee for camping on Thursday night.
    • Friday: 7 am to 10 pm. (Gates open after 10 pm only for participants who already have a wristband.)
    • Saturday: 7 am to 10 pm. (Gates open after 10 pm only for participants who already have a wristband.)
    • Sunday: 7 am to 8 pm.
  • As we’ve mentioned many times, only preregistered drivers and crew will be allowed in the gate. No walk-up registrations, no spectators, no teammate substitutions. Simply put, if you weren’t registered for the Rust Belt GP, you ain’t gettin’ in.
  • Each participant will sign a single waiver at the gate. We will not supply pens—bring your own.
  • All registration/driver check in will be done at the gate. Just come up to the registration shack (with a mask), say your name, and show your ID. Again, anyone not on the list will be sent home.
  • Drivers must display their street licenses at the gate to get their driver wristband–there is no separate driver check-in. If your street license is expired AND it expired in 2020, it will be accepted. If your license expired before 2020, you’re outta luck.
PARKING/PADDOCK/FACILITIES
  • Please maintain 10 feet of distance between paddock spots. If you can’t park a bus between your paddock spot and the next team’s spot, you’re too close.
  • Due to the increased spacing between teams, please minimize the space you’re occupying and the number of vehicles that you bring. Extra vehicles will be moved to remote parking if you’re taking up too much space.
  • Fueling for this race will take place on the hot pits. Hopefully that will reduce the land rush by the teams that must park immediately adjacent to the pit exit in order to have their E36 immediately break down and finish 87th. You’ll need to shuttle your fuel to/from the hot pits, so bring a cart.
  • Bathrooms will be cleaned as often as possible, and will be limited to two people at a time. Please maintain distancing while in line for the bathroom. We will have additional portable toilets (limited to one person at a time, you freaks) on site to reduce bathroom crowding.
  • The timing tower will be closed to the public all weekend.
CAR TECH

To spread out tech inspection, we have assigned specific tech times for each team. Please check the assigned tech time schedule for your team’s time, and don’t forget to print and fill out your own tech sheet. If you missed your scheduled tech time or need to return to tech after fixing an issue, there are allotted times on the schedules for missed techs and re-techs. When your tech time arrives, please follow this procedure:

  • As with all public areas outside your paddock space, you must wear a mask to car tech.
  • Fill out your tech sheet before lining up. Leave the sheet in your passenger footwell.
  • Only ONE team member takes the car through tech and BS—everyone else stays in your paddock space.
  • At your assigned time, line up north of the timing tower along the fence, leaving at least a car length between cars.
  • BS will happen first; the judge will not need your tech sheet. Please have your hood opened, unlatched, removed (and placed on roof) so the judge can look at your cheaty engine and Tech Inspectors can tech underhood.
  • After BS, you will be instructed to drive to a tech space. Leave your engine running—the tech inspector will check your brake lights and kill switch.
  • After the brake light/kill switch test, the driver will exit the car and wait in a designated area, leaving the completed tech sheet in the passenger footwell.
  • When the car passes tech, a packet including your Tech OK sticker, rental transponder, and other info will be placed in the passenger footwell.
GEAR TECH

We’ve also adjusted the Gear Tech procedures and timing:

  • As with all public areas outside your paddock space, you must wear a mask to gear tech.
  • Wear all your safety gear to gear tech—do not bring loose gear in a bag. This includes suit, gloves, shoes, socks, and underwear if required. You may wear or carry your helmet and neck restraint.
  • Gear tech will take place at the Pavilion/La Dolce Vita building. Capacity will be limited. Please maintain social distancing while in line. If the line is full, come back later.
  • Gear tech times are only as follows
    • Friday: 11am-5pm
    • Saturday: 8am-9:30am, 12pm-1pm, 3:30pm-4pm
    • Sunday: 8am-8:30am
GRID TIMES

Grid times are 9:30am on Saturday and 8:30am/11:30am for the two Sunday sessions. For the full race schedule, see the event page. Wristband checks may take slightly longer than usual, so please show up to the grid on time with the driver properly belted in and ready to go.

FUELING

For the first time at Gingerman, we will be fueling in the hot pits or at the pumps. There will be no fueling allowed in your paddock space. Here’s what you need to know for fueling:

  • There will be a designtated fueling area in the hot pits. All participants must be wearing full driver gear while in the fueling area.
  • Bring a cart to shuttle your fuel cans and drip pan to the fueling area.
  • There are no assigned pit spots. Cart your fuel to the hot pits, fuel your car, and cart your fuel back.
  • Do not leave fuel or other equipment unattended in the fueling area.
  • Do not park your Texas Giganticus Edition pickup truck (or any other vehicle) near the fueling area.
  • Fueling rules are otherwise the same: Kill switch off, driver out, drip pan in place, nobody touches car while fueling is happening. Fueling is a two-person process, with one person fueling and the other person manning a fire extinguisher. See Section 3.C of the Lemons Rules, which are all applicable.
  • The only activities allowed on the hot pits are fueling, driver changes, and adding cool-suit ice. Anything else (windshield cleaning, tire pressure adjustments, fluid checks, engine swaps) must take place in your paddock spot.
  • Fueling at the pump will be pay-at-the-pump only. Maintain distancing if there’s a line for the pumps. You do not need to be fully suited to fuel at the pumps, but the driver must be out and the kill switch must be off.
WINNING

Most of you can skip this category. Since we can’t do a traditional trophy ceremony, we will celebrate the winners with a post-race victory lap through the paddock. We’ll let you know at track exit if you’ve won something.

DRIVERS’ MEETINGS

We will be holding a virtual drivers’ meeting on YouTube live at 7pm EDT here. You will be able to ask questions in the chat if you tune in live–if you miss the live broadcast you must watch the video before hitting the track.

Lemons first-timers have already been sent the link to the virtual rookie meeting, but here it is again. A printable version of the rookie meeting notes is here. Lemons veterans are welcome and encouraged to brush up on that rookie stuff as well.

BS INSPECTION ADDENDUM

Note that you can email your car’s theme/team costumes to Eric@24hoursoflemons.com with a description and pics/videos by Wednesday (June 24). We’ll put the 10 best pre-weekend recipients at the front of Saturday’s Grid as a revival of the I Love Pole program.

Also, in lieu of bribes during BS Inspection, we’d much rather you donated to Lemons of Love for a Get Out of Penalty sticker and/or a general donation. You could also donate to your local food bank or another charity of your choice.

THAT’S IT FOR NOW

Thank goodness! Thanks everyone for all of your attention and patience. Between me and you, I’m glad Gingerman is the first race back–you folks collectively seem to have the fewest issues with following instructions among all of the Lemons racers across the country. Well, except for the automotive journalists, anyway.

It’s our hope that knocking out as much of these little details ahead of time will make the race itself run just as smoothly as always–which SHOULD be a low bar, so we’re optimistic on that. We’ll probably send you a few reminders and possible small details this week, but this should cover the basics.

Questions? Shoot them to Eric@24hoursoflemons.com.

 

 

 

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