Capitol Offense 2013: The Rusty Hub's preview

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The 24 Hours of LeMons will head to Summit Point to wrap up a stretch of three consecutive race weekends, having already hit High Plains Raceway in Colorado and Autobahn Country Club in Illinois in June. Both of those produced first-time winners and guess what? No previous winner is registered for Capitol Offense either. New winners for everyone!

Part of the draw for LeMons at Summit Point is, of course, the shared event with HyperFest. We're still not sure what it entails, but it's supposed to be a good time and LeMons' spectator tickets are good for HyperFest, as are participant wristbands.

Early-week forecasts indicate it could be a wet and crazy weekend on Summit Point's challenging Shenandoah Circuit and we eagerly await the results. Let's see who we can expect to compete in the 101-car field (Get the unofficial entry list here):




OVERALL

While the field has no previous winners, it does not lack depth. The top three teams in the Capitol Offense field are household names for East Coast LeMons racers, mainly for coming so close to winning but falling just short.

Team Pro Crash Duh Nation's veteran Alfa Romeo Milano should be considered one of the favorites. This team has raced since the first New England LeMons race in 2008 and have finished P2 a remarkable three times, including once at Summit Point. Look for their Italian stallion near the top of the scoring sheet.

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In that same vein, Keystone Kops head to Summit Point after missing an overall win by a single lap at New Hampshire Motor Speedway a month ago. Their turbocharged Volvo (above) will flex its muscles for the first time after taking the brunt of some Swede-on-Swede conflict at NHMS. They'll also have the second-place V8-swapped Volvo to fly the Swedish flag.

The domestic crapcan with the best chance will be Near-Orbital Space Monkeys and their Fox-Body Ford Mustang. They finished one position behind the Kops at NHMS and have two second-place finishes with the 'stang. The Space Monkeys have struggled historically at Summit Point, so they'll be hoping to turn that luck around.

After the big three, we'll handicap two solid Japanese builds as good contenders: the Nemesis Ridiculii Nissan 240SX and the Team Fiery Death! Toyota Celica. Both are regular visitors to the Top 10 and capable of battling for a win.

You can probably toss the Mazda RX-7 from Ghetto Motorsports' eastern branch into the best from Japan discussion, since they've shown a time or three that they know how to run an endurance race.

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Grim Reaper Racing's V6 Mustang (above) has nabbed four consecutive Top 10 finishes and could launch their base-model Mustang to the win. They narrowly missed a podium at the 2013 Season Opener and should contend for another.

The veteran crapcanistas from Cardorks have registered their E30, as well. Overengineer'd Racing's four-cylinder E30 stands a chance, too. We'll go ahead and posit that these are the Bavarian machines with the best chance at a win.

We can't preview the race without mentioning Rally Baby Racing, who will bring eight cars, seven of them under the RB moniker and an E36 running as Valsalva Racing (i.e. the "beer can car"). We don't know if they have a chance in hell of winning, but they'll have a good time whatever may come.

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If you want our handpicked longshot, Fast Al's Race Team will have to get by several much-faster heaps to get to the top with their Volvo 740, but we think they can make a good run at it.

More Longshots: ModSquad Racing (two Toyota MR2s, one with a V6 swap); Sorry for Party Racing (Pontiac Firebird); FastISH and FURRiest (Volvo 240); Zero Energy Racing (Honda Del Sol); Speedycop and the Gang of Outlaws C (Lexus SC400).

With at least 40 more Class A cars in the field, there's plenty of room to prove us wrong.


CLASS B

Class B seems like even more of a crapshoot than we're used to, but we think a handful of stalwarts from the class could have some say in its outcome.

The Ford Escort GT from Questie's Racing Team captured the Class B win at Carolina Motorsports Park to being the season. Should they wind up in B at Capitol Offense, they will be in the class hunt even if handed a few penalty laps.

We're not sure where the Motorsports Livers Geo Storm will be classed, but the forgotten hatchback has never missed the Top 20 in any race it's run. We reckon it should be a Class B car and could hang with the best of the middle class.

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Also likely to be in B are the Brooklyn Bomb Squad (above) and their Audi 100. They're a veteran squad with a hacked-up four-ringer who are due for a good result.

Swede Sixteen Racing's 740 has finished well in the past, including a Top 10 at CMP this Spring where they were third in a very close Class B race.


You may also find 3 Pedal Mafia's Honda Civic Wagovan--one of three entries at this race--in the hunt for Class B. It led the class at Monticello in 2013 for a bit before falling to a fifth-place finish.


CLASS C

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Not only do 3 Pedal Mafia have a chance at Class B, they could repeat their Class C-winning performance from New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where the squad's Triumph TR7 and Chevy S10-based boat (above) finished first and second in Class C, respectively. The TR7 may graduate to Class B, but The Boat remains a good candidate to bring home a second consecutive Class C win for the Internet Crapcan Grandmasters Nonpareil.

The Bondo, James Bondo TR7 may be their best competition in Class C, having run a few races in the past. Of course, the Triumph's British Leyland rivals from MGB 50th Goldbrick Jubilee may have something to say about that. Their MGB-GT has struggled to crack the top half of the field, but the MGB-GT is as solid a platform as any in the class.

As long as we're across the pond, we may as well mention that Austin Powerless have registered an Austin Marina, which is the obvious frontrunner for Index of Effluency if you're handicapping. Should the Marina turn about 3 laps, it'll have to be in the discussion, at least.

For what is likely the first time, two Ford Pintos show up on the entry list, one from Team Pinto and another from FinalGear Racing. This will be Team Pinto's second race and their lap count can pretty much only go up from their total of 51 at last year's Capitol Offense.

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And we can't mention Class C without mentioning Le Mopar's Simca 1204. This car is about as slow as the Zero Budget Chevette Diesel, which we'd once considered too slow even to win the slowest class. We of little faith ate our words then and we would love nothing more to see Le Mopar's baconistas plod their 1204 to the Class C winner's circle.

One more note: It's not on the unofficial entry list we have, but we think Speedycop and the Gang of Outlaws will have his three-cylinder Geo Metro limousine, a surreal piece of automotive neurosis that could be in the Index of Effluency hunt.