It’s often said that the real point of the 24 Hours of LeMons isn’t winning the race, but rather winning the Index of Effluency. This is the prize given to the car that does the most with the least; the team that goes the furthest with the worstest.  This, it’s claimed, is the real je nes sais quoi of LeMons. For any fool and his gang of (foolish) friends can grab a $500 E30 or Miata and with a little luck win the race. Hell, Baruth won a race driving some fancy-pants Toyota Supra, didn’t he? But only a (really foolish) band of brothers would put their faith in an Opel Cadet. An even dumber bunch of guys might field a Merkur XR4Ti. The massively brain damaged will opt for an 80s vintage Saab 9000 Turbo. Then you have the truly masochistic brave that think the key to glory lies between the rusty panels of a 1974 Alfa Romeo Spyder (For the record, all 4 of the cars just mentioned will be losing once precious fluids all over the track at LeMons South). Of course, not everyone agrees that the Index of Effluency is the be all and end all of $500 car racing. In fact, I argue it’s the Dangerous Banned Technology prize. See, you actually win money with the Index of Effluency. Dangerous Banned Technology is utterly pointless. In other words, the true spirit of LeMons. And who are the odds on favorites to win it this May at Goin’ For Broken in Reno? Why it’s the Sharks, of course.

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