Jamison Stanworth was done waiting for his dream to pass him by.
That’s why, when the 16-year-old Twin Peaks Charter Academy student first discovered the 24 Hours of Lemons auto race, he jumped at the chance. Now, he’s looking for some additional hands to help him fulfill the opportunity.
The race, which is set to take place at the High Plains Raceway in Deer Trail, is a marathon event featuring $500 cars and runs from Sept. 10 to Sept 11. Stanworth hopes to field a team comprised of high schoolers with three drivers and a number of mechanics.
Right now, he has Mead students Cole Timian and Benjamin Holcomb filling out the drivers’ squad.
“I found a car on Craigslist that was perfect,” Stanworth said. “It fit everything less than $500. We need a little bit of fixing to do which is great, because the thing I wanted to do with this team, and the big reason I started a team of all high schoolers was to give people experience.”
If they can receive the car in the next two weeks, they’ll be good to go for September. If not, they’ll try their luck in the next race in April.
The trio is looking for any high schoolers with racing experience who could possibly replace 17-year-old Timian and 16-year-old Holcomb behind the wheel and more hands to fill out a pit crew. Timian brings welding and mechanic skills, and Holcomb offers some mechanic and racing experience.
The team will have to repair the car’s brakes and fuel lines, which certainly won’t be an easy task. They’ll spend the next month acquanting themselves not just with the vehicle, but with their 24-hour driving strategy.
“We’re probably going to go over the car and make sure it’s all safe and worthy of racing,” Holcomb said. “We’ll all do some practice on some private property and just to get to know the car.”
In the meantime, Stanworth, Holcomb and Timian are looking for sponsors to help pay for brakes, tires and other safety equipment. They know that auto racing doesn’t come cheap, but they’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill their aspirations.
They’re already one step closer to making it happen.
“I think the hope for the team would be for us to be able to at least get through this Lemons race, continue to go race in other Lemon races, karting races, etc. just so we can build up the team’s reputation, be able to get some sponsors to help us with paying for gasoline, the cars, all the parts that we’ll end up needing, so we can be a proper racing team, like you’d see in F1, NASCAR, all those types of things,” Timian said.
