In a car decorated like the Alaska state flag with a model of a king salmon mounted on top, a group of Alaskans earned a top award at a recent race in the 24 Hours of Lemons.
The event, a punny play on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, includes some real racing. But it also has a strong entertainment element and many teams focus on sport as much as speed.
The team, headed by brothers Julian and Domenic Cordle, won the Halloween Meets Gasoline trophy in late August in Kent, Washington.
The trophy is awarded to the team that displays the most creativity with the best theme, costumes and car build.
The team — named “It Will Always Be Denali To Me” — included the Cordles, a number of longtime friends who the brothers met growing up in Alaska as well as significant others and family members.
“There’s this mythology about Alaska for people that have never been there,” Julian Cordle said. “(We thought) let’s lean all in on Alaska.”
Domenic Cordle brought down a load of smoked salmon, Julian Cordle procured some Alaska-themed costumes like bears and bald eagles. The team passed out Alaska Grown stickers and sang the Alaska Flag Song.
They also had a border crossing between their team and a team from Canada in a neighboring pit stall — with the crossing open for the entire weekend.
The car design included a mountain landscape and a few jabs at the relative size of Texas detailed on the car.
“It was just ridiculousness that we let organically grow,” Domenic Cordle said.
In the end, the Alaska team earned the top prize over the more than 50 teams racing that weekend.
“It went fantastic in every way,” Julian Cordle said. “It was really well received.”
The car — a 2006 Chrysler 300C — had been used for previously, including with a British royal theme dressing the car up like a Bentley.
But for this race, the vehicle was No. 49, signifying the home state of the team’s founding members.
Once they started to detail the car to look like the Alaska flag, “it took on a life of its own,” according to Julian Cordle.
W. Christian “Mental” Ward, a Lemons judge at the Kent race, said the attention to detail and dedication put the Alaska team over the top.
“Halloween Meets Gasoline is an across-the-board evaluation of their commitment to the comedic aspect of this series,” Ward said. “Is the team in costume when they aren’t racing? Is everyone in on the bit? Are they enthusiastic? For this race, the whole Cordle clan was in performance mode all weekend.”
The Cordles were born in Anchorage, but grew up in Palmer. As kids, the Cordles were interested in cars and even drove some farm equipment in their younger years. But neither of them consider themselves real gearheads.
“I’m more of a problem-solver,” Domenic Cordle said.
Julian Cordle, who now lives in Oregon, said he’d been involved with the Lemons group for more than a dozen years. And in 2023, the brothers brought a Lemons touring group to Alaska, where drivers went from Whittier to Valdez to Fairbanks and back to Southcentral.
With no races in the state, it’s difficult for Alaskans to get deeply involved in the series. Julian Cordle said that’s too bad, because many elements fit perfect with the Alaskan DIY ethos.
“I left my first Lemons racing experience, and I said, this was made for Alaskans,” he said. “It rewards resilience, creativity, fun … You don’t have access to parts warehouses and overnight shipping and all that stuff.”
The Lemons races are a series for the everyman and everywoman, an opportunity for regular folks to get on a racetrack that is usually reserved for high-speed professional racers.
Part of the qualifications for entry is driving a car that cost under $500 to purchase.
Domenic Cordle said the people who race in the Lemons events lean on their ingenuity to generate ideas and fabricate accessories to put the plans into action.
“It’s a really great group of people who have the intelligence to create things but don’t have any limits into how it happens,” he said.
While the Cordles don’t compete to set record times, they weren’t exactly slow either.
In the C Class, they were ninth out of about 20 teams, according to Julian Cordle, and 24th overall out of more than 50 teams.
As much as anything, the weekend served as a reunion as high school friends Nils Rye and Josh Crager, who live in Washington and Kentucky now, joined the fun.
Julian’s son Jeremiah and Domenic’s daughter Grace were part of the team as a driver and crew member, respectively.
“I love hanging out with my brother,” Domenic Cordle said. “It was also the first time I brought my daughter. So now all three of my kids have been to those Lemons races with along and Julian’s son too. So it’s a family thing.”