The 24 Hours of Lemons, founded by author/editor Jay Lamm (self-appointed "Chief Perp"), began in 2006 as a progression of an earlier San Francisco, California, event, the Double 500, which was a 500-kilometer road rally for US$500 vehicles.

[2][3] After several yearly Double 500s, the organizers deemed the event too easy, so the 24 Hours of Lemons endurance race was born.

Each race begins with all cars being released onto the track under a full course yellow flag for lap-timing transponder checks.

No passing is permitted under yellow, so all cars operational before the start circulate the track in single file for up to 20 minutes until the officials are satisfied that the timing and scoring system is working properly.

Examples of this include the "Max Mosley S&M Penalty", the "Sheriff Joe Arpaio Penalty" in Arizona (where drivers must don pink underwear, sit in a hot tent, and eat stale bologna sandwiches, all punishments the Maricopa County sheriff has inflicted at his prisons), and the "Mark Sanford 'Cry For Me, Argentina' Memorial Penalty" at a race in South Carolina, in which a driver must write a lengthy love letter to their Argentine mistress on their car, à la the former governor of that state.

Prize money has, in the past, been awarded in a number of humorous manners, including payment in nickels,[11][7] checks made out on toilet seats, or cryptocurrency.

One car was voted People's Curse for being driven by the biggest jerks of the day, as judged by the attending crowd.

If there were not enough votes to destroy a car, it might have instead received nasty but non-fatal damage, or it may have been sent to the "penalty box" with a black flag.

The team that wins the Index of Effluency is given a trophy, a cash prize, and free entry in a future race.

This has included awards for "Dangerous Homemade Technology", in which teams have brought fun things for the general social welfare of the participants, like an oversized teeter-totter.

The organizers announce annual team and driver champions (based on points accrued from overall race finishing positions) at the end of each season.