The Festival!
The Vintage Festival at Lime Rock Park is one of the premier vintage race events on the East Coast, and offers a great mixture of classic race cars, wonderful atmosphere and a very unique Concours.
This year’s event offered the largest-ever gathering of vintage Bugattis, featuring parade laps, a special racing class, and concours class.
Getting there
From North Carolina this year I travelled up to my in-law’s place in North Eastern Pennsylvania with my 1-and-a-half-year-old son on Friday, my wife and older son following a few hours later. Saturday morning at 5am my older son and I headed to Bloomsbury, NJ to pick up fellow Alpha Gearhead Dave and his step-son and off to Lime Rock Park… 752 miles in all. Fully worth it though!
Saturday’s Racing
Entering the parking lot we’re greeted almost immediately by a new Mustang GT350 and an Aston Martin Vantage. Nonstop action from there on out for the remainder of Saturday.
As with most of these vintage events the paddock area is fully open for up close experience with the cars, and teams. It’s a great opportunity to meet some great drivers and see cars that are more often reserved to museum visits.
Saturday Night
There’s a pub about a 30 minute drive from Lime Rock in Collinsville, CT called Crown and Hammer. Dave and I visited this pub the last time we went to Lime Rock in 2007… We went back this year and it was still spectacular. Highly recommended!
Seriously… don’t miss it!
http://crownandhammer.com/index.html
Sunday’s Concours
Sunday there’s no racing. Instead special classes are set up on the front straight for judging, this year including an entire class of vintage Bugattis. But around the track enthusiasts line up their “special” cars. Aston Martins, Bentleys, more Porsches and BMWs than you can count.
If you have the chance to go to Lime Rock’s Historic Festival, or any other vintage race event, take it! You won’t be disappointed!
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