Yesterday, something exciting and new arrived at Lime Rock Park. Four teams that are competing in the Formula SAE competition in Michigan next month – UConn, Brown University, RPI, and Cornell – came to take on the autocross in our University Formula Car Challenge. Hailing from as far as Ithaca, NY, the collegiate students brought four vehicles as unique as the teams themselves.

Lime Rock Park and Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut are teaming up in 2011 to work side-by-side, on the track and off, in order to raise $100,000 to make 10 or more wishes “come true for children, enriching their lives with hope, strength and joy.”

Make-A-Wish/Connecticut is celebrating its 25th anniversary of granting wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

In addition to fundraising activities, Make-A-Wish will have a significant presence at Lime Rock Park races in 2011 — raising awareness, meeting new people, and creating magical racing memories for Wish families and supporters alike.

(Go to the Facebook and YouTube links at the bottom of story for the short -- but cool -- video.)

To help reach the goal, Lime Rock will donate percentages of its revenues while Make-A-Wish volunteers will sell branded merchandise, souvenir programs and “hot lap” raffle tickets during Lime Rock’s five major spectator events. Lime Rock will also assist Make-A-Wish in organizing fundraising efforts directed at teams, drivers, vendors and driving clubs.

Lime Rock Park President Skip Barber said, “A race track, especially one like Lime Rock, is uniquely positioned to help Make-A-Wish continue to succeed. Not only are there kids with racing dreams, but who else has relationships with so many different parts of our industry? Drivers, sanctioning bodies, car owners, manufacturers, the driving clubs, TV, radio and newspapers... this is a good, good thing.”

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut CEO Mike Burke said, “Lime Rock has been a destination of choice for the world’s racing elite since 1957. Under the ownership of Skip Barber, Lime Rock is also a leader in community service and philanthropy for many worthy Connecticut causes. Make-A-Wish of Connecticut is truly proud to be aligned with Lime Rock and its dedicated, hard-working staff.”

Many Lime Rock Park sponsors, partners and clients have also pledged to help the track reach its goal, including Town Fair Tire, Network Imaging, Ferrari Club of New England, Motorsport Simulation Consultants and the Atlantic Region of the Rolls-Royce Owners Club.

Appropriately, Lime Rock and Make-A-Wish of Connecticut first “met” at a Lime Rock charity event held  in July at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, which of course works closely with Make-A-Wish.

Fans and friends of Lime Rock Park are encouraged to make monetary donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut. They may go to www.limerock.com and click on the “Make-A-Wish” button in the lower-right corner of the Lime Rock home page.  https://secure.wish.org/ourfriends/054-000/limerockpark.htm

See the video on Lime Rock Park’s Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/limerockpark?sk=wall#!/video/video.php?v=10150492441185657&oid=44115954002&comments

See the video on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wg8021n1hU

What’s “Bimmers, Berms and G.I.P.”?


 It’s about parking...

Wait! Don’t fall asleep! Hold on a sec!

At Lime Rock Park, we don’t have just ordinary, regular, run of the mill parking. No, we give you the choice of what you could call Parking Adventures!

Here are three for-instances:

1. Do you drive a BMW, the Official Car of Lime Rock Park? If “yes,” that means you are invited to park in the best parking spot at the track: the grassy berm just past the Bailey Bridge as you enter the Infield. Remember, it’s “first come, first served” for the Bimmer Berm spots.

2. Do you drive a cool car? Something old, something new, something hopefully not borrowed, we don’t care if it’s blue? If so, whenever you come to a race weekend, tell the Parking Attendants you would like to park in “Specialty Parking.” It’s a designated area in the Infield. We do this because our fans TOLD us they like to walk to one area to see all the hot cars the other fans drive, in one place. We’ll be honest: If you drive up in a rusty Volare with a flame job obviously painted on with a toothbrush and ask for “Specialty Parking,” you’ll probably be told “No...”

3. Remember that all spectator parking, including the Bimmer Berm and Specialty, is free, with the exception of this one following option: Guaranteed Infield Parking (G.I.P.). You now have the option of a Guaranteed Infield Parking spot on race days – regardless of when you arrive – for a fee of $15. We will hold a parking spot for you, even if you arrive just minutes before the green flag flies for the feature race! This does not mean we are charging for parking: If you want to park in the Infield for free, you must arrive early in the morning and you will likely be parked in the Infield – but we can’t guarantee that. Guaranteed Infield Parking is simply a choice you have to guarantee that Lime Rock Park will save an Infield Parking spot regardless of when you arrive on a Race Day. Call the office at 860.435.5000 to buy a race-day Guaranteed Infield Parking pass.

Okay, that wasn’t so bad, was it?

Hey, do you own a nice Audi, Corvette, Mazda, Porsche or VW? For those of you sayin’ “Yes,” we want to make sure you know about Lime Rock Park Car Corrals! Car Corrals are fun, because fellow owners all get to hang out with their automotive “tribe” in specially designated areas in the Infield during the major event weekends.