LAKEVILLE, CONN. (18 August 2024) – Lime Rock Park became the beacon for the next generation of racing enthusiasts as the historic track hosted GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends Festival for its third year. 

GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends, which was created around a music festival-style atmosphere, delivered a spectacular celebration of car culture and automotive heritage, unique to any other flagship GRIDLIFE event. With a sold-out campground and an electrifying atmosphere, the event showcased the very best in grassroots racing, setting new benchmarks and breaking records along the way.

“Lime Rock Park is steeped in motorsports heritage and is the perfect backdrop for the GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends Festival,” said Lime Rock Park CEO Dicky Riegel. “The weekend’s action not only honored the history of American racing but also set the stage for the future. Every class saw new track records, underlining the high-caliber competition that GRIDLIFE has come to represent.

“This year’s event was the best one yet,” Riegel continued. “It’s not just a race, it’s a powerful statement about the future of grassroots and amateur racing. This event embodies the spirit of inclusion, bringing together a diverse range of competitors and fans, all united by their passion for motorsport. With Lime Rock Park having 66 years of history, its one thing to remember our motorsport history, but it’s another to be living it in real time. This past weekend Lime Rock Park didn’t just host a race, it became a beacon for the next generation of racing enthusiasts.”

The heart of the event on Saturday was the Prime Legends Concours, a celebration of the vehicles that inspired a generation. The invite-only collection focused on impeccable examples of JDM, EDM and USDM racing and tuning cars from the late 1980s through the early 2000s.

While Drifting Jam Sessions are always a fan favorite, featuring celebrity guest drivers like rapper and Grammy winner T-Pain and former Hoonigan creator HertLife, the highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly the GRIDLIFE Touring Cup (GLTC) series. With 60 entrants eager to take on the legendary track, the competition was so fierce that the field had to be split in two, doubling the intensity and racing action. Fans were treated to some of the most thrilling battles throughout the field in the series six-year history, with every session delivering razor-thin finishes.

New to the schedule this season, the Rush SR Series added another layer of excitement, featuring legendary drifters like Chris Forsberg and Nate Hamilton. Their duels were nothing short of spectacular as they traded positions in high-speed, adrenaline-pumping races, showcasing their skills in a whole new context. The crowd watched on their feet as these masters of drift took their talents to the limit on the track, passing each other seven times in one race.

Amidst a field of over 300 competitors, a few standout racers delivered truly inspiring performances. Lena Chin, one of the few female drivers in the GLTC series, had a career weekend. Showcasing remarkable skill and determination, Chin charged through the ranks to secure a well-deserved podium finish and set the fastest lap of the race (59.059-seconds) in Race 3. At just 15 years old, Aryton Grimm made an indelible mark as the youngest driver on the grid. Despite his age, he displayed poise and precision, clinching the checkered in the final Rush SR race on Saturday. Grimm also secured a podium finish in the opening race of the weekend. 

The NOS Energy TrackBattle featured multiple Time Attack sessions from some of the fastest cars in North America chasing record laps throughout the weekend. Seven drivers broke track records in their individual classes, including Sasha Anis who set the overall fastest time of the weekend at 50.686-seconds driving a Nissan 350Z, edging out the original Unlimited class record by more than half a second. 

To add to the weekend on track diversity was the road-course EV driving series the Model 3 Challenge. The Model 3 Challenge uses power-limited Tesla Model 3s, so various configurations of the car can compete together in short sprint competitions without losing performance. Alex Vongnhay set the series lap record in qualifying with a best time of 1:01.014-seconds. David Schlessman took home victories in the opening two heats, while Vongnhay closed out the weekend with a win in Heat 3. 

Following the conclusion of racing, the party continued with the new Campground Crawl and Campground Karaoke complete with a laser show. Sunday wrapped up the festivities with the FCP Euro Sunday Motoring Meet. 

Lime Rock Park returns to racing action with Historic Festival 42 Aug. 29-Sept. 2. Tickets and information can be found at https://limerock.com/events/historic-festival-42/