Mother Nature favored Lime Rock Park this Labor Day weekend as the Connecticut circuit celebrated the 42nd iteration of the track’s renowned Historic Festival. Celebrating 60 years of the Ford Mustang and Ford Performance alongside the new featured Toyo Tire Turn of the Century World Challenge race group, the Festival featured nearly 1,400 rare and historic cars, from the Historic Festival Parade presented by NBT Bank, to the Hemmings Collectors Car Market Place and Hagerty corrals, to the grids and Sunday in The Park, over the five-day event.

 

 

The race groups were particularly exceptional, with drivers representing 20 states and three countries, driving cars from nine different countries ranging from the early 1910s to the early 2000s.

 

 

Nearly 20 races were staged during the Labor Day finale on Monday (38 for the weekend) with the first nine dubbed as the “Autodromo Sprints.“

 

 

Autodromo, the Official Watch of the Historic Festival 42, presented nine drivers, one from each race group with an Autodromo Prototipo Chronograph Special Edition Lime Rock Park watch designed specifically for the event on the front straight at lunch. Sanctioning partners, Vintage Racing Group (VRG) and Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA), chose the winners based on the drivers’ Vintage Spirit showcased during the entire festival. In addition, Autodromo also presented Dave Porter, who drove in both Group 5 in a 1965 Lotus Cortina MK1 and in Group 8 in a 1975 TOJ SC205, with the “Spirit of Lime Rock Award” which was voted on by his fellow drivers, the Historic Festival Committee and representatives from VSCCA and VRG.

 

 

The Piston Foundation also presented a special award during lunch on Monday.

 

 

Connecticut native David Lindy was honored with the Piston Technician Award to recognize the essential contribution auto technicians make to the collector car community through trade skills and technical automotive expertise. Lindy, of Salisbury, Connecticut, manages Mitch Eitel’s vintage racing program out of Brown Brothers Racing in Gaylordsville, Connecticut. Eitel competes in such series as VSCCA, SVRA, HSR, VRG and others in a 1975 Chevron B31, prepared by Lindy and Marasco Metal Works in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts.

 

 

New to the event this year was the Toyo Tires Turn of the Century World Challenge group which showcased production-based street stock race cars from the 1995-2005 era prepared for SCCA World Challenge. Vehicles from Motorola Cup and various other period-appropriate national and international categories were also included in the group.

 

 

The inclusion of World Challenge added a more contemporary dynamic to Historic Festival 42, offering spectators a unique blend of classic charm and contemporary competition, while providing competitors a reunion opportunity for both cars and drivers of a golden era of big grids and great racing at Lime Rock Park.

 

 

RealTime Racing owner Peter Cunningham added to the stout field of nearly 30 cars, bringing four of his championship Acuras. Cunningham piloted the team’s first-generation Acura TSX, which won three World Challenge Touring Car Championships; in 2005 and 2008 with Cunningham and in 2006 with Pierre Kleinubing. Historic World Challenge co-founder John Whitaker drove the team’s second-generation RealTime Acura TSX, a model Kleinubing won the 2009 Touring Car title and Cunningham drove to two World Challenge GTS championships.

 

 

Cunningham was a fixture in the Paddock, signing autographs in the Toyo Tire display, making appearances in the VIP hospitality and delivering heart-felt stories during the Competitors’ Dinner on Friday evening.

 

 

Former sportscar driver Kim Baker joined the Voice of Lime Rock Park Greg Rickes in the booth during the Turn of the Century World Challenge races, offering a unique perspective to the commentary. Baker won the first World Challenge race ever held at Lime Rock Park back in 1992. Baker’s former 1990 Chevrolet Corvette was entered in the race, driven by owner Raymond Zisa, allowing the retired driver to be reunited with a piece of his past during the live stream.

 

 

It was an emotional weekend for the Donovon Motorsports Jaguar team on Monday. In the final race of the weekend, Jack Busch picked up an important victory, done in tribute to the original driver of the 1967 Jaguar XKE OTS Bob Hebert. Hebert had several notable successes in historic racing driving the Jaguar, and put Donovon Motorsports on the map for vintage racing. Hebert passed away last week ahead of the event, and the win was a fitting tribute to close out the weekend.

 

 

With a Labor Day weekend tradition closing out, the fans, vendors and racers packed up to head home with a new chapter of memories from an event with highlights that included: another edition of the NBT Bank and the Falls Village Inn-supported Historic Festival Parade on Thursday, the breathtaking 16 rare cars and unique on display from Honored Collector Ross Myers and a highly successful Lime Rock Concours and Gathering of the Marques on Sunday.

 

 

Fans will have a few more opportunities to participate in activities this season before the track heads into its brief winter hiatus. MiataCon, which will celebrate all makes and models of Miatas and MX5s, will take place on Oct. 25-26 with the capstone FCP Euro Sunday Motoring Meet Autoberfest on October 27.

 

 

For more information on upcoming events, visit: www.limerock.com/calendar

 

 

Watch to full Glimpse of Historic Festival 42 live stream replay: www.youtube.com/limerockpark

 

 

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