The sun shined brightly over Lime Rock Park on Friday during the opening day of the SpeedTour All-Star Race, casting a golden hue on the historic track as the unmistakable roar of engines filled the air. Legendary drivers and stars of motorsport mingled with throngs of excited fans, all gathered to witness a historic event from Spectator Hill. For the first time in Lime Rock Park’s illustrious history, a staggering number of motorsport legends and current stars are set to compete against each other in the same race.

Friday was filled with fan festivities as Lime Rock Park guests enjoyed numerous opportunities to interact with drivers, including an insightful IROC discussion panel and a massive autograph session featuring all 40 All-Star Race drivers, alongside IROC legends like Mark Martin and Ray Evernham. Grand Marshal Geoff Bodine also graced the event, adding to the star-studded atmosphere.

A Need For Speed, Scott Speed

Scott Speed, returning to Lime Rock Park after more than two decades, claimed pole position for Saturday’s SpeedTour All-Star Race with a blistering time of 52.657-seconds. For Speed, Lime Rock Park holds a special place in his heart. It was here as a student in the Skip Barber Racing School that he honed his skills, laying the foundation for a successful racing career that has spanned from 28 Formula One races, achieving a top-10 finish at Monaco, multiple Rallycross championships and XGames gold medals, along with a NASCAR Truck win at Dover.

Andy Lally, a driver very familiar with Lime Rock Park – winning four races in three different sanctioning bodies here – clocked the second fastest time (52.968-seconds) in Friday’s qualifying session, and will start from the front row with Speed. Adam Andretti rounded out the top three times with a 53.179-second fast lap.

“Lime Rock Park and Skip Barber Racing School were really impactful for me at the time, I was 19 years old and I won a scholarship to the school,” said Speed. “I got the opportunity to go to the Red Bull Driver Search and I actually left from Lime Rock Park, took a bus to New York and left straight to France where I did the runoff that I eventually won and started my career with. I got an opportunity to go racing because of Skip’s program. I was just a kid racing karts before that. Without that opportunity to come here and race some cars before I went to Europe, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”

On Saturday, the green flag will wave for the SpeedTour All-Star Race at 1:00 p.m. where 20 legendary motorsports icons from NASCAR, INDYCAR, Formula 1, IMSA, dirt racing, sports cars and road racing will be paired with 20 current drivers in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli and SVRA’s TA2 Club to share a CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series car and compete in a 60-minute race for a $50,000 winner-takes-all prize.

Full Results

Skip Barber Honored at Star-Studded Dinner

Following Friday’s festivities, the drivers gathered for a star-studded dinner, bringing together former drivers from NASCAR, F1, IMSA and INDYCAR. Skip Barber was awarded the Trailblazer Award from Parella Motorsport Holdings (PMH), for his immense contribution to the world of motorsport.

“It’s an honor to recognize Skip Barber, tonight” said President and CEO of PMH Tony Parella. “Skip actually embraced me when I began my career in motorsport. I was an outsider, I came from the telephone business and I got to the party pretty late in life, but Skip mentored me and we had a lot of shared ideas. He was the reason I came to Lime Rock for the first time. Skip has dedicated his life to motorsport, making countless contributions to the sport. In 2024 we celebrate the Year of Skip Barber and tonight it’s a prestigious honor to recognize him on a stage full of champions.”

IROC Returns at Lime Rock Park

Nearly 20 authentic IROC race cars spanning over 30 years of racing history battled the Lime Rock bullring for the first time on Friday in two exhibition sessions. Mark Martin, a 96-time winner across NASCAR’s top-three series, 13-time IROC race winner and 5-time IROC series champion, was reunited with his lime green No. 14 Dodge Avenger. The car won three times in IROC with three drivers from three different disciplines: F1’s Martin Brundle, NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Sr., and INDYCAR’s Al Unser Jr. Unser Jr. and Geoff Bodine were also reunited with their former IROC cars. On Saturday, IROC will put on a 30-minute exhibition race (2:40 p.m) with cars staged by speed.

Tickets and Event Information

Gates open on Saturday at 7:00 a.m. with racing starting at 9:00 a.m. The SpeedTour All-Star Race will be contested tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast LIVE on MAVTV and streamed live here beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. The All-Stars will take the green flag for the race, then hand over their TA2 cars to the Trans Am pro following a mid-race competition break for a driver change.

Fans will have two opportunities for autographs on Saturday. First with the SpeedTour All-Star Race autograph session from 9:00-9:30 a.m. under the IROC Tent and from noon-12:50 p.m. during the Fan Walk located on Pit Lane.

Tickets are still available at the gate. Children 12 and under, active military and veterans receive free admission with proper ID.

For event information, the full schedule and entry list visit: https://limerock.com/events/speedtour/.