Photo: Tommy Kendall’s No. 11 Ford Mustang, fielded by Jack Roush, the car he drove during his dominant 1997 Trans Am championship season that included an eleven-race winning streak.

Tommy Kendall, Dorsey Schroeder and Mike Joy to headline Historic Trans Am celebration.

LAKEVILLE, Connecticut (12 March 2026) – Lime Rock Park will welcome Tommy Kendall, Dorsey Schroeder and Mike Joy to Historic Festival 44 during Labor Day weekend, September 3–7, as the Connecticut circuit celebrates the return of Historic Trans Am racing to its 1.5-mile course.

The legendary trio, whose names are synonymous with Trans Am racing and have all had a wide-ranging impact on the sport, will appear throughout the weekend meeting fans, participating in autograph sessions and celebrating the era of American V8 road racing that defined the Trans Am series through the 1990s.

The Historic Trans Am run group will feature original race cars driven by many of the sport’s most celebrated competitors, including Dan Gurney, George Follmer, Parnelli Jones, Jim Hall, Mark Donohue and Sam Posey. The cars will compete throughout the weekend, returning the unmistakable sound and presence of classic Trans Am racing to Lime Rock Park.

Skip Barber, Event Chairman of Historic Festival and founder of the Skip Barber Racing School, said Kendall’s participation highlights the legacy of drivers who defined the Trans Am era.

“Tommy Kendall and Dorsey Schroeder were the drivers to beat in Trans Am,” Barber said. “Having Tommy, Dorsey and Mike Joy here with these cars at Lime Rock gives fans a chance to reconnect with an important chapter of American road racing history.”

Four-time Trans Am champion Kendall is one of the most accomplished drivers in Trans Am history.

Kendall’s connection to Lime Rock includes one of the most memorable performances of his career. At the 1997 Memorial Day Classic, driving the No. 11 Ford Mustang fielded by Jack Roush, Kendall qualified fastest and surged to the lead on the opening lap. He went on to lead all 66 laps of the 100-mile race, holding off Dorsey Schroeder, Paul Gentilozzi, Boris Said and Mike Borkowski.

Tommy Kendall drives the No. 01 ICI C&C Chevrolet Beretta during the 1989 Trans Am season. Kendall would go on to become one of the most successful drivers in the history of the series with four championships. Photo: Lime Rock Park Archives

That victory launched one of the most remarkable streaks in North American road racing. Kendall went on to win nine additional races that season, building an eleven-race winning run and securing his third consecutive and fourth career Trans Am championship

The event also reunites Kendall with longtime rival Dorsey Schroeder, who serves as Director of Competition for the Historic Festival. Schroeder won three Trans Am races at Lime Rock Park and captured the 1989 Trans Am championship in his rookie season before later competing in the International Race of Champions (IROC).

“Back in 1988, Dorsey and I were battling — I was in a Chevy Beretta and he was in a Dodge Daytona,” Kendall recalled. “He had the perfect car for Lime Rock, and Dorsey was crazy fast there. He knew the place like the back of his hand from all the laps he ran with Skip Barber and had a lot of confidence there. We got to Lime Rock and it wasn’t even close. Dorsey absolutely waxed us. You know how it looks on paper, so it wasn’t a total surprise, but you still talk yourself into believing you’re going to show up and pull off the miraculous. Hope isn’t a great strategy. I was able to hit back years later in Trans Am, but that one left a mark.”

Schroeder looks forward to being reunited with his former rival.

“To beat Tommy Kendall, you had to be at the top of your A-game,” Schroeder said. “Those years in Trans Am produced some incredible battles, and it’s special to see these cars back at Lime Rock where so much of that history happened.”

FOX Sports broadcaster Mike Joy will also compete in the Historic Trans Am group. The Connecticut native, who attended races at Lime Rock Park as a college student and covered the 1970 Trans Am race for his college radio station, will drive a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 originally campaigned by Tony DeLorenzo and Jerry Thompson.

“I am very proud that Lime Rock is my home track, and I love any opportunity to advance the event and the facility,” Joy said. “Historic Festival is my favorite event of the year. Helping bring Historic Trans Am back to Lime Rock makes this a very special weekend for me and my son.

Joy’s son, Scott Joy, will also compete during the weekend, driving a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 originally raced by Walter Parkins.

Celebrating its 44th year, the Lime Rock Historic Festival launches into action over Labor Day weekend with a 17-mile tour through the area with Thursday’s Historic Festival Parade presented by NBT Bank (Sept. 3). Friday, Saturday and Monday feature non-stop on-track competition from a diverse set of historic racing classes.

On Sunday (Sept. 6), Lime Rock Concours and Gathering of the Marques, the largest car show in the Northeast, will display nearly 1,000 classic cars and motorcycles arranged around the Lime Rock circuit.

Historic Festival 44 will celebrate Alfa Romeo as the featured marque and will showcase Historic Trans Am and Formula Junior as the event’s featured race groups.

For more information and tickets
https://limerock.com/events/historic-festival/

About Lime Rock Park

Lime Rock Park, located in Lakeville, Connecticut, is one of America’s most historic road racing circuits. Since opening in 1957, the 1.5-mile circuit has hosted generations of drivers and many of the sport’s most significant events, including Trans Am, IMSA, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Radical Cup, the SCCA, MiataCon and GRIDLIFE. Each Labor Day weekend The Park hosts Historic Festival, one of the premier vintage racing and automotive celebrations in North America.