Lime Rock Park

The 1.530 mi (2.462 km) Lime Rock track was originally conceived of in 1956 by Jim Vaill, who, along with John Fitch and Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, built the track utilizing state-of-the-art road and highway safety principles of the time. The first race, a mix of G-Production class and an MG class, was held on April 28, 1957. The winner of the G-Production was Ted Sprigg in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta. The winner of the MG class was Charles Callanan in an MG TC.

In 1959, Lime Rock was the site of a notable upset, when Rodger Ward won a Formula Libre race driving an Offenhauser-engined midget car, usually used on oval tracks. Ward used an advantageous power-to-weight ratio and his dirt-track cornering abilities to defeat several highly regarded sports cars and drivers for the victory. The year, the track also hosted the Little Le Mans race, won by Charles Callanan and Roger Penske in a Fiat Abarth. In 2008, the track was re-paved and two new corner complexes were added.^[4]

The track has a loyal following,^[4] though it did face some resistance from the local community shortly after it opened. In 1959, the Lime Rock Protective Association, with support from the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church,^[5] took the park to Litchfield Superior Court in an effort to ban Sunday racing. The court issued a permanent injunction against Sunday racing, and its decision was upheld by the Connecticut Supreme Court. While restrictive, the carefully crafted injunction was also enabling. It preserved the track's right to conduct unmuffled sports car racing on Fridays and Saturdays, plus testing on Tuesdays and other operating benefits. The injunction stands to this day.^[6]

The track has featured many well-known racers including Paul Newman, who supported his own Newman-Haas team with Bob Sharp,^[7] Mario Andretti, Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, Sam Posey, and Mark Donohue.^[4] Other racers have included Parnelli Jones, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi, and Tom Cruise.^[8] Posey and Newman have sections of the circuit named for them.^[9][10]

The Rolex Sports Car Series, American Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have used a configuration which included the chicane at turn five and West Bend.

The track is a natural terrain road course, constructed over hilly terrain in the Berkshire Mountains, part of the greater Appalachian mountain range. The famous Appalachian Trail hiking route passes by the circuit on the ridge lines visible from the track a half mile to the east. The venue is somewhat unique in that it features no grandstands or bleacher seating, instead inviting fans to bring chairs and blankets and enjoy the racing from its grassy hillside areas under the shade of trees. While the venue is relatively compact, the relatively short track is renowned for its spectator experience, offering fans an up close view and close quarters racing.^[11][12]

For years the track was listed as being 1.530 mi (2.462 km) in length—the story goes that right after it was built, somebody used the odometer in a Chevrolet to measure the track length—and 1.53 was taken as gospel. Following the 2008 reconstruction (see below), Lime Rock's operations people measured all four possible configurations, and as it turns out, each was 1.500 mi (2.414 km) long, plus or minus a few hundred feet. The IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship gives the distance of the track as 1.474 mi (2.372 km).^[13] The "classic" configuration is seven turns, while the three optional layouts are eight, nine and ten turns, respectively.

Current

• May: Trans-Am Series Trans Am Memorial Day Classic
• July: International Race of Champions
• September: Lime Rock Historic Festival

Former

• American Le Mans Series
  • Northeast Grand Prix (2004–2013)
• Can-Am (1983–1985)
• Ferrari Challenge North America (1994–2001, 2003–2005, 2011–2013, 2016)
• Formula BMW Americas (2004, 2006–2009)
• IMSA GT Championship (1972–1998)
  • Northeast Grand Prix (1958–1964, 1986–1992)
• IMSA SportsCar Championship
  • Northeast Grand Prix (2015–2019, 2021–2023)
• IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (2023)
• Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America (2013)
• Michelin Pilot Challenge (2006–2019, 2021–2023)
• NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (1993–2010)
• NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (2010–2011)
• North American Touring Car Championship (1996)
• Pirelli World Challenge
  • Lime Rock Park Grand Prix (1992–1993, 1995–2005, 2007–2008, 2013, 2016–2018)
• Rolex Sports Car Series
  • Lime Rock Grand Prix (2000–2001, 2006–2008, 2010–2013)
• SCCA Continental Championship Formula 5000 (1968–1972)
• SCCA National Sports Car Championship (1958–1964)
• Star Mazda Championship (2004)
• United States Road Racing Championship
  • Lime Rock Grand Prix (1999)

The fastest unofficial all-time track record set during a race weekend is 0:43.112 seconds, set by P. J. Jones in a Toyota Eagle MkIII, during qualifying for the 1993 Toyota Trucks Lime Rock Grand Prix. As of July 2023, the fastest official race lap records at Lime Rock Park are listed as:

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  Lime Rock Park, Connecticut
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  Lime Rock Park, Connecticut
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  Lime Rock Park, Connecticut
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  View from the Sam Posey Straight spectator area during an American Le mans Series event
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  GT3 cars battle through "The Left Hander", turn 3, headed up towards Paul Newman Straight during an IMSA event at Lime Rock Park

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lime Rock Park.

• Official website
• Documentary by Chris Szwedo
• Skip Barber Racing School (Uses Macromedia Flash)
• Lime Rock Park race results at Racing-Reference