NASCAR Times Two: Whelen Modifieds to Race at Lime Rock Park Same Weekend as Camping World Series East
NASCAR double-header date is July 2-3, 2010
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is coming to Lime Rock Park for the first time ever, joining the Camping World Series East race weekend of July 2-3, 2010. Both races are scheduled at this point to be 66-laps (101 miles).
The Whelen Tour has not held a road-course race since 2000. The 625 h.p., 2,500 lb., 150 m.p.h. modifieds will run Lime Rock’s 1.53-mile circuit in the traditional clockwise direction.
Modifieds represent NASCAR’s oldest division (the first NASCAR-sanctioned event was a modified race), and what is now the popular Whelen Modified Tour begins its 26th year in 2010.
Lime Rock President Skip Barber said, “We didn’t announce our moving of the Camping World East event from August to the July 4 weekend until now because we were working on securing the Whelen Modifieds, too. Now that we’ve done that, we’re very pleased to have put together a really good NASCAR double-header weekend for the fans.”
Support races for the NASCAR twin-bill are still to be announced.
The confirmation of the NASCAR weekend completes Lime Rock Park’s major spectator-event schedule for its 2010 professional racing dates…
Following the opening of the track in March or April for the Skip Barber Racing School, car clubs and SCCA races (plus private track days for members of the Lime Rock Drivers Club), the first major spectator event of 2010 is the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series during the Memorial Day weekend of May 28-31. This is the first time that Grand-Am’s Daytona Prototypes (the same teams and cars that race at the Daytona 24 Hours) have raced at Lime Rock.
(Note: Also on the slate is the Grand-Am KONI Challenge series, which will have practice and qualifying on Friday, May 28, followed by separate GS and ST races on Saturday, May 29. Then the Rolex Daytona Prototypes and GTs will practice, qualify and race on Monday, May 31. Support races in addition to the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge series include the Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda and a still-to-be-announced development series.)
Announced today is the July 2-3 date for the NASCAR twin-bill of the Camping World Series East and the Whelen Modified Tour. Additional support series for this Friday/Saturday event are still to be announced. Lime Rock will stage its traditional fireworks show during the weekend.
Next will be the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), which comes to Lakeville July 23-24 for the seventh consecutive year. At Lime Rock for the ALMS Northeast Grand Prix will be Le Mans Prototype (LMP), Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC), Grand Touring (GT) and Grand Touring Challenge (GTC). Support series will include the Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda, the F2000 Championship Series (official development series of USF1), and the IMSA Lites Championship Presented by Frisby Performance Tire.
The East Coast’s most prestigious vintage racing weekend is Lime Rock’s annual Labor Day event, the 28th Vintage Festival, September 3-6. Look for further announcements regarding featured cars and honored guests as well as information about the new-and-improved “Sunday in the Park” car show.
In addition to the four professional events, the spectator racing schedule for 2010 concludes October 1-2 with the traditional SCCA North Atlantic Road Racing Championship (NARRC) run-offs.
2010 Lime Rock Park Major Spectator-Event Schedule:
May 28-31, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series (Daytona Prototypes and GT); KONI Sports Car Challenge (Grand Sports and Street Tuner); Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda
July 2-3, NASCAR Camping World Series East; NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour; support races TBA
July 23-24, American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Northeast Grand Prix; Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda; F2000 Championship Series (official development series of USF1); IMSA Lites Championship Presented by Frisby Performance Tire
September 3-6, the 28th Annual Vintage Festival
October 1-2, SCCA North Atlantic Road Racing Championship (NARRC) run-offs
In 2010 Lime Rock Park will celebrate its 54th year as the Road Racing Center of the East. Including the annual staging of at least four professional racing events, Lime Rock in total welcomes hundreds of thousands of people each year between April and November hosting driving clubs, racing schools and driving schools including Skip Barber, BMW, Porsche, CVR-PCA, SCDA and EMRA (plus the track’s members-only Lime Rock Drivers Club); SCCA regional and national races and the NARRC run-offs; and open test-days and manufacturer programs. In addition, as an active local affairs leader, Lime Rock Park welcomes many through its gates as host to community events, regional high school and college projects, fundraisers, Chamber of Commerce programs and numerous other special projects and events. More information can be found at www.limerock.com and www.limerockclub.com. The track and the Club can be reached at 1.800.722.3577.
Sources: Lime Rock Park