Resurgent Trans Am Series Opens Lime Rock Park’s 2013 Season
F1600/Formula F, F2000 and VSCCA races also on slate
LAKEVILLE, Conn. — Yep, we know it’s a mouthful… What’s called the Lime Rock Park Season Opener featuring Trans Am and the Sunday Royals Garage Car Show benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project is Friday through Sunday, May 24-26.
Trans Am is America’s longest-running road racing championship – it debuted in 1966 – and after a fallow few years in the mid-2000s, the series has undergone a resurgence. The Lime Rock Park entry list is now at least 28 cars long – and may reach 30 by the start of the weekend.
(Click on these links for the Weekend Schedule, the Trans Am Entry List, and the F1600 and F2000 Entry Lists.)
Lime Rock has priced the event aggressively – weekend tickets are just $30 if purchased online before midnight Friday the 17th – and for that fans not only get seven races on Saturday, it includes the $5 donation to Wounded Warriors to come see the Sunday Royals Car Show, where more than 250 tri-state car owners are expected to park their rides on newly named Sam Posey Straight. Car show entrants are expected to donate $10.
Active and retired military personnel and their immediate families pay no admission fee for any of the three days at Lime Rock.
Saturday’s 67-lap/100.5-mile Trans Am race is round three of 10. The opener was at Sebring, Fla., in early Match, won by Doug Peterson in his 3Dimensional.com Chevy Corvette, with Cliff Ebben’s Ford Mustang second and stand-out female driver Amy Ruman third, also in a Vette.
The 2012 Trans Am champion (and winner of last year’s Lime Rock race), Simon Gregg, son of the late, star-crossed road racing star Peter Gregg, finished fourth at Sebring.
In Trans Am’s fastest growing class, dubbed TA2, the winner at Sebring was Cam Lawrence in a Chevy Camaro. TA2 cars are off-the-shelf Mustangs and Camaros (and likely soon, Dodge Challengers) that provide an affordable entre into the championship.
Trans Am Round two is this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (nee Mosport), followed immediately by Lime Rock’s round three on May 25.
Also on the Lime Rock Park slate are two races each for the Formula F/F1600 Championship and the F2000 Championship – wickedly competitive open-wheel series featuring mostly very young aspiring pros – plus two Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA) handicap races.
Sources: Rick Roso/Lime Rock Park PR