Throwback Gallery: 43rd Lime Rock park Historic Festival
8/31/2026: The Lime Rock Park Historic Festival is a gear heads dream weekend. It starts on the Thursday leading into Labor Day weekend with a race car parade. The 17-mile parade route begins on Sam Posey Straight, winds its way through beautiful farm land, through Lakeville, to downtown Salisbury where it reverses direction and follows an equally pristine route eventually terminating in Falls Village where the celebration begins with a public street fair. The race cars are all parked on the street to allow the crowds an opportunity to get up close to them to check them out. Between the live music, food vendors and the smell of old race car, this is one of my favorite parts of Historic Festival.
The on-track action starts on Friday with a practice and qualifying day for all 9 race groups. That’s right, 9 race groups, totaling around 300 race cars. Everything from pre-war (WWII) Grand Prix cars, to somewhat modern touring cars from the 90s and early 2000s. Friday is the quietest day of the weekend for me. A typically smaller crowd than on the weekend and none of the festivities of a race day mean I can spend the day focused on the race track.
Saturday and Monday are both the race days. Each day all 9 race groups have 2 20-minute races, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each group is different. They sound different, they feel different, and some are more competitive than others. Some groups are made up of small bore 4-bangers that feature a high amount of agility while the big bore V8s carry a lot of speed and shake the ground under your feet as they go by. My favorite group every year is the “Wings and Slicks” group of vintage prototype and open wheeled racers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. These cars represent the pinnacle of the racing technology of their eras and the aerodynamic shape of their bodies can really play well with good light.
Sandwiched between the race days is the annual Sunday in the Park Concours d’Elegance and Gathering of the Marques car show. LRP is located in an idyllic New England town called Lakeville and across the street from the race track is Trinity Lime Rock Church. Because of the track’s proximity to the church, there is a town ordinance outlawing the starting of race engines on Sundays. So, since they can’t race, they show. The track is transformed into a 1.5 mile long car show. On the Sam Posey Straight is the world class Concours d’Elegance, featuring some of the most beautiful and rare cars from all points of automotive history. Starting in Big Bend and extending all the way around the rest of the track is the Gathering of the Marques, where the cars are placed together based on brand. All told this show usually showcases somewhere near 1000 cars and there is never a year that goes by that I don’t get to see something I’ve never seen before.
For me and Greg Clark, LRP’s Lead Photographer, the Sunday in the Park day ends with setting up and taking the official featured collection photo on the Sam Posey Straight. The cover photo above is the Rob Dyson collection photo with Rob sitting on the Porsche 962 he won in with Drake Olson at the Coca-Cola 500 at Lime Rock Park in 1985. Coincidentally, that race in ‘85 was the first race I ever attended at LRP. I was 6-years old. Having this photo in my portfolio is cherry on top for me. I love it so much that I had 2 art prints made of it, signed them both and sent them to Dyson asking him to keep one and sign the other. He did, and now that signed print hangs on the wall above my desk in my office.
Below is a selection of my favorite photos from Historic Festival 43. Enjoy!
