Lime Rock “Well Prepared” to Welcome Back IMSA

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Dicky Riegel says Lime Rock Park is “well prepared” to welcome back IMSA after what will be a three-year hiatus by the time the recently announced Michelin Pilot Challenge headline event takes place in 2027.

Confirmed in the recent release of next year’s calendar for Pilot Challenge, the historic 1.5-mile Connecticut bullring will host IMSA’s GT4/TCR-based series, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge as well as an IMSA-sanctioned single-make series next September.

It comes as the second headline Pilot Challenge event, joining Mid-Ohio, and will bring IMSA-sanctioned competition back to the Northeast for the first time since 2023.

“I was that proverbial squeaky wheel to make sure we had the chance to bring IMSA racing back to these rabid fans we have in the Northeast,” said Reigel, the track President and CEO.

“That IMSA tradition does go back to 1972. When we had to unfortunately say, IMSA was not going to be part of the last couple of years’ schedules…

“We have exceptional fans, exceptional ownership, exceptional participants. Our club, every group is beyond thrilled to welcome IMSA back.”

IMSA’s return, which will be a three-day event that will run from Sept. 23-25 2027, will coincide with the 70th year of Lime Rock Park.

“I feel like we’re very, very well prepared for this welcome back for IMSA,” said Riegel. “We feel like it’s the very right time to do it.

“The track is ready. We welcomed back a mainline NASCAR series with the Craftsman Truck Series last year, coming back again this year.

“We already extended our pit lane to 1,008 feet to accommodate those trucks that demand a longer pit box, 36 of them.

“Coincidently, it fits very nicely with with the huge field we anticipate with Michelin Pilot Challenge.

“Lime Rock, at 1.53 miles, the famed ‘bullring’ is really a great place for that exceptional racing.

“I’ve got a personal history with it. I’m not sure there’s better racing at Lime Rock Park than Michelin Pilot Challenge.”

With the most recent round of Pilot Challenge, at Sebring International Raceway, attracting a 49-car field, IMSA President Joh Doonan feels that the recent track work done to accommodate the NASCAR Trucks could enable a similar-sized grid if necessary.

Doonan downplayed the prospect of having split GS/TCR races, which has occurred in the past at the track during the Grand-Am era.

“With what’s being done to accommodate NASCAR Craftsman Trucks, our pit boxes, those will be 28-foot boxes,” said Doonan.

“We could – we’ll see – 50 cars on track is a lot at that place – but we could do 50, technically, on pit lane. It would end up being 21-foot boxes.

“Because the two classes don’t pit at the same time, we could do it.”

Doonan: Lime Rock Addition Serves as “Budget Savings” for Teams

With Lime Rock replacing the Pilot Challenge round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, it will turn the series into a East Coast-only series, which Doonan said will be cost-savings for competitors.

“We made a choice, based on feedback, also from our race teams, about taking the Michelin Pilot Challenge race that has been at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca the last many years and not force the teams to go out west,” he said.

“It’s a budget savings for those teams. Obviously it’s a great market to visit; it’s one of my favorite markets to visit around a race track.

“But we also have a very, very rich tradition at Lime Rock Park.

“As a kid, my dad and I would go to the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, and as soon as the race was over, we’d drive all night to be at Lime Rock on Monday for the IMSA race.

“We’re not going there on Memorial Day this year but maybe some day. I’d love to have that tradition back.

“One of my favorite memories that I’ve read about is Lime Rock Park in the early ’70s when we had what was essentially Michelin Pilot of the day, with production car racing there.

“We’re thrilled to take the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge back to Lime Rock.

“I know there’s a lot of teams that have headquarters east of the Mississippi, many of them north of the Mason-Dixon Line as well.

“To be able to go back to Lime Rock I think is a neat opportunity.

“It’s going to be stunningly beautiful there with beautiful fall colors and championship battles that will be coming straight out of Indianapolis and headed to Michelin Raceway to close it out.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John