Lime Rock’s New “Uphill”

From May 27 to July 3, Lime Rock Park underwent a major transformation. Not only was the original 7-turn configuration completely re-paved, re-curbed and re-guardrailed, but Skip Barber went a step further. He designed and had built two new (optional) corner complexes, at The Uphill and West Bend. Mainly in the interest of slowing some of the fastest racecars (ALMS and Grand-Am prototypes, for instance), he also wanted additional passing zones. On the morning of July 4, the first driver on the track in a racecar was the venerable Sam Posey, piloting a recently restored 1981 PRS RH2 Formula Ford. But the next drivers on track were a clutch of Skip Barber instructors, putting in hot laps for more than an hour in the 2.0-liter Formula Skip Barber open-wheelers; Dean DiGiacomo, Jason Holehouse, Bruce MacInnes, John Murphy, Mark Hamilton Peters, Matt Sklarz and R.B. Stiewing. Vintage Racecar readers are among the very first to read how the “new” Uphill is to be driven, courtesy of Murphy… – Rick Roso, Skip Barber

One of my all time favorite tracks is Lime Rock Park, a venue I first saw as a boy thanks to my parents’ own fascination with this unique circuit. Since then, I’ve had many opportunities to drive a variety of street and race cars at the track: Atlantics, NASCAR stockers, Formula Fords, Ferraris, Mustangs, Z28s, you name it. I’m not the only driver who loves Lime Rock’s high speeds and dramatic elevation changes, and over the years I’ve experienced every one of Lime Rock’s different “personalities,” from relatively smooth to extremely bumpy to concrete patches and now, back to amazingly smooth. After Sam’s run, it was up to me and my Skippy cohorts to see what the “new” Lime Rock was like—we had a racing school to teach there in less than three hours!