This Saturday, the inexperienced flag will wave at Lime Rock Park for the SpeedTour All-Star Race. 20 legendary motorsports icons from NASCAR, IndyCar, Method 1, IMSA, grime racing, sports activities automobiles and highway racing will likely be paired with 20 present drivers within the Trans Am Collection offered by Pirelli and SVRA’s TA2 Membership to share a CUBE 3 Structure TA2 Collection automotive and compete in a 60-minute race for a $50,000 winner-takes-all prize.
The All-Star drivers competing have earned a cumulative 11 NASCAR championships, an IndyCar championship, 13 highway racing championships, an IROC championship, three USAC championships, 4 Rallycross championships and three off-road championships. The All-Star discipline additionally contains Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 winners, rivals who’ve stood atop the rostrum on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nürburgring and Daytona, and those that have competed on racing’s largest phases all over the world.
The All-Stars aren’t the one draw for this weekend’s festivities, as the present execs they’re racing with are stars in their very own proper, accounting for practically 800 begins in Trans Am’s Nationwide and Western Championships and TA2 Membership, 52 victories, greater than 200 top-five finishes and 6 championship titles.
Schedule:
Autograph Classes
Friday, July 19
2:10-3:10 p.m. ET
Location: IROC Tent in Paddock
Saturday, July 20
9:00-9:30 a.m. ET
Location: IROC Tent in Paddock
Follow
Friday, July 19
11:10-11:50 a.m. ET
Qualifying:
Friday, July 19
3:50-4:20 p.m. ET
Race:
Saturday, July 20
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Race Size: 60 Minutes
TV Broadcast:
LIVE on MAVTV
Lineup:
- Paul Menard and Adrian Wlostowski: No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang
- Davey Hamilton and Alan Davison: No. 6 FPEC Racing Ford Mustang
- Danny Sullivan and Paul Ruth: No. 11 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
- Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jim Gallaugher: No. 16 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang
- Scott Pace and Tristan McKee: No. 17 Crew SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro
- Bobby Labonte and Thomas Merrill: No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang
- Greg Biffle and Barry Boes: No. 27 Crew SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang
- Ken Schrader and Connor Mosack: No. 28 Crew SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro
- Boris Stated and Boris Stated Jr.: No. 33 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
- Casey Mears and Edward Sevadjian: No. 38 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
- Pippa Mann and Amy Ruman: No. 39 Concierge Motorsports Ford Mustang
- Adam Andretti and AJ Henriksen: No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
- Davy Jones and Sam LeComte: No. 69 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
- Andy Lally and Brent Crews: No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
- Hailie Deegan and Ben Maier: No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
- Ryan Newman and Thomas Annunziata: No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
- Geoff Brabham and Tom Sheehan: No. 97 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang
- Todd Bodine and John Atwell: No. 02 XLINE Race Automobiles Ford Mustang
- Ron Fellows and Ethan Barker: No. 07 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
- Mike Skinner and Ryan Gemmell: No. 689 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
Much more stars
The 40 All-Star and professional drivers within the SpeedTour All-Star Race aren’t the one stars that will likely be shining this weekend at Lime Rock Park. NASCAR and modified driver Geoff Bodine will function Grand Marshal for the occasion, giving the command to begin engines. Acknowledged as one in every of NASCAR’s All-Time Prime 10 Modified Drivers, he holds a Guinness World Report for probably the most wins in a single season, with 55 modified function wins in 1978. Named as one in every of NASCAR’s 50 Biggest Drivers, Bodine was the 1982 Cup Collection Rookie of the Yr and went on to win the 1986 Daytona 500. In 1987, he received the IROC Championship whereas competing in opposition to a number of the greatest racers on the planet.
Al Unser Jr. will function a shade commentator for the nationwide tv broadcast on MAVTV, in addition to for the livestream. Unser Jr. is a two-time IndyCar champion (1990, 1994), in addition to a two-time winner of the famend Indianapolis 500 (1992, 1994). A flexible racer, he’s stood atop the rostrum in every single place from the Lengthy Seaside Grand Prix (six instances), to the Rolex 24 at Daytona (twice), the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and in World of Outlaws races. Along with his two IndyCar titles, his championship accolades embody the 1981 SCCA Tremendous Vee Gold Cup, 1982 Can-Am Championship and two IROC Championships (1986, 1988).
Along with the SpeedTour All-Star Race, these in attendance this weekend will get to see the primary IROC occasion in practically 20 years, with a 30-minute exhibition occasion on Saturday afternoon. Lots of the drivers will likely be reunited with their unique race automobiles from the totally different eras of the collection, which initially ran from 1973-2006. Headlining the IROC entry checklist is Mark Martin, who has a document 13 IROC victories and 5 championships, greater than some other driver in collection historical past. Martin additionally competed within the NASCAR Cup Collection for greater than 30 years, incomes 40 victories and 56 poles.
One other pair of execs
Two extra present professional drivers have been added to the entry checklist, bringing the All-Star Race discipline as much as 40 drivers in 20 automobiles. 25-year-old Connor Mosack is now paired with Ken Schrader. Mosack has been competing within the CUBE 3 Structure TA2 Collection since 2020 and has scored two-career victories, 18 prime fives and 23 top-10 finishes.
15-year-old Ben Maier will group up with Hailie Deegan in his personal No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang. Maier earned his first-career TA2 victory and pole earlier this season at World Large Know-how Raceway and at the moment sits fourth within the CUBE 3 Structure TA2 Collection Nationwide Championship standings.
Fan actions
This weekend’s SpeedTour All-Star Race will give followers unprecedented entry to the All-Star drivers and Trans Am’s stars. Along with SpeedTour’s open paddock, spectators could have 4 alternatives to fulfill their favourite drivers and get autographs:
Friday, July 19
1:30-1:45 p.m. ET: IROC Panel Dialogue
2:10-3:10 p.m. ET: SpeedTour All-Star Race Autograph Session at IROC Tent in Paddock
Saturday, July 20
9:00-9:30 a.m. ET: SpeedTour All-Star Race Autograph Session at IROC Tent in Paddock
12:00-12:40 p.m. ET: SpeedTour All-Star Race Fan Stroll on Pit Lane
Previous winners at Lime Rock
There are a selection of drivers on this weekend’s SpeedTour All-Star Race who’ve discovered success at Lime Rock Park in numerous types of motorsports.
The latest winner of this weekend’s entrants is Paul Menard, who earned a win in Trans Am’s TA class on the monitor on Memorial Day.
Thomas Merrill has three victories on the monitor (2019, 2022, 2023) within the CUBE 3 Structure TA2 Collection, tying him with Chris Dyson and Dorsey Schrader for probably the most victories within the Trans Am Collection at Lime Rock Park.
Andy Lally has 4 victories at Lime Rock Park, together with Grand-Am wins on the monitor in 2001 and 2006, an American Le Mans Collection victory in 2010, and an IMSA win in 2016.
Boris Stated received an SCCA Professional Racing World Problem T Class race in 1996 and a Trans Am TA class race in 2002.
Ken Schrader earned a NASCAR Xfinity Collection win in 1993.
Ron Fellows earned a victory in Trans Am’s TA class in 1992.
Geoff Brabham has back-to-back wins at Lime Rock within the IMSA GT Championship in 1988 and 1989.
A number of drivers on this weekend’s discipline are from near Lime Rock Park and the encircling New England space.
Andy Lally (Northport, N.Y.)
Todd Bodine (Chemung, N.Y.)
Adrian Wlostowski (Maspeth, N.Y.)
Thomas Annunziata (Colts Neck, N.J.)
Tom Sheehan (Bow, N.H.)
This weekend’s race has three feminine drivers entered, with one all-female pairing, and between the three of them, quite a lot of information have been damaged.
Pippa Mann is a seven-time Indianapolis 500 competitor and the primary feminine driver to set a lap time over 230 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A winner in Indy NXT, she has completed on the rostrum on the 24 Hours of Nürburgring 3 times in a GT4 automotive. She can also be the CEO of Shift Up Now, a company which focuses on the development of girls in motorsports. Mann is paired with Amy Ruman, the primary feminine Trans Am champion, going back-to-back to take the Nationwide Championship title within the TA class in 2015 and 2016. She has made 157 begins within the TA collection, the third-most of any energetic driver in Trans Am. She has scored 16 victories and 97 top-five finishes within the collection.
Hailie Deegan is a three-time champion within the Lucas Oil Off Street Professional Collection, and is the one feminine driver to ever accomplish that feat. She can also be the one youth driver to win the Lucas Oil Off Street Professional Collection Driver of the Yr award, an honor she took on the age of 15. Since 2018, Deegan has been climbing up the inventory automotive and sports activities automotive ladder. Profitable within the ARCA Menards Collection West, Deegan recorded prime fives and prime 10s as she moved via the ranks within the ARCA Menards Collection and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Collection. She kicked off the 2023 season by main laps en path to her first sports activities automotive podium within the IMSA Michelin Pilot Problem. By 2024, she moved as much as the NASCAR Xfinity Collection, the place she’s recorded a career-best Twelfth-place end at Talladega Superspeedway.
Technology hole
Pairing motorsports’ largest names with rising abilities has led to giant age gaps between a number of the driver pairings, which can make for attention-grabbing matchups. The largest hole between driver pairings is 46 years, which is the distinction between Ron Fellows and Ethan Barker.
The youngest mixed age of any two rivals is the pairing of Hailie Deegan (23) and Ben Maier (15), who’re a mixed complete of 38. Deegan turns 23 simply two days earlier than the race.
Ron Fellows (64) and Ethan Barker (18): 46 years
Ken Schrader (69) and Connor Mosack (25): 44 years
Boris Stated (61) and Boris Stated Jr. (20): 41 years
Andy Lally (49) and Brent Crews (16): 33 years
The pair of drivers that may win the SpeedTour All-Star Race is anybody’s guess, however there’s some drivers within the discipline who’ve the benefit of seat time within the 530-horsepower CUBE 3 Structure TA2 Collection automobiles. Tom Sheehan has probably the most begins of any TA2 driver in historical past with 146, 9 of which have come at Lime Rock Park. Thomas Merrill is the one entrant who has really pushed to Victory Lane on the monitor in a TA2 automotive, which he has finished 3 times. Under are the drivers with probably the most TA2 expertise at Lime Rock’s 1.478-mile circuit:
Tom Sheehan: 146 begins, 9 begins at Lime Rock
Adam Andretti: 69 begins, 3 begins at Lime Rock
Thomas Merrill: 60 begins, 5 begins and three wins at Lime Rock
Barry Boes: 57 begins, 4 begins at Lime Rock
Adrian Wlostowski: 45 begins, 4 begins at Lime Rock
Jim Gallaugher: 43 begins, 3 begins at Lime Rock
Connor Mosack: 39 begins, 3 begins at Lime Rock
Boris Stated Jr. 20 begins, 2 begins at Lime Rock
Brent Crews: 28 begins, 2 begins at Lime Rock
Ben Maier: 19 begins, 2 begins at Lime Rock
AJ Henriksen: 16 begins, 2 begins at Lime Rock
Teammates
Sharing a race automotive turns into simpler with a little bit of chemistry, and two pairings come into the SpeedTour All-Star Race with somewhat little bit of a bonus. Adam Andretti and AJ Henriksen spent quite a lot of years racing as teammates at ECC Motorsports in each the TA and TA2 lessons.
Boris Stated has served for instance and a mentor to his son, Boris Stated Jr., racing professionally since lengthy earlier than the youthful Stated was born. Nevertheless, they’ve solely pushed side-by-side as teammates in the identical race as soon as: At VIRginia Worldwide Raceway in 2022, the 2 Saids drove collectively in a CUBE 3 Structure TA2 Collection race, each fielded by Peterson Racing.
