By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

Driving down sleepy Route 112 on a weekday afternoon in May, the average motorist would never know that Lime Rock Park is absolutely humming with activity. I, for one, expected the track office to contain one or two part-time workers and the grounds to be relatively empty. Not exactly–the small track office houses a dozen full-time, year-round employees and there were easily 30 people scattered across the 384-acre park working on a multitude of projects.

“The Park”, as employees refer to it, is in the midst of a major infrastructure upgrade that includes redoing both paddocks and moving 100,000 square yards of earth to extend the favored spectator spot, a high hill above “The Righthander” (one of seven turns on the 1.5 mile track). They are in the process of building new bathrooms and ponds, installing fountains, planting flowers, trees and grass. They expect to have 80 percent of the work done by July and lamented that they would still be “under construction” Memorial Day weekend, when one of their biggest spectator events of the year is held.

Owner Skip Barber’s intent with all these projects is to keep Lime Rock Park the uniquely picturesque racing venue that it has always been, and he is especially keen on making their paddock the most beautiful one in North America. It certainly is well on its way–lined in cobblestone, laser-graded and paved and surrounded by beautiful landscaping, this is not what you expect to see at a race track.

The camping area, a fan favorite, is also getting a complete re-do. There are no electrical hook-ups, and that’s just how everyone wants it, but they are enhancing the grounds and will continue to bring in the high-end shower stall trailers. Camping at Lime Rock is a long-standing tradition, with the same families parking in the same site, decade after decade. With 347 camping spots, 41 places for RVs and 50 overflow spaces, there’s plenty of room. Camping is minimally charged ($15 for the weekend if reserved in advance), general parking is free and kids under 12 don’t need a ticket for admittance.

Despite the numerous ongoing projects at Lime Rock this summer, there is one part of the park that will never change—the track. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Lime Rock’s track was so well designed back in 1956 that there has never been any reason to change it. It was repaved in 2008, with Barber keeping constant watch to ensure that not one aspect of the original track was compromised in the process.

I didn’t expect to meet him on my visit, but minutes into my stay an orange Special Edition BMW M3 ambled up and a youthful older man, who I assumed wasn’t a day over 65, introduced himself as Skip Barber, smiled and sped off with a roar of the engine. It then occurred to me that nothing happens at the park that Barber isn’t aware of (and it turns out he’s an extremely youthful 79). He has no children, and his mantra is, “It’s all about the fans,” so park devotees need not worry–trusts are in place to ensure that the track endures in all its present glory long after he’s gone.

Barber is a Sharon, Conn. resident who bought the track (along with six other investors) from a Greek playboy in the mid 1970’s. Desperate to keep the park from being overdeveloped, each investor took out individual mortgages for the transaction, but Barber eventually bought the other investors out and maintained sole-ownership of the park by 1995. He takes a salary, but doesn’t take any money out of the enterprise, so all profits go right back into the park. He sold the Skip Barber Racing School, which he started shortly after retiring from the professional racing circuit in 1975, to an LLC in 1999. The school is still housed at the park and rents the track 40 times a year, as do a multitude of other groups.

While Lime Rock is best known for its huge spectator events on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends (and its fireworks display every Fourth of July), the track gets plenty of use throughout the summer, as well as the rest of the year. The track itself is open from mid-March to mid-November and the autocross never closes. The park is available for private rentals, hosts dozens of small events and a large number of fundraising events. “If it benefits northwest Connecticut, Skip Barber never says no,” shared Rick Roso, Lime Rock’s public relations director.

With all the good vibes Lime Rock sends out into the community, there remains that one little detail that makes them “bad” to some neighbors…noise. You can hear the engines on a still day in Norfolk (a little less than 10 miles as the crow flies), so it’s not surprising that shortly after the track’s opening nearly 60 years ago, the church across the street petitioned to close the track. Ultimately, they convinced a Litchfield County judge to prohibit racing on Sundays, a tradition that continues today despite Sunday being the typical race day elsewhere in the country. On major spectator event weekends, the park holds car shows and fundraising events on Sundays. Barber has a self-imposed noise limit of 86 decibels for non-spectator events and allows just 17 “unmuffled” days per year.

If you haven’t been to Lime Rock in a while, there are plenty of upcoming events to choose from. The remaining big spectator events of the season are: the TUDOR United Sports Car Challenge on July 24 and 25, the Historic Festival 33 on Labor Day weekend and two Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) amateur racing events on June 20 and October 3. There’s also the Muddy Chef Challenge, a Land Rover event, from July 30 to August 2 and the Autocross Championship on October 31. And then there are all the opportunities to actually drive the track or autocross. Visit their website, limerock.com for details.

Photo by Rick Roso.