Corvettes upend the big bore production car race at Lime Rock Park HF41 over the 2023 Labor Day weekend
Last year the Corvette was the big deal at Lime Rock’s Historic Festival (HF40) honoring its 70th anniversary a year before everywhere else.
Race cars: https://rcrc.squarespace.com/keeping-track/2022/9/1/lime-rock-hf40-vintage-races
HF41 Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth featured the designs of Virgil Exner.
Skip Barber, (the omniscient octogenarian race director and former LRP and Racing School owner), stacked the big bore production car race with Porsches.
Even given their power, the heavier mass-produced Corvettes are rarely a good bet on the tight 1.5-mile circuit.
Only 2 Corvettes, the # 34 1965 coupe driven by youthful pro racer Scott Heckert, and the # 39 1978 IMSA GTO of Martin Hosek on outsized rear tires posed a threat.
The other threat was a trio of lightweight, craft-built early 1960s Jaguar XKEs fielded by Donovan Motorsports that enjoyed a horsepower/weight advantage. Particularly the # 61 driven this year by track maestro Jack Busch.
Tom Cotter a/k/a, the celebrity barn-find hunter and author, found himself with too many roles to fill and did not make the start in his # 33 1964 roadster.
Joe Foglia, a hands-on club racer and service station owner from NJ, was no match in his dated home-built # 50 1968 Corvette SCCA GT1, a veritable time capsule.
George Ladyman in his contemporary # 21 1969 SCCA BP Corvette found and built by Jim Glass rounded out the Corvette contingent.
No malice intended, it was fun watching Hosek run away from the pack even though Busch, coming fast from mid-field, nipped Heckert to finish 2nd.
Action photos courtesy of Bill Stoler.
