Trans-Am Reunion Races at Lime Rock Park

September 5, 2022 fittiLotus72 489 Views 40th vintage fall festival, bud moore mustang, corning glass camaro, Dan Gurney, dan gurney cougar, george follmer mustang, lime rock park, lime rock vintage fall festival, parnelli jones mustang, penske sunoco camaro, penske sunoco javelin, roger penske racing, roy woods amc javelin, sam posey, sam posey dodge challenger, stingray, trans-am dodge challenger, trans-am mercury cougar, trans-am mustang, trans-am reunion races

A thunderous symphony of wide-open V8 sound

One of the highlights of the 2022 Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock Park were the Trans-Am Reunion Races. A sparkling field of cars from the “1967-1972 golden era” of the Trans-Am series came together for a great show and the drivers of these vintage racers clearly came to race…hard.

All of the vintage Trans-Am cars were very nicely presented and prepared. I drank in the sights, sounds and fumes of these great cars having not experienced the series in its acknowledged heyday. I was standing right next to the ex-Sam Posey Dodge Challenger when the signal was given to start the cars.

I’m familiar with the close-up pleasures of internal combustion engines having spent many years around racing vehicles. For reasons I can’t explain I still have decent hearing.

This was something completely different. It was glorious in every way. The rumbling low pitch of the V8 engines brought a huge smile to my face. Open exhausts and the aroma of spent racing fuel will do that. Every time the drivers blipped their throttles my smile got wider.

A friend commented: “they sound like almost Can-Am cars”. Perfectly described.

And then they raced

Maybe it was the many GM executives in attendance for the three splendid tents filled with rare Corvettes or maybe the drivers were determined to show the fans what it was really like back then.

Whatever it was the drivers were racing really hard and a few times cars went 3-wide down the front straight. Passing into turn 1 was daring and late. Throughout the 20 minutes the racing was serious but without fender-bending. Most enjoyable for me were the two AMC Javelins going back and forth every lap to prove who had the faster mount.

I could get used to this!

The Trans-Am Reunion Races at Lime Rock Park were a wonderful addition to an already spectacular Vintage Fall Festival. This was the 40th iteration of a Labor Day Weekend tradition in the Northeast. Lime Rock Park itself gets better every year and this event is a must-see for all racing fans.

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