Lime Rock Park - American Le Mans Series, 2006
It was off to Lime Rock Raceway for the ALMS race on the first of July. Jackie & I flew up north, went to our daughter Sarah's place, picked up Jackie's C5 and traveled into the hills of northwestern Connecticut for the race. We had agreed to run the Chevrolet Corvette Corral on behalf of the National Corvette Museum. We arrived on Friday morning and were glad to see Larry Hayes from IMSA there to greet us and set us on our course:
We also met Amy Manardo, Promotions Manager - Chevrolet Racing:
.. who was with us all weekend and a great big help. After a few minutes, our volunteers arrived and after the "hellos" and hugs it was off to set up the corral and prepare to park the Corvettes. From that moment on, the whole crew was busy until the end of the race. Sarah not only helped at our corral, but was the photographer for not only the Corvette corral, but also the Porsche corral and even found time to get into the hot pits for some great shots. I have to brag that most of these pictures are taken by her:
Friday evening found us in a small motel for the evening and after a great dinner, notice how our friend John really got into the swing of things:
..we all went to our room for a little decompression time. I will show the pictures of the weed-whacker, but perhaps you can put you own captions to go with the pictures:
Saturday was race day, so we found many people arriving before the chickens to get a chance to be one of the first fifty cars to get a parade lap of the track before the race. It was a bit of pandemonium, but we managed to get through it:
We were even given twenty-five extra spaces so more of the group could go. Before we could get on the track, all the drivers and passengers:
..were told all about the rules by IMSA officials:
For the most part, all obeyed. It's hard to get people to understand that if they just try and bend them a little, the next year it may not be as easy to have the laps. Believe me, those who went had a ball!
This is Harlen Charles, Corvette Product Manager and his lovely wife, Mai
After the laps, the drivers of the C6R came up to the corral and picked the cars they liked for the Celebrity Awards:
It was just before the race, so they had to return to the pits and get to their work for the day:
It always seems that no matter how busy the drivers are, they always find time to help us out. On behalf of Chevrolet and The National Corvette Museum all I can say is "Thanks."
We also picked tickets for different people to receive pace car rides, be flag holders:
.. and one lucky person even got to go into the hot pits while the race was on:
I mean, how much fun can the participants have? Is this carrying the crossed flags too far?:
Then it was on to the tarmac for the pre-race ceremonies:
.. even the volunteers got to go:
"We share birthdays!"
"Come on, Doug; I only need this little thing for the NCM"
.. and then off to your favorite spot to watch the race. It was a battle for the Corvettes right from the start and it continued until the very end. Here at random are some pictures from the hot pits; enjoy!
The #3 car fought and fought until at the end there was only two feet of distance between first and second place. Some of the workers just stayed in the tent and watched the race on TV. Some of them were just plain bushed:
After the completion of the race, a group of us took our time to button up the things that had to be shipped to the next event and even got to put some of the display vehicles away for their trip to Detroit and Utah. Here is Sarah driving one of the SSR pace cars:
..and look how Jackie & I fit in the passenger seat!
We said "good-bye" to many of our friends and a few of us went on to dinner. Well, you know when you have a group of individuals who have been working for two days and let them have a little alcohol, there can be fun. Our daughter was presented with some type of Flamingo spinner:
After a great meal we all proceeded to our respective homes for the duration of the holiday weekend.
Both Jackie & I would like to thank all of you for your help and consideration to make the corral such a success.
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