Hemmings Motor News to Host Sports and Exotic Car Show on May 28

The Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show will feature pre-1989 models from Europe and Japan. (Photo courtesy of Hemmings Motor News)

Lime Rock Park has a longstanding tradition of featuring production-based sports car racing on Memorial Day weekend; one that will be revitalized with the return of the Grand American Road Racing Association on May 26-29.

And with the help of Hemmings Motor News another Memorial Day weekend institution will be revived at Lime Rock this season.

There is no racing on Sundays at Lime Rock, so the track typically holds a car show to entertain its fans on that day. Well no one puts on a car show quite like Hemmings and on Sunday, May 28, your favorite magazine will be the driving force behind the biggest and best sports and exotic car show ever held at America’s Most Beautiful race track.

"We're thrilled to be holding our inaugural Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show at this world-class facility," said Hemmings Publisher Jim Menneto. "We expect this event to be one of the biggest vintage international car shows in the Northeast."

The Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show will showcase pre-1989 sports, exotic and GT cars from Italy, Great Britain, Germany, France, Sweden and Japan.

Cars will be judged by a panel of experts from the staff at Hemmings Motor News and trophies will be awarded for the following categories: People’s Choice, Publisher’s Choice, Editor’s Choice and Favorite British, French, Italian, Japanese and Swedish cars. A photograph of the winning cars will also be published in an upcoming issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car magazine.

To register for the Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show contact T. Grande at 1-800-227-4373, ext. 500 or by e-mail at tgrande@hemmings.com. Car owners can also register online at http://www.hemmings.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.limerock. The first 300 registrants will receive a free commemorative dash plaque.

On-site registration on Sunday, May 28, will begin at 7 a.m. The cost to register a car is $20 for the driver. Admission for a second person with the registered car is just $10. Each subsequent person with the car must pay full price for admission to the show.

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Spectator tickets are just $15 in advance and $20 at the gate and are available online at www.limerock.com.

The Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show will be an unbeatable bridge between the world-class sports car racing from Grand American on Friday, Saturday and Monday, Memorial Day, at Lime Rock.

The Rolex GT Series Challenge will feature the Rolex Sports Car Series GT class. The Rolex Series GT class showcases top-end production and GT models such as the Porsche GT3 Cup, BMW M3, Corvette Z06, Pontiac GTO, Maxda RX-8, Maserati Trofeo and Ferrari 360GT.

Also racing on May 26-29 will be the Grand-Am Cup Series, Formula BMW USA and the SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook.

The Grand Am Cup Series, with its two ultra-competitive classes of race cars, Grand Sport and Street Turner, is one of the premier proving grounds for production cars with minimal racing modifications to enhance performance. Cars in the Grand-Am Cup Series include popular sports and muscle cars, such as the BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Ford Mustang, Dodge SRT4 and Porsche 996, as well as race-bred imports such as the Mazda RX-8, Acura RSX-S, Audi A4 and the Mini Cooper S.

Formula BMW USA is one of the world’s leading entry-level classes in Formula racing. Formula BMW USA gives up-and-coming drivers an opportunity to hone their skills in a state-of-the-art single-seat race car powered by a 140-horsepower BMW K-Series motorcycle engine.

The Mazda MX-5 Cup is the next step up for Miata drivers looking to race in SCCA Pro Racing competition. Fans can expect some Lime Rock regulars from the SCCA Club Racing scene to challenge the pros, making the MX-5 Cup race one of the most competitive of the weekend.

The Rolex GT Series Challenge is an event that pays homage to Lime Rock’s sports car racing heritage and the Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show will help make this Memorial Day weekend one of the best ever.