An All Around Great Day at the Crystal Rock Pro-Am Sprints

Tom Long (No. 16) swept both Mazdaspeed Miata Cup races at the Crystal Rock Pro-Am Sprints Presented by Mohegan Sun. (Photo: Dan Tooker)

The allure and tradition of sports car racing on Memorial Day at Lime Rock Park continues to be strong and the varied mix of motorsports on display at the Crystal Rock Pro-Am Sprints Presented by Mohegan Sun didn’t disappoint.

It was a beautiful day and a good crowd turned out on Monday to watch the on-track action that featured vintage and historic racing, two classes of Porsches, open-wheel Formula Fords and the Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Presented by Hankook Tires.

Tom Long of Raleigh, N.C. completed his sweep of the Mazdaspeed Miata Cup doubleheader, beating Ryan Pilla and Payton Wilson to the finish line. It was the second third-place finish for Wilson, the defending Miata Cup Atlantic Tour champion.

Long qualified third for the 38-lap race, but moved to the front on lap 36 and finished 4.920 seconds in front of Pilla.

The “2nd Annual” 35th Anniversary Celebration of Formula Ford produced a tight battle among the top three drivers. After 20 laps, Greg Morin of East Longmeadow, Mass. nipped Steven Maxwell of Middlebury, Vt. by .808 seconds with Davy D’Addario another sixth-tenths of a second behind in third.

In the Memorial Porsche Challenge races, Christopher Musante of Coventry, Conn. won the 20-lap GT race, while Christopher Castagna of South Boston, Mass. captured the Stock feature.

In the Historic Racing Group two boys from Woodbury, Conn. battled it out to the end. Only .313 seconds separated Joe Riolo in a 1972 Datsun 240Z from Jim Scott in a Porsche 911 after 20 laps.

The Vintage Sports Car Club of America handicap race was as thrilling as anything else the crowd witnessed on Monday, featuring a staggered start that helped produce close racing and a lot of passing.

After 12 laps, the checkered flag was given to Jim Donick’s Cadillac-powered 1951 Allard J-2 with the rest of the 30-car pack following close behind.

Saturday’s action was just as entertaining.

Long edged Todd Buras by just .593 seconds in the 29-lap Mazdaspeed Miata Cup race. But that wasn’t even among the closest three finishes of the day.

The first SCCA New York Regional race was decided by .205 seconds between the ITA Acura Integras of Ray Lee Chee of Stamford and Enrik Benazic of Brooklyn. The final outcome of the Group 5 Formula Ford feature also was decided by less than half a second with Steven Maxwell of Middlebury, Vt., in a Swift DB-1, edging Shelton Conn.’s Glenn Taylor’s PRS RH01 by .467 seconds.

The race of the day came last, producing a photo finish that was officially listed as a .001 margin of victory. Bruce McIntosh of Helletown, Pa., turned in the fastest lap of the race in his Womer EV3 Formula Vee, but was a blink-of-an-eye short of Timothy Remmers of New Hartford (Protoform P2.5 Formula Vee).

Here is a list of the overall race winners on Saturday and Monday at the Crystal Rock Pro-Am Sprints Presented by Mohegan Sun.