Day 2 was race day for the Trans AM TA2 class at the Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park. Hope you like the photos.

Arrived at the track around 8.30 am, then walked from the car park to the inside of The Back Straight, near the top of Uphill, for the TA2 qualifying session at 9.05 am. Went to this location, since the cars would be traveling as fast as possible for clocking the fastest time, which meant, there would be opportunities to capture cars “jumping” over the Uphill. Before, the cars started “jumping” captured the cars as they left No Name Straight into the Uphill. The #57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro.

Then tracked the cars as they climbed the Uphill. The #26 HP Tuners/Franklin Road/Cope Chevrolet Camaro (top), #60 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry (middle) and the #15 (bottom).

At the top of the Uphill with the #16 RegulatorByWaypointe/CopeRaceCars Ford Mustang (right) and #95 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (left).

Really liked the angular front of the #90 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry at the top of the Uphill, who would be the top qualifier, with a lap time of 51.619 seconds.

As the session continued, the cars did faster lap times, and started to “jump” over the Uphill. The #51 Mike Cope Race Cars LLC Ford Mustang.

Also tried some panning shots of the cars “jumping”. The #60 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry.

Then followed the cars for 3/4 panning photographs. The #57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro.

This track location is also great for getting side panning photos of the cars, with the catch fencing, creating “parallel” lines behind the cars. The #60 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry (top) and #15 (bottom).

After the session ended, walked along The Back Straight to the inside of West Bend for the 9.45 am, TA/XGT/SGT/GT test session, which are the top class cars for the Trans AM series. The #36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd/TC Fab Ford Mustang.

The #713 STI.

As I was panning the cars moving though West Bend, the sun came out, and lit the #10 Good Boy Bob Coffee Roaster Porsche 991 GT3 R (top) and the #3 Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Ford Mustang (bottom) as they sped by.

Continued tracking the cars as the descended The Downhill. Another photo of the #3 Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Ford Mustang.

After the session finished, walked across the upper part of the Infield Spectator area, and saw some cool American muscle cars (top) and Porsche’s (bottom) on display.

Continued walking, and was great to see a lot of campsites set-up, ranging to RVs to tents.

As I was walking down the road to the Midway, noticed the dark storm clouds forming in the distance, which was an indication of the weather that would hit the track later in the day.

Along the side of the road, their were some cool cars parked, and also took a photo of the FCP Euro car, but this time from a different angle, then from yesterday.

Turned around, and noticed rows and rows of cars in the parking lot, which was great, since it meant their were a lot of people at the track.

Near the entrance to the Midway, was a black colored supercar, which looked like the Batmobile. Really liked the orange trim which highlighted some of the edges of this car.

Here’s some photo’s to illustrate the range vendors that were set-up in the Midway.

As I entered the part of the Infield spectator area that faced The Esses, noticed the new post and beam building, and had a better view of the dark clouds over the A Paddock.

For the TA/XGT/SGT/GT Test session at 11.40 am, went to the outside of Right Hander, where you have a great view of the Inner Spectator area and the Lime Rock Park Chalet.

Also when I turned around, saw some local “wild-life”.

To your right, you can capture photos of the cars as they enter and travel through the Left Hander (top), along the Right Hander (middle) and in front of the Lime Rock Park Chalet (bottom). The #16 Gymweed Ford Mustang (top), #8 Trench Shoring Co / Motul Chevrolet Camaro (middle) and #23 McNicholsCo/ValleyAutomotiveGrp Chevrolet Corvette (bottom).

As the cars leave the Right Hander, you can continue tracking the cars as they speed into the Paul Newman Straight past the Inner Spectator viewing area. The #71 Corvette.

After the session finished at 12.15 pm, walked back to the A Paddock, and had a quick look around the garages; then had lunch, which was the same that I had yesterday, fried chicken and chips for “energy”. The #8 Trench Shoring Co / Motul Chevrolet Camaro.

The TA2 race was scheduled to start at 1.20 pm, so walked from the A Paddock to the inside of the Esses, where could photograph the cars as the sped into the Essess, before entry into the Left Hander. From this vantage point, can get some nice front shots, of the cars grouped together during the warm-up (top) and opening (bottom) laps. The McLaren Lime Rock Park pace car (top); and the race pole sitter, #90 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry, leading the TA2 cars into the Left Hander (bottom).

The #60 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry.

After the cars passed, turned to my right, for rear view photos of the cars going through the Right Hander into Paul Newman Straight. The #29 NewGranite&Marble/F.A.S.T.Auto Ford Mustang.

This is one of my favorite parts of the track for 3/4 and side panning photos of the cars;  since, from this low vantage point, it appears the cars are “speeding through the grass”. The #27 Accio Data SLR/M1 Chevrolet Camaro (top), #99 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (middle) and #90 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry (bottom).

After a few laps, changed to a wider angle lens, so could get the cars in a better perspective with the beautiful foliage surrounding this race track. The #51 Mike Cope Race Cars LLC Ford Mustang.

The #7 Waukegan Farms Chevrolet Camaro (right) and #70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry (left).

The #15 racing through the Esses.

For a different vantage point, walked along the inside of the track so was closer to where the cars entered the Esses, near the marshals stand. The goal here, was to capture, groups of cars close together. The #7 Waukegan Farms Chevrolet Camaro.

Then turned to my right, for rear end photos of the cars as they entered the Left Hander, with the Paul Newman Straight signage in the background. The #39 GuthriesGarage/RaceMarketingUSA Ford Mustang.

Then did a series of photographs, first at a fast shutter speed (top), so could recognize the signage behind the car; then at slow shutter speed (bottom), to blur out the background. The #57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro (top) and #15 (bottom).

Also, tried some very slow shutter speed photos, at around 1/5 sec, for creating “artistic” looking photo’s; using either other cars passing in front of the main subject car (top) or stationary objects, in this case the guard rail (bottom).

Shortly later, the rain came pouring down. The #70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry.

The sudden rain caused some incidents, and brought the McLaren pace car out, which was a good opportunity to get photos of the cars all lined up in a row. The #3 CMI/Spot-OnServices/AMTMtrspts Ford Mustang.

As the cars moved through the Esses, you could see how wet the track was, with water, trailing from the rear of the cars. The #15 (top) and #10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry (below).

Turned around, towards the short straight that leads into the Left Hander, which was still noticeably wet, with water spraying from the rear of the cars. The #99 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang.

When the race was restarted, there was still a lot of water streaming off the track, with visibility harder for the cars behind., which was accentuated by editing the photo in black and white. The #51 Mike Cope Race Cars LLC Ford Mustang (top) and #57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro (below)

Despite the very wet track, the cars still battled for position. The #99 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang and #16 RegulatorByWaypointe/CopeRaceCars Ford Mustang.

As the laps continued, the wet track persisted, as shown above. The #51 Mike Cope Race Cars LLC Ford Mustang.

For some cars, the visibility was very poor.

As the race progressed, the rain subsided, and the track gradually became dryer. The #99 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (top), #30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (middle) and #70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry.

Despite the wet weather, there was still a large of number of spectators watching the race.

Into the Left Hander with the #16 RegulatorByWaypointe/CopeRaceCars Ford Mustang.

Looks like the #15 TA2 car had some rear body work damage.

Also tried some very low shutter speed photos, so could blur the spectators in the hill, as the car sped by. The #10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry.

While I was panning the cars at very slow shutter speeds, tried to time the photo, so the car I was tracking, was passed across by another car in front of me, giving the illusion of “streaks of light” highlighting the car I was tracking. For these types of photos, needed to pre-focus, and hold the focus, since the AF would have been distracted by the front passing car. These were low percentage photos, but when you get one, it makes the effort worthwhile. The #16 RegulatorByWaypointe/CopeRaceCars Ford Mustang.

Towards the end of the race, the rain came back. The #30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang.

Since the race was ending soon, went over to the inside of the Sam Posey Straight, in front of the Lime Rock Park Chalet, for photos of the cars speeding down the front straight, with “rooster tails” of water spraying from the rear of the cars.

Then quickly walked over to where the winning car was going to park, to capture the celebration, with the driver and crew. The race was won by Sam Cory in the #70 Nitro Motorsports/Toyota Camry, which was his first Pro win in this series.

Winners podium, for the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro category

• First place: Sam Corry (#70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry)
• Second place: Thomas Annunziata (#90 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry)
• Third place:  Tristan McKee (#28 Spire Gainbridge SLR/M1 Chevrolet Camaro)

The Omologato Watches fastest lap of the race. went to Mike Skeen (#2 Guthrie’s Garage Chevrolet Camaro).

Wow, what a great race, and couple of last days. Many thanks to everyone who helped me. Thanks for spending your time reading this photo blog, and hope you enjoyed it.