2026 Lime Rock Park 100 (July 10)

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck and the ARCA Menards series returned to Lime Rock Park in early July, after great success last year at this track. Adding to the on-track action was the USF Juniors from the Road to Indy. Hope you like the photos.

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Left Boston the day before so could arrive at the track early on Friday morning.

Since the on-track action wasn’t starting until 10.00 am, took a short walk around the Midway.

For the first practice session of the USF Juniors, walked from the Midway, and through the inner part of the track, to the inside of the Uphill. Really enjoyed photographing these open wheelers as they sped up this part of the track.

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After the session finished, it was going to be a couple of hours until the ARCA Menards cars would be on the track, so walked back through the inner part of the track to the Midway. It was great seeing so many tents, camper vans and cars in the parking lot.

After reaching the Midway, walked down the hill to Paddock B, to watch the crews setting up their cars.

Continued walking past the staging area to the pits.

Then, went back up the hill to the Midway, to check out the different vendor displays. The Lime Rock Park McLaren pace car in metallic lime green looked great.

By now, it was around mid-day, so walked down the hill to Paddock A, to first check-out the USF Juniors garages. Many thanks to the teams who let me walk around their garages, and for the discussions about these open wheelers.

Continued down the paddock to where the NASCAR CRAFTSMEN Truck Series were garaged.

After grabbing a quick lunch, chicken basket and chips (my favorite), headed up to the outside (top), then inside (bottom) West Bend for the ARCA Menards Series practice and qualifying sessions. Many thanks to the Lime Rock Park golf cart shuttle that took me up to West Bend.

Stayed in this location for the USF Juniors Qualifying session, and focussed on getting photos of the cars as they approached, went under, then to the other side of the overpass road bridge, as they descended the Downhill.

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After the session finished, walked down the hill to the Infield Spectator area to get positioned for the ARCA Menards Series race.

Was great to see all the cars bunched up, side by side, for the warm up lap.

Race start, with some of the cars hitting the dirt along the side of the track as they entered the Esses.

Continued tracking the cars as they sped through the Esses.

Before I left this location, took a wider angle shot of this location.

Since the race was relatively long, had plenty of time to go up to the outside of West Bend at the top of the track for some photos of the cars.

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As the race continued, walked over to the inside of the exit of Sam Posey Straight, so could photograph the cars entering and going around Big Bend.

For a different vantage point, went over to the Infield Spectator area, parallel to Sam Posey Straight, for some panning shots of the cars. For these shots to work, needed to use very slow shutter speeds, so the foreground or background was a “stream of color” for framing the cars.

With the race finishing soon, went down to the podium area. Race winner, Thomas Annunziata who drove the #70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota.

Really enjoyed covering this race, and was looking forward to the next day, for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, but unfortunately had some car issues. Hence, needed to head back to Boston the next day, to get my car fixed. Nevertheless, had a great day covering the Lime Rock Park 100, and plan to be back next year for the trucks. Thanks for spending your time reading this photo story.

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