Inaugural Vintage Motorsports Festival at TSMP Brings Over 220 Vintage Race Cars to the Newly Re-Opened Road Course
The inaugural Vintage Motorsports Festival was held June 27th to June 29th on the newly re-opened 1.7 mile road course at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) in Northeast Connecticut. Beautiful weather and over 220 vintage race cars participating made for a great turn-out through the weekend.
The Vintage Motorsports Festival celebrated the history of the Thompson road course, which originally opened in 1952, and has now re-opened in its fourth configuration. Two of the top vintage racing groups in the country, VRG (Vintage Racer Group) and VSCCA (Vintage Sports Car Club of America) were invited to co-sanction this event and, between them, had cars spanning the decades from the 1930’s through the 70’s.
Many drivers participating at the Vintage Motorsports Festival had completed their first driving school at Thompson, or brought cars that had once raced on the road course. Of the cars to note was a 1968 Chevy Camaro owned by Frank Grimaldi, first driven by Skip Barber, that had raced at Thompson between 1969 and 1973.
The weekend’s events also included a “Back in the Day” Car Show display on Sunday morning featuring cars that had raced on the first three configurations of the Thompson road course. At the show was a 1948 MG TC that had been originally owned and driven at Thompson by Karl Ludvigsen, renowned automotive journalist, author and historian. Bill Lightfoot also brought a 1959 Morgan +4 that he had competed with at Thompson from 1959 to 1968.
On Saturday, TSMP welcomed special guest, Mike Joy, who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage. Joy got his start announcing at New England race tracks in the 1970’s, including Thompson Speedway, and is also an avid vintage racing enthusiast.
Theresa Condict
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