“That’s a lot of pressure on me,” a Salisbury official said in recent days. After a 14-year hiatus, NASCAR is returning to Lime Rock Park, a 1.530-mile natural terrain road course in the Berkshire Mountains. The news unfolded last year, and locals have been pretty welcoming, as property owners agreed to provide parking lots for $10 or $20. However, they drew the line when it came to jumbling up their travel routes.

The Craftsman Truck Series will race at the Salisbury, Connecticut, track on the weekend of June 27-28, 2025. Ahead of the Liuna 150 race, however, NASCAR faced several hurdles to clear before the local officials. Despite the immense pushback, the administration agreed to the necessary demands.

NASCAR gets its way at a revived track

Well, the residents of Salisbury have protested against Lime Rock Park’s motorsports activities for a long time. Neighbors sued over noise in 1959, leading a court to ban Sunday racing at the track. In 2025, NASCAR has made special requests. One is to reroute traffic from the junction of Route 7 and Route 112 to White Hollow Road and the main track entrance. The other is hosting a “hauler parade” of trucks to trumpet the June 26 to 28 festivities. At a special meeting on May 15, the Board of Selectmen in Salisbury clarified that they are not on board with these proposals. Yet unexpectedly, the sudden green signals by two of those selectmen cleared the path for NASCAR.

The locals put up a strong backlash against NASCAR’s strategy to handle 15,000 fans, and their administrator chimed in. First Selectman Curtis Rand criticized Lime Rock Park’s leadership, emphasizing that Dicky Riegel, the park’s CEO, should have informed local business owners. Selectman Chris Williams said Lime Rock Park should have come to the town considerably earlier than the first notification a couple of weeks ago. Selectman Kitty Kiefer said she has only gotten negative feedback from the locals she spoke to, and voted to turn down both requests. However, in a shocking twist, Rand decided to be lenient. “I will sign these,” he said, as he was, “going on good faith. But if it comes up again, I might easily say no.” Even Williams agreed with this decision.

This comes as a heart-warming development for NASCAR’s upcoming plans. The inaugural NASCAR event at Lime Rock Park was a Busch North race in 1993, won by Ken Schrader. Now, the sport can focus on reviving the track’s importance, according to Executive VP Ben Kennedy’s enthusiasm. He said late in 2024, “We are proud to bring the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series to historic Lime Rock Park for the first time. Thanks to Dicky Riegel and the Lime Rock Park team for their commitment to NASCAR to bring an event to our passionate race fans in the northeast. We look forward to showcasing the intense competition of the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series at one of the most historic road racing circuits next season.”

Hence, history can be made with the residents of Salisbury welcoming NASCAR to Lime Rock Park again. What is more? A prominent Cup Series driver is also excited about this event.

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Well wishes from the top tier

After all, Lime Rock Park is deeply associated with NASCAR. Parker Kligerman, a former Xfinity Series driver, is a co-owner of the facility. Second-generation road racer Butch Leitzinger dominated the track in the 1990s, winning three consecutive races. The NASCAR Modified Tour came in 2010, featuring a double-header event, and the final NASCAR race at Lime Rock Park took place in 2011, with 2003 champion Todd Szegedy winning the Modified race.

Two of the active NASCAR Cup Series drivers have raced at the hilly facility – Austin Dillon and Joey Logano. For three-time Cup Series champion Logano, the track is extra special. The picturesque 1.53-mile road course in Lakeville is in the home state of the Nutmeg State native. Although Joey Logano will not be able to attend the Craftsman Truck Series race due to logistics issues, he sent his wishes regardless.

Logano will run the Cup Series race in Atlanta at the same time, but his heart lingers around Lime Rock: “Outside of me running it, it’s awesome that NASCAR is going back to Connecticut and even at the Truck level. I mean, there’s a lot of race fans up there. I grew up there, and I remember going to so many different garages, and there’s always NASCAR calendars and NASCAR memorabilia of some sort. Modified racing up there is huge. There are a ton of race fans in New England that I feel like get overlooked a lot because our sport sometimes is looked at as a Southeastern sport, but it’s so nationwide at this point, and New England has some die-hard race fans. It’s cool to have some more racing up there for them for sure.”

In 2022, Modified Tour Veteran Dale Quarterly reminisced about his time winning races at Lime Rock Park. Quarterly has two K&N East Series wins and one Modified win at the track, as well as finishing 1st or 2nd in four out of five years from 2000 to 2004. He knows what it takes to win there, but he also highlighted how it’s an incredible place to watch races. “I used to call Lime Rock a golf course with no holes. That’s my number one reason for liking Lime Rock. Because of that, you could bring the wife and the kids. They could all play on the hill and enjoy what’s going on. When the sponsors showed up, they could do the same thing .”

Evidently, a lot of support is rushing in for NASCAR’s visit to Lime Rock Park. As the Truck Series’ special visit looms ahead, we can only wait for the huge excitement it will bring. Are you thrilled that NASCAR is returning to Lime Rock Park? Let us know in the comments!