It’s nearly Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. Many of you likely have plans already set out to enjoy some fun in the sun. Whether having a barbecue, venturing out to the beach or taking in a game of baseball, it’s time to spend as much time outdoors as possible unless you live under the skin-scorching Southwestern sun. The weather outright begs for working on a project car in the driveway or going on a scenic drive.
What’s your favorite car-related summer pastime? Do you have a local car meet, like a Cars and Coffee, that you visit on a regular basis? Sometimes, you just have to watch a new Ford Mustang owner immediately regret trying to impress onlookers by smashing the throttle outside a parking lot. Reckless drivers aside, it’s usually a fun way to meet up with friends and see the cool rides that spend winters locked up in a garage.
My summer pastime is being completely locked into racing. While the championship schedules have grown longer and longer to squeeze out more revenue, the summer months remain the height of the racing season. Fans around the planet will be glued to television screens this Sunday to watch the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. It will be a bittersweet occasion because it’s likely the final year of this epic setlist as Formula 1 is moving Monaco’s race date into June starting next year.
A cloverleaf highway interchange is home of Lithuania’s midsummer classic
It’s not just the massive races that I tune in for, but the smaller events that give racing its unique character. The Palanga 1000km is a guilty pleasure of mine. The Lithuanian GT3 endurance classic is the marquee racing event in the Baltic states. However, that part of the world isn’t a lucrative racing hotbed, so the unique race still feels like your local short-track. Most of the entries are locals with the occasional cameo from an international star. For example, Jan Magnussen, a four-time Le Mans winner with Corvette, won Palanga in 2023. The exact race distance is based on which local TV channel is airing the race. It’s currently TV6, so the race is currently 1,006 kilometers long. Don’t worry, it’s also free to watch online.
The track itself is the first thing that stands out. Palanga is a seaside resort town, but the track is a temporary circuit set up on a cloverleaf highway interchange, nowhere near the water. The Armco barriers used for everyday traffic remain in place, and chicanes marked by tire stacks are put in to keep speeds on the straights down. However, I guarantee those stacks are smashed into at least a dozen times every year. The pitlane garages are a quaint scaffolding structure. The cars don’t refuel in there, but in an actual gas station on the other side of the course. I’m obsessed. Palanga is a breath of fresh air compared to international motorsport’s usual fare.
Be sure to share your favorite car-related summer pastime in the comments below.
