Virginia International Raceway

Motorsport venue
Name = Virginia International Raceway
Nicknames =
Time =
Location = Alton, Virginia, United States of America
Coordinates =


Image_caption = Virginia International Raceway overlay
Capacity =
Owner =
Operator =
Broke_ground =
Opened = August 3, 1957
Closed =
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Architect = Sports Car Enterprises, Inc.
Former names =
Events = AMA Superbike
Grand-Am
Rolex Sports Car Series, SPEED World Challenge (touring car class only)
Layout1 = Road course
Miles_first = True| Surface = Asphalt
Length_mi = 3.27
Length_km = 5.26
Turns = 17
The Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as just "VIR") is a road course located in the town of Alton near Danville, Virginia. It is found less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina on the banks of the Dan River. VIR hosts amateur and professional automobile and motorcycle events, driving schools, club days, and private test rentals.

Track description

VIR offers six track configurations, of which 2 can be run simultaneously. The "Full Course" is 3.27 miles in length while the "Patriot Course" stretches for 1.1 miles entirely inside the Full Course. The "North Course" is 2.25 miles long and the "South Course" covers a distance of 1.65 miles. Both consist of a portion of the "Full Course" and short connecting sections that connect to portions of the "Patriot Course" to produce the two courses that can run simultaneously. There is a second pit complex that is used only when running the "South Course". The longest configuration, "Grand East Course", is 4.2 miles long, and combines most of the the "Full Course" and most of the "Patriot Course" by means of two of the short sections of connecting track used to make the "South Course" and "North Course". There is also another, seldom run, long configuration called the "Grand West Course" that uses the other two short connecting sections between the "Full Course" and the "Patriot Course."

Some of the raceway's named curves include "Oak Tree", "Roller Coaster", "Hog Pen", "Horse Shoe", "NASCAR Bend" (because NASCAR drivers Richard Petty, David Pearson and Wendell Scott had difficulties there during a 1966 Trans Am race), "Snake", "Spiral", "Fish Hook", and "The Bitch".

Configurations

History

The track originally opened in 1957 and had been closed for decades prior to its reopening in the year 2000. There have been at least four deaths in track history, with three fatalities coming since the reopening of the facility. The most recent death was that of 14 year old Toriano Wilson in a US Rookie Cup motorcycle race in August 2008. [cite news | first=Jason | last=Wolf | coauthors= | title=VIR crash claims teenager | date=2008-08-19 | publisher= | url =http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/vir_crash_claims_teenager/5719/ | work =Danville Register-Bee | pages = | accessdate = 2008-08-20 | language = ]

Testing

The track is frequently used for test sessions by NASCAR teams. The teams use the road course to test their road course cars for the Watkins Glen International and Infineon Raceway races. Since the track is not currently active on the NASCAR circuit, a practice session is not charged against their allotment.

The track is also used by various manufacturers in testing of new or updated vehicles.

External links

* [http://www.virclub.com/vir/ VIR Website]
* [http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Virginia_International_Raceway Trackpedia guide to driving VIR with logged telemetry from drivers]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=36.562049,-79.204817&spn=0.04881,0.114841&t=k&om=1 Google Maps]

References