Track
Description (from track web site)
VIRginia International Raceway hosts amateur and
professional automobile and motorcycle events, driving schools, club
days and private test rentals. Built around the VIRginia International
Raceway, the VIR Motorsport Country Club is a high
performance driving venue that also offers extensive resort facilities.
History:
The old saying goes that automobile racing began just a couple of hours
after the second car was built. In fact, the first automobile race took
place in France in 1894, from Paris to Rouen, and the first American
race took place the following year, a round-trip race between Chicago
and Evanston, Ill.
In the early 1900's, road racing in America was staged on public roads,
following the trend established in Europe at the turn of the century.
The Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize were the two premier
events of the time, and the most famous races were held in Long Island,
N.Y., Savannah, Ga., Milwaukee, Wis. and Santa Monica, Calif.
Soon road racing became overshadowed by oval-track racing, with such
famous circuits as the Milwaukee Mile in 1903 and the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway in 1911 paving the way. It would not be until after World War
II that organized road racing started to really take hold.
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) was founded in Boston in 1944, an
outgrowth of a pre-war group known as the Automobile Racing Club of
America (ARCA) that existed from 1934 to 1941 and dissolved following
the outbreak of hostilities. Following the conflict, the SCCA’s first
big event was run on the streets of Watkins Glen, N.Y., in 1948. Thanks
to America’s post-war prosperity and enthusiasm, as well as the influx
of sporting automobiles from Europe such as MG, Jaguar, Ferrari,
Maserati and Alfa Romeo, the sport quickly gained popularity and
momentum.
Following the success of Watkins Glen, similar events sprang up in
Bridgehampton, N.Y. in 1949 and Elkhart Lake, Wis., Palm Beach Shores,
Fla. and Pebble Beach, Calif. in 1950.
Unfortunately, spectator injuries and fatalities led to the end of
public road racing in 1952 and the trend moved toward races on airport
circuits and permanent road circuits. The first of these was in Watkins
Glen in 1952, followed by Elkhart Lake in 1955.
In that same year, four North Carolina sports car enthusiasts – Ed
Welch, Ed Alexander, George Arnold, and Hooper Johnson – formed a
company called Sports Car Enterprises, Inc. with the idea of building
their own racetrack. They found a suitable location just over the state
line near Danville, Va., a 1200-acre plot that had served as a farm for
the Foote family. The four were joined by businessman Ed Kemm in 1956
and, with an influx of cash from Kemm, were able to complete their
project.
Virginia International Raceway opened for business in August, 1957,
hosting an SCCA race that attracted such stars of the sport as Carroll
Shelby, Carl Haas, Bob Holbert, Augie Pabst, Bob Grossman, Don Yenko,
Dr. Dick Thompson, Walt Hansgen and Bruce Jennings. Shelby, who would
later go on to worldwide fame by winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959
and creating the iconic Cobra sports cars in the early 1960s, won that
first feature race in a Maserati 450S. The laconic Texan uttered a quote
about the track that is remembered to this day: “One lap at VIR is
like a hundred at Watkins Glen.”
As one of the first permanent American road racing tracks, VIR soon
became a fixture on the SCCA circuit and a favorite among racers due to
its high-speed straights, challenging turns and dramatic elevation
changes. However, its location in the heart of stock car racing country
prevented it from ever attracting big crowds like those enjoyed by
Watkins Glen and Elkhart Lake.
As a result, Sports Car Enterprises was forced to relinquish its lease
on the Foote family’s property in 1959. Danville’s Col. Paul Rembold
took over the lease and the track fell under the auspices of the Civil
Air Patrol. Col. Rembold and track manager Henry Wallace were more
successful in the operation of the track through the 1960s, attracting
thousands of fans to sports car, motorcycle and kart races.
Among the highlights were the fourth-ever SCCA Trans-Am race in 1966,
won by Tom Yeager and Bob Johnson in a Ford Mustang over a field that
included NASCAR stars Richard Petty, David Pearson, Curtis Turner and
Wendell Scott; the first-ever IMSA GT race in 1971, won by Peter Gregg
and Hurley Haywood in a Porsche 914-6 GT; and a return engagement by
IMSA in 1972, also won by Gregg and Haywood in a Porsche 911S.
The track fell on hard times in the early 1970s, and that, combined with
the fuel crisis of 1973, spelled the end for VIR. The track was
shuttered following an SCCA enduro on October 13, 1974.
The Foote property reverted to farmland for 25 years, until the property
was leased and revived by New York real estate developer and vintage
sports car racer Harvey Siegel in 1998. Siegel’s vision for VIR was
more expansive than anyone could have imagined, and the facility
reopened in 2000, transformed into a world-class road racing circuit
(repaved and widened, following the original track’s center line).
Within two years, VIR began hosting the top professional sports car and
motorcycle racing series in America, as well as welcoming back the
amateur racers of the SCCA, whose North Carolina Region was thrilled to
have their “home track” back. Under the guiding hands of
Siegel and his partner Connie Nyholm, the future looks bright for VIR.
The facility has received international acclaim as one of the world’s
most beautiful and challenging circuits, and continues to push the
envelope of what a racetrack can be.
None of the men who first brought VIR to life, nor the racers and fans
who frequented it in the early days, could have imagined the kind of
showplace that exists on the site today. In the words of actor Paul
Newman, who has raced in both amateur and professional competition since
the 1970s, “If there’s a heaven on Earth, it’s VIR.”
Hopefully that sentiment will be shared by racers and fans alike for
generations to come.
