Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

If you are near the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA on Friday, March 3rd, they will be hosting charity laps. $25/15 minute session and the gates open at 8AM ET. :cheers:

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=...2&e=f5624d6c68

The track is really spectacular.

Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

Overnight the temps at the VIR track dropped in the 20's, which made the track cold and I found out the hard way that the Goodyear F1 GSD's don't work at all when the temps are even in the high 30's or low 40's. Guess that why they say it is a Summer performance tire... :o

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4wq6djmgx8...02017.jpg?dl=0

Went off the track in the same corner, correctly named the "Left Hook." All four tires gave up on grip and I slid off. Recovered with no damage to the Z, but a big blow to my driving ego.

It was a great charitable event and there were plenty of Vettes there. The oldest was a 63 split window with a 386 with two 4-barrels, otherwise it was all original.

The event gave you 15 minute sessions, which is about 4 fast laps around the 3.27 mile track. Not racing speeds but I was well over 100 in certain sections of the track. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat Fun!
:cheers:

Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

Looked like a lot of fun . Did you know that on the new C7 vets that the tires will crack below 50 degrees or something like that . So no C7's could partake in such an event . All new vets have to be kept in a heated garage now ...
Glad you came out ok from the off track excursion . C4's are tough cars...
;)

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Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

Didn't know that about C7's, but there were plenty of them out there. There were several C7 Z06's out there with cup tires on. They survived. When I got home I went to TireRack to search for street tires, and there is nothing for ZR-1's, except Goodyear GS-D3's, which are max performance summer tires. They worked great in Florida at Daytona and Sebring, but NG for VIR. All the other options are drag, Autocross or track tires. We have to move to 18" wheels to get something that works in cold weather. Lessons learned by an old dog!

So you don't take your ZR-1 out until the weather is really warm then... :-)

Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

According to folklore, when Richard Petty raced there in the 1960's, he had a hard time with a certain corner (the first left hander), running off track more than once, and now they call it Nascar Corner.

That's from memory. I tried to find something about it via Google but couldn't, so maybe I'm full of it. :-)

I don't know anyone who has every raced there and not been impressed. It's one of the best tracks, for sure.

Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

One of our favorite places on earth!
Yes, it will bite and humble you pretty damn quick!

Results of a late November cold track day back in 2014.

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps3fa9f312.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps61250294.jpg

Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

Ouch!!! What kind of tires were you running?


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Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

OLD Goodyear race rubber. Tried to squeeze one more weekend before buying new for the next season. BIT ME IN THE ***!!!

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps7mqj1yac.jpg

Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

NASCAR corner (turn 3) is a long sweeper that you can usually take at 70 mph, but the track and my summer tires could grip at that speed. Turn 4 bit me twice though... [emoji35]


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Re: Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps
 

Typo - Could not have gone at that speed


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