VIR, then and now

[PDenbigh]

Amazing what a little vision and a whole lot of cash can do.

VIR circa 1998:

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[BLINGMW]

so which came first, the VIR or the MM? Would either have existed without the other? I think not. :lol:

Funny you should post this, I *just* finished flipping through this book Jess got me:



Pretty cool old pics in there

[Jake]

That was way cool to watch. I don't know the history of VIR but I feel like I'll be spending time on the website now...

Added: Photo of the track from April of 1965...

Virginia International Raceway was designed as one of America's outstanding and most challenging road racing courses, and over 3.2 miles it is exactly that. No road course in America offers the test to driver, mechanic and car . . . 12 treacherous turns, no two alike, with drops and climbs, with two all-out straightaways.

Down the 3,400-foot home straightaway, in front of the Pagoda, the VIR course rolls into Horseshoe Bend (1), a sharp U-turn that leads into an assortment of bends which precede the uphill battle. The lower chicane is tricky, and deceiving at high speeds, but it leads into the dangerous upper chicane (2) which rises nearly 100 feet over 3,500 feet of road.

Peak of the course is Boot Hill Bend (3), the sharpest turn at VIR, but this takes the route into the 3,738-foot straightaway that rolls into a 30-foot dip and then rises to the highest spot of the terrain, 216 feet above sea level. Speeds up to 160 m.p.h. have been attained on this stretch.

Suddenly, and from such speed, the course explodes into the downhill esses at Hogpen Corner (4), a treacherous drop of 114 feet through five twisting turns over less than 2,000 feet.

And this moves back into the home stretch where the Pagoda (5) marks the finish. Alongside this stretch is a paved pit area, 1,800 feet in length, 25 feet wide, built on a separate level from the racing course for safety reasons.

Three and two-10ths miles of real road racing challenge: that's VIR. And with 1,200 acres on the grounds, 200 of them in the infield, the racing spectator has the best viewing vantage point of any course in America.

[ScottyB]

boot hill bend, eh? i think i like Oak Tree better :lol:

[DLingenfelter]

I was looking at this stuff last week too, check out the interviews section on their history page that describes how they built the track in 1957. Having a bulldozer follow them while they walked ahead of it marking where they wanted the track to go, and then the paving guys taking a bath in the Dan river and deciding to truck gravel/sand from the river for the base layer of the track to save $$$, you can't make this stuff up! Pretty cool.

[kcook]

thats incredible.. kinda speachless actually watching that video. I cant fathom that it looked like that 12 years ago.