Yes, that headline is true. Over Easter Weekend our newest favorite race car series held a 24 hour race at Virginia International Raceway for $500 race cars. ChumpCar and the similar LeMons series (you can see video for that one here) have been a big draw for crew members and engineers from Cup teams, but a driver has never taken part. That changed when NASCAR gave the Sprint Cup Series an off weekend to enjoy Easter. So instead of sitting home, Tony Stewart joined the Stewart Haas Racing contingent at VIR for the race.
Stewart Haas Racing fielded three cars, and Stewart made laps in the number 14 Camaro which finished eighth overall out of 29 entries. The other two cars finished 27th and 28th. Do you think it was a coincidence they didn’t beat the boss? By the way, a group of guys with ties to Roush-Fenway also had a car, the number 24 red Fiat (I guess it’s a Fiat) which finished 15th. You don’t think they couldn’t find a Ford for less than five Benjamins?
Still, you’ve got to love the fact that he went racing when it’s obvious he was only out there for the fun of it. NASCAR may be big business, but racing is still fun.
Props also go out to the USS Enterprise, an appropriately named Ford LTD which took honors for the fastest lap of the race. The big gray barge blistered the VIR course in 1:26.913. That may not mean much by itself, but consider the winning Volkswagon Jetta beat the second-place car by 16 laps and its fastest lap was nearly a second slower than the LTD. But we’ve seen this before. We raced the LTD at The Rock and we think they bring one special set of tires to each track. For most of the race the Enterprise was easy enough to pass, but for one session after the sun set they were incredibly fast before slowing back down. Still, it’s fun to see a car that big carve up a road course, at least for a little while.
Anybody race VIR with Tony? If so, please give tell us what the atmosphere was like.
By the way, if anyone is interested in getting into racing on the cheap, we definitely recommend the ChumpCar World Series. It is tons of fun and the racing is great. You can check them out here: ChumpCar World Series.
The 24Hrs of VIR was a blast!!! I was one of the drivers in the #11 ExFed Jetta. The equalizer in the race was the need to run hard but to last an entire 24 hours. That meant racers had to balance blazing fast laptimes against brake wear, engine temps, tires, etc. All the teams seemed to be willing to help the others in the pits. The race was one of the cleanest run with very few off-track excursions, very little rubbing, more often than not folks would wave you by if you came up on them fast. The excitement built all through the race and the end was as fun as any GT or DP race.
I was on the team fielding the Enterprise and a mid 90′s Escort wagon with the roof cut off behind the front seats.
The Enterprise is well maintained by a great group of guys. They’re out to have a good time tearing around a race course. If you guys are around next time drop by the pit. We don’t mind admirers as long as they come bearing gifts.
My experience at VIR was top notch. All the drivers were courteous on track and out to have a clean race. I gave a few point-by’s and was given a few. The racing did get a bit more heated near the end as I had one unsuccessful banzai pass in the last laps. There wasn’t any contact so I figure “That’s racing!”
The organizers made the event great fun. At one point I was following the Chump Miata while in the Escort. I knew someone special was behind the wheel when I saw the Miata drifting through “The Bitch”. I followed as best I could to watch a great show of driving skill. Turns out the Head Guy was behind the wheel. Great crew. I would race Chump Car at VIR any day.
Tony Stewart being on the track was very low key. His team came out and were great competitors. I felt for them after their Supra’s blew the original engines. That Camaro ran like a clock and bird dogged the Enterprise for quite a few laps.
Team 24? I had no idea they were pro-racers! I was impressed about how they kept a freakin Fiat(!) racing for 24 hours.
Fun times, fun times.
I am one of the drivers of the Enterprise, as well as one of it’s builders, VIR was an awesome event for us. It’s a challenging track to race on, lot’s of speed, and corners that seem endless. The racing was great, clean, and exciting the whole 24 hrs. No special tires though, just had some late nite talant that could really drive a car, We just go out for a good time, and that’s exactly what we got. This is a fun series to be involved with, and I reccomend it for anyone that loves to drive. We will be back in 2011, maybe with more cars.