A then-and-now look at VIR.
It's been 22 years since the Virginia International Raceway reopened, and this video gives a point-of-view perspective showing the track before it was renovated and how it looks today. Using a grainy pre-renovation video that has been synched up with a video taken in 2020, VIR is showing how this track went from a derelict property to a world-class motorsports country club.
VIR first opened in 1957 before closing in 1974, but by 1998, plans had started coming together to reopen the track, which took place in 2000. Before renovations were made, the track itself was in rough shape and the surrounding vegetation was severely overgrown, but interestingly, of all the changes made to the facility, the 3.27-mile road course still features the same track configuration it had back in '57. The original video skips a little when the track is being previewed through Oak Tree turn, which was named after that massive oak tree that was positioned in the inside of the turn and even acted as a flag stand. Sadly, this massive tree fell over in July 2013.
In addition to the track itself, VIR claims to be a motorsport resort with amenities such as an on-site hotel, dining, go-kart track, off-road courses, skid pad and even a rifle range! Since reopening, this track has become a go-to testing facility for both racing teams and automakers alike, and Chevy tested and tuned the C7 ZR1 at VIR before that car's launch. In the raceway's Grand West Course configuration, Chevy boasts that the ZR1 bested the Ford GT with a lap time 2′:37.2″ versus the GT's time of 2′:38.6″.
The full video showing the pre-renovation track can be seen below.
