Racing News

    At the beginning of August, I was working on putting together Roundel Weekly when I saw the story for the BMA CCA Car Corral at the Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway. I read the description and it sounded like the Tarheel and National Capital Chapters had put together quite the corral. The dates were open on my calendar, and I had always wanted to see VIR.

    Since I wasn’t being sent to the race as an assignment, all costs for this trip were coming out of my pocket. And since I am still a very little fish in the very big automotive media pond, I had to keep this trip as cheap as possible. 

    I looked at flights to airports in the local area, but since I was flying out of San Diego, they were all fairly expensive on such late notice. I then increased my search for direct flights and found one that went to Dulles. Even though it was about four hours from VIR, the total travel time was about the same as other options. The best part about it was that it only cost me 25,000 frequent flyer miles and about $11 in fees!

    Next up was to figure out how I was going to get 200 plus miles south to Danville, VA where Virginia International Raceway is beautifully tucked in the nearby foothills. I thought it would be fantastic to jump on a train for a few hours as I could relax and get a bunch of work done, but unfortunately the time frames did not work out well. It didn’t take me long to luck out and find a rental car for just $117 for five days! Now where am I going to stay…?

    After a quick hotel search I quickly realized that there aren’t many places to stay near VIR. Even with my BMW CCA discount through InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®) the rates would break my budget. Then I remembered that you can camp at VIR!

    I brought up their website and found a ton of information for camping at the track. They had a few different camping areas, with nearby bathrooms, and most importantly, showers! The cost for the entire weekend for a tent campsite was just $50. So now the big decision, sleep in the car or figure out a way to get a tent.

    Tents can pack up fairly small these days and I could easily fit one into my carry-on. But then there is a need for a pillow and a sleeping bag. And can’t forget a towel to dry off with after what I know will be a much needed shower after a long day in the Virginia humidity. All of this gear was starting to take up precious space in my luggage, so I hatched up a new idea—in-store delivery!

    After another few minutes of searching the internet, I found a small two-person tent for just $18 and a basic sleeping bag for $15 on Wal-Mart’s website. Lucky for me there was one located in nearby Danville, so I selected ship-to-store and placed my order.

    As for tickets to actually get into the race, I am lucky enough to be able to get media credentials, but if I wasn’t, I would have reached out to the local chapters managing the corral and seen if I could volunteer. It’s amazing how so many of our events run flawlessly when a majority of the time they are understaffed. 

    I did splurge and used some of my IHG Rewards Points to get a room at a Holiday Inn in Richmond, VA on Sunday night. I knew it would feel amazing to have a long shower and a good night’s sleep in a fluffy bed! After cashing in what few points I had, the room only ended up costing me $28.

    Thus all my travel was situated and my grand total so far was just $240!

    My travel day to VIR was a long one! The alarm went off at 4 a.m. PST so that I could get to my 6 a.m. flight. Thankfully there were no delays and four hours later we were landing in Dulles International. I made my way to the car rental place where I was given my choice of a Chevy Cruze or a Chevy Cruze. After my luck this year with a different Chevy rental, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best!

    After a beautiful four hour drive through Virginia, I made it to the Wal-Mart in Danville where I picked up my pre-ordered tent and sleeping bag. I also grabbed a pillow for $4, a towel for $3, and a ton of food and water for about $25 more. I loaded it all into the car and headed to VIR. 

    Thankfully VIR is open 24 hours during big events since I rolled through the gates at 10 p.m. I made my way to the family camping area, set up my tent, and laid there sweating as I tried to fall asleep as it was still over 80 degrees and 80% humidity!

    I spent most of the day Friday following around our own Ashley Freiberg as she took to the track for a couple practice sessions and qualifying in the IHG Racing Fall-Line Motorsport M3. They were down on top speed compared to the other cars, so it was going to be a long weekend for them.

    On Saturday the BMW CCA car corral was in full swing with over 100 BMWs filling up the great parking location. We spent most the morning working our way through the pits as meet-&-greets were set up with Team TGM, Fall-Line Motorsports, BimmerWorld, Turner Motorsport, and BMW Team RLL. We then settled into our hospitality tent overlooking Turn 4 and rooted on all the BMW teams in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race. 

    We kicked off Sunday by taking to the track and filling it up with BMWs for some “parade” laps. Everything from new M4s to an X5 diesel were out hitting apexes, flying through the climbing esses, and dropping down through the roller-coaster. Later in the day, Mike Renner showed up and raffled off hot laps in the IHG Racing BMW Performance Center M3s. The members who won came back with HUGE smiles on their faces as Mike showed them how to properly drive around the circuit.

    Just before the race was to start, BMW technical partner Michelin showed up and had a great discussion about their high performance tires and how they come as OEM on every current BMW M car. They continue to not only be a great BMW brand partner, but also a huge supporter of the BMW CCA!

    I spent most the race in pit lane taking photos and videos of the team and sharing them online. Unfortunately BMW Team RLL is still hindered by the balance of performance and were only able to manage a fourth and fifth place finish. I hope the new M6 GT3 will resolve this issue the Z4 GTLM has had from day one!

    After the trophy ceremony and the cars were loaded back into their haulers, I made my way up to the corral to see who was still around. Most the members had already started to leave and there were just a few stragglers left. So I said some goodbyes and headed to clean up my campsite.

    My camp didn’t take long to pack up as there was just my tent. But I took my time putting it all back into its case as I was going to donate it to the Salvation Army on my way out of town. And as I jumped into my rental and started to head out of the facility, I realized that there is no better way to watch a race than the way I just did. Now I just need to figure out how to get to the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring!

    Oh, and by the way, the extra-long hot shower and amazing night of sleep in the super-soft bed of the Holiday Inn that night was amazing!—Nate Risch