By Bruce Wilkins/Lake County Breeze
The AMA U.S. Superbike Championship will hold a double-header at Virginia International Raceway next season, according to track co-developer Connie Nyholm.
Speaking at a meeting of the Danville Sports Club Monday night (October 8), Nyholm said that next year’s AMA event in October at VIR will feature two Superbike points races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
(On Tuesday, October 9, VIR Public Relations & Media Director Laura Comstock said that while the track hoped to host an AMA double-header in late September 2002, the deal had not been finalized.)
Nyholm also said:
• The traffic problems will be worked out to make sure police are at the pertinent intersections on BOTH days.
• VIR definitely needs to be linked to Danville/Pittsylvania County’s water and sewer systems in order to increase the number of toilets and showers, as well as to go further into their 10-year plan which includes having an on-premise 80-120 room hotel.
• In response to a question from a local reporter, Nyholm stated, “Yes we would absolutely love to host WERA’s GNF. They’re great people…(WERA President) Ev (Clarke) was one of our very first club members here at VIR, and they are customers whom we value very highly. It would have a great impact on the local economy and is just another reason why we need to be hooked up to the water and sewer system. We would really work hard to see that we got this event.”
• In response to a question about new access to the track she said, “We don’t feel like we deserve to ask for a four-lane highway straight to the facility right now. We need the water and sewer first. Now, if someone said, ‘Yeah, you can have this four-lane highway’ then we’d of course gladly accept it. But right now, our main priority is the water and sewer system so we can grow.” She also stated that in an “as the crow flies” distance, the north end of the track is only about 2000 feet from U.S. 58.
• In response to a question about the financial impact of the recent AMA event, she stated that the track broke even and that she was very upbeat about next year’s event.
• In response to a question of what the fastest speed that has been recorded at VIR is, she said a Cadillac LMP900 race car did 202 mph down the long backstretch of the full course. One of the Cadillacs struck a groundhog at 200 mph, she added.
• In response to another question from a local reporter, Myholm said, “Yes, I would love to take some hot laps on a road racing bike if I had the chance.”
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