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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Dave Weber, GT3Cup@PorscheNet.com
NOR'EASTER Online - May 2002

The driving season has commenced! We’re back from our first road trip of the year, this one to Danville, Virginia for three days of driving on the fantastic Virginia International Raceway. This was our fourth trip to the track, and our second event with Zone 2. They’ve modeled their event on the very successful Zone 1 48 Hours of Watkins Glen event, with a Friday Instructor Day, and then a regular two-day event for the rest of the participants. The weather was a bit cool in the mornings, but that didn’t prevent us from getting on track as much as we desired.

The Northeast Region was well represented with 13 entrants, all seasoned road trip warriors. Unfortunately Steve Boris suffered an engine failure, which I’m sure he’ll mention in his column. Otherwise everyone else was able to drive the entire weekend.

In previous columns I’ve raved about VIR, the track, the facilities, and track management and workers. Additionally the city of Danville and its residents seem equally happy with the track’s presence and what it does for the local economy – how refreshing! We noted new hotel construction, and an increase in the number of bed and breakfast lodging options, as indicators of an increasing tourist (driver) business. The city was even able to divert some tax monies to increase water and sewage capability for the track complex, to enable further development of the “RacePlex” industrial park area.

On Saturday evening Zone 2 arranged for participants to visit the G&W Motorsports facilities in the aforementioned “RacePlex.” G&W race Porsche GT3 RSs in the Grand Am series, where they’ve been very successful over a number of years. Their shop is very modern with plenty of room to work on cars and engines. They were very gracious hosts for the reception, welcoming a very curious crowd of Porsche fanatics. G&W also provided technical support to a number of participants over the weekend – another plus for the Zone 2 VIR Driver Education event!

Zone 2 in two short years has developed a very successful event, which this year attracted over 230 entrants. As you might expect, I’d strongly recommend the event as one to consider as you plan your 2003 driving schedule. John Ktistes was heard to compare driving VIR to a near religious experience!

We’ve come to rather enjoy these long road trips to distant tracks. One of our priorities on this most recent trip turned out to be purchasing new CB units. Our traveling pack early on in the trip experienced a number of problems with our all in one hand held units, so after a bit of prodding on Bill Hawe’s part several of us purchased new CB’s at truck stops in Virginia. I think I now have the ability to reach out quite a distance to maintain contact with our traveling companions – plus the new unit has lots of cool dials and buttons with which to fiddle. The backlit display also looks real cool at night!

I’m continually amazed at the range of products and services available at major truck stops. In addition to the traditional fuel and food services, you’ll typically find a well-equipped store selling everything you might need while traveling. You’ll also find showers, a truck weigh scale, ATM, phones, a truck and trailer wash, truck repair services, and lots of parking. You’ll also find that truck stops no longer cater primarily to the big rig crowd. You’ll just as likely find plenty of automobiles and motorhomes filled with vacationers, or maybe a number of people pulling racecar trailers. Low fuel prices pull in the traveling public, all the other features provide the bulk of the profit I suspect.

While at VIR I saw the tow rig of my dreams. Bob Miller, PCA member, and competitor in the SpeedVision (Speed Channel?) World Challenge. He races a very modified (engine primarily) 996 Super Cup Car, and he was Rookie Of The Year in the series in 2001. He pulled into VIR with a huge motorhome pulling an equally large trailer (capable of hauling two cars – one above the other). The rig was spectacular, and looked very plush. He travels with all the comforts of home it appears! Of course he had reserved parking (courtesy of Zone 2) right next to the main track headquarters, so everyone had to walk by his setup multiple times each day. Count me as very envious!

Our trips to VIR have been in the past complicated a bit by the route we take to get over the Blue Ridge Mountains into Lynchburg, Virginia. While the scenery on the cross-mountain range roads we’ve taken has been gorgeous, the twisty climbs and steep descents have tested our tow vehicles and nerves. Those thirty miles or so have been a challenge on each trip. On our way home this time, Susana and I discovered a new more northerly route that requires only one climb of three miles on a major roadway when you’re headed home and one fairly easy descent on the way to the track. This new route is much more tow vehicle and trailer friendly, plus it saves at least thirty-to-forty minutes of travel time. My computer travel program never offered up this route option, despite the shorter travel distance and time. I’m now of course curious as to why the program missed this route scenario. Yet more confirmation that a human with a map can do some travel planning better than a software program!

In closing a few other observations that we made during our trip. Why can’t we build roads in New England that can survive harsh weather and high usage? I-84 in Connecticut is the worst for the condition of the pavement, inadequacies of design (left exits and exit only lanes in particular), and high usage with Hartford absolutely horrendous. Gasoline prices didn’t get lower as we traveled south as they have done in the past. What’s different this year? Hampton Inns are the best for affordable and comfortable road lodging, and they seem to be located everywhere we want to stop. The new plazas being built on the Mass Pike are much better than the worn out facilities they are replacing, they just need to be constructed twice as fast. The Outback Steakhouse is the only good restaurant at which to dine in Danville, come on someone must be able to compete with them! And finally, Massachusetts needs a good truck wash close to Franklin, MA!

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region