The two events, Hyperfest: The Automotive Amusement Park and the SRO GT World Challenge, will bring tens of thousands of motorsports fans to the area in May and June.
The season gets underway with Haltech Hyperfest on Friday-Sunday. Hyperfest is one of the largest motorsports festivals on the East Coast and features road racing, car shows, ride-alongs, obstacle courses, karting, a kid zone, live music and more — truly something for everyone.
The second event, the Fanatec SRO GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS will take place June 16-18, bringing the upper echelon of GT sports car racing to VIR.
Each of these events will bring both new and familiar faces to VIR and in turn, the surrounding areas, and an opportunity for our residents to show why we love the region so much.
“We’re so fortunate to have one of the most sought-after racetracks right in our backyard,” said LaTonya Hamilton, director of Halifax County Tourism. “2022 was a record-setting year for VIR and 2023 promises to be even better with new schedule additions, track upgrades and more. We want our local businesses to be aware of events so they can prepare and show VIR visitors how special our community is.”
“Visitors to VIR are not only spending time enjoying action at the track, but they take advantage of our great variety of shopping, dining and attractions,” said Lisa Meriwether, tourism manager for the City of Danville. “Sharing event information ensures area businesses are well-staffed, stocked and ready to provide great customer service to our guests.”
To help local businesses show their VIR pride and welcome visitors during event weekends, VIR is offering free VIR welcome pins for business owners and their employees to wear.
“This is a new initiative we’re trying, to showcase the community we live in is behind us. We think this is a great way to show the thousands of participants and fans that we’re one team, all in,” said Connie Nyholm, co-owner and CEO of VIR. All interested groups should email virmarketing@virnow.com to request their complimentary welcome pins.
To view a complete schedule and more information on each event, and to purchase tickets, visit: https://virnow.com/events/.
Virginia International Raceway is one of America’s premier road courses, offering professional and amateur racing for modern and vintage classes while providing contemporary resort amenities. A prominent test facility for the automotive industry, VIR has the distinction of being named one of the top six courses in North America by Car and Driver Magazine.
James Gordon, the owner of Springfield Distillery, comes by his interest in whiskey naturally. “I grew up with memories of my father moonshining,” says Gordon, who opened his Halifax County distillery in August 2016. “My father is one of the first two private individuals in South Africa to get his license for distilling liquor. I get to tap into 25 years of distillery experience.”
