A road that goes through green areas, ARMCO is right outside of Danville, Virginia, and offers an unbeatable mix of speed, control, and stopping. Since 2004, we’ve been testing the latest high-performance cars at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), which is probably America’s most challenging race track besides Germany’s Nürburgring. We call this week of testing “Lightning Lap.” In May at VIR, more than 60 of our readers drove the same 4.1-mile Grand Course layout we’ve used to set standards for production cars like the Honda Fit and the McLaren Senna. During the day, readers had more than two hours of track time to fight for the fastest times using our price-based categories, LL1 (up to $35,000) to LL5 (over $250,000). We used last year’s price categories because registration for this event happened before we raised prices in 2023 to represent that the cost of new cars keeps increasing. People who came to our last two reader track days with their cars and faces immediately came to mind. At the start of the crisp Virginia morning, a warning was given about how to act on the track. The staff at Kaizen Autosport gave out transponders, taught people how to use them, and let people use track cars while they timed and scored the races for three groups. This year, a new Enthusiast club was made to help people who don’t know much about track driving learn more. Three people from the Car and Driver team were also there to drive our long-term fleet for a few runs. Long-term owners of a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS, Subaru BRZ, and Honda Civic Si went to the track with our fans. The competition was fast this year, and the cars were beautiful, but only one in each group could leave with a trophy. Everyone who came to the third Lightning Lap public track day is appreciated. Enthusiast The enthusiastic party of first-time track drivers was the most extensive group at this year’s event. Many had never been on a race track, let alone one as long and complex as VIR’s Grand Course. As they became more confident, they moved from lead-follow laps with teachers to laps on their own. Teeth were pulled out, and people had fun. Rob Wald’s 2020 BMW M2 Competition, Leigh Potts’ 1987 Chevy Monte Carlo SS, and Trisha Radocaj’s 2023 Toyota GR86 were some cars there. Cameron Kennedy put a tracker in his 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S while his wife Kristen was driving their 2019 McLaren 570S Spider. Setting a fast lap time wasn’t the primary goal. Considering how happy everyone was in the paddock, we wouldn’t be shocked if a few drivers came back the following year for more difficult time trials. LL1 (under $35,000) Duane Black drove his reliable V-6 automatic Mustang back to VIR to win the LL1 title. There was no speed limit this time, and he was pulling a set of track wheels and tires. Even though he wasn’t as fast this time (he was on the verge of a 3:00 flat earlier), it was because the Mustang’s tires were worn out and not very good. Still, Black’s 3:03.8 in this simple V-6 Mustang—it’s worth saying again that it’s the car he drives daily—shows that he knows the Grand Course. LL2 ($35,000 to $64,999) After that, there was a wide range of cars in the class, such as a Challenger Hellcat, a Tesla Model 3, and two Civic Type Rs. The faster of the two Civics dropped to 3:07, while the Model 3 and Hellcat tied at 3:14. None of them could beat Nathan Bunn’s 2021 Toyota Supra, which had a mean-looking aero kit. Bunn had a significant edge because he had worked for our track-day partner Kaizen Autosport before and knew much about VIR. Even though he beat everyone in his class by a wide margin, his time of 2:58.3 is a few seconds slower than the record set by a manual Supra last year. Bunn said he was using an old set of R-compound tires because his new group had yet to arrive in time. LL3 ($65,000 to $124,999) This year, there was a lot of racing in the LL3 class. David Hunt won at 3:02.6 in a 2022 Porsche Cayman GT4. Stephen Fayette came in second place in a GT4 from 2016 with a lap time of 3:04.6. A few seconds before, Jonathan Lucas’s second 2016 Porsche 718 GT4 raced against Gabe Rich’s 2022 Chevy Camaro SS 1LE. Rich’s lap of 3:11.394 beat Lucas’s lap of 3:11.502. Bradley Lucas’s 2021 C8 Corvette had a time of 3:27.5, while Fred Barsoain’s 2019 BMW M4 had a time of 3:18.3. LL4 ($125,000 to $249,999) Clearly, it was the only one in the $249,000 or less club. In a 2022 Porsche 911 GT3, Matthew Einstein set a tasty lap time of 2:45.7. He won. Matthew was the fastest man that day. He finished at 20:23, which was over a second faster than the year before. Last year, we had a time of 2:40.6, but his six-speed manual was better than our PDK automatic. Matthew might return next year to cut his time by another second or two. Matthew was behind Corey Radcliff’s 2017 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme’s 2:40.9 lap time at past reader track day events. Matthew, you did a great job and should be proud that you used that rocket the way Stuttgart wanted you to. LL5 (at least $250,000) Deep Sran’s 2018 Ferrari 488 GTB ran a 3:18.1, making it the first Ferrari among our users who go to racetracks. It has a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and a twin-turbo V-8 engine, giving it 661 horsepower right out of the box. Deep’s fingers were dancing. We timed the 488GTB from 0 to 60 mph, which only took 3.0 seconds. Deep’s time was much slower than the 2:45.1 record we set in 2016, but we can’t blame him for making sure his car could still get home. LLR1 (under $65,000) This year, there are only two drivers in a class, where there are usually many racing set times. John Cuellar won the race with a solid time of 2:50.3 in a customized 2007 Chevy Corvette Z06. He did this by cutting eight seconds off our previous lap record for the year the car was made. In a 2011 Z06 with the Z07 package, Robert Lamere came in second with a time of 2:57.3. LLR2 ($65,000 to $124,999) Ginetta G56 GTA race cars driven by Kaizen Autosport, which weighed 2400 pounds and had a British frame and a Mustang V-6 engine, won most of the races in this class. A C5 Corvette with a modified engine that was moved up to the race class and a BMW M240i rounded out the group. The Ginettas were faster than the other two cars by more than 10 seconds. Their times ranged from 2:48.0 to 2:49.5. Peter Heffring, in charge of the Kaizen program, came in second with 2:48.5. Bertus van Jaarsveld won, not just because he was a paying customer. LLR3 ($125,000 to $249,999) This session had another small group of Porsches, but it was far from quiet. Jean-Francois Lemay won the race in a 2017 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with a time of 2:52.5. Stéphane Bouvier’s 2020 Cayman GT4 Clubsport was just behind him with a lap time of 2:56.8. LLRP1 is a model Garry Gray returned with his 2013 Radical SR8 for another drive after a terrible accident on our last track day. And he did go. His best time was 2:46.1, 0.3 seconds faster than Tatuus’s best time at our previous event. Excellent work.
