The Virginia International Raceway hosted the 9th round of 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron. Luckily for us, it is only about two and a half hour drive to the race track from North Carolina. For hubby and I and for our friends Jonathan and Jane Toney, this 14th season race is not a treat to miss, even stayed two whole days that felt like the best weekend and (loudest) ever.

American Le Mans Series (ALMS) debuted in 1999. It basically follows the same rules as the 24 Hours Le Mans with 3 primary classes racing  and added 2 “challenge classes”. Prototypes ( P1 in red numbers, P2 in blue numbers, PC in purple numbers) are purpose-built racing machines while GT in green numbers and GTC in orange numbers are production-based modified cars.

The morning of our day 1 at VIR was spent watching the practices overlooking from the up hill.

view from the up hill

By noon we attended a fan forum participated by ALMS President & CEO Scott Atherton, VIR Co-owner and Managing Partner Connie Nyholm, No. 4 Corvette Racing C6R driver Tommy Milner, No. 01 ESM Ferrari F458 Italia driver Johannes van Overbeek , and RSR Racing owner Paul Gentilozzi.

fan forum at the pavilion

But my favorite part of our first day was staying and taking photos at the nascar bend and it was tricky.

In between walks around the track, I grabbed the opportunity to take photos of what catches my eye (and attention).

corvette station
hubby and I at the corvette station

I am not an expert of cars and racing and I am still learning the ropes. Hubby was very comforting when he said that we all are. Well, I am enjoying this learning process and guess what, I love American Le Mans Series :)

aerial view of VIR. photo credits to VIResort