SCC: Virginia Tech victims honored

Grand-Am To Honor Victims of Virginia Tech Tragedy at Iowa Speedway and VIR 400

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 20, 2007) --Joining with numerous other sporting organizations in the United States and around the world, Grand-Am officials confirmed today that teams in both of its racing series will display the Virginia Tech University logo on their race cars over the next two weeks in tribute to the victims of this week's tragedy at the school.

Competing teams in both this weekend's dual Grand-Am KONI Challenge 400k races at Iowa Speedway, in Newton, Iowa, and in next weekend's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series events at Virginia International Raceway, in Alton, Va., will display the VT logo in remembrance of the lives lost this past Monday. Competitors in the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series, which is also competing at VIR next weekend, will also be invited to participate in the tribute.

This weekend at Iowa, teams in both the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) races will display the VT logo against a black background on each side of their race cars. The decal is the same tribute logo that competing teams in NASCAR's national series will display for the next three weeks. Grand-Am and NASCAR are based on the same corporate campus in Daytona Beach, Fla.

At next weekend's VIR 400, Daytona Prototype and GT teams will display a VT ribbon logo in what will be the first major national motorsports event to be run in Virginia since the tragedy. The VIR facility is also home to the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research (VIPER) which operates in partnership with Virginia Tech's Advance Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory (AVDL).

Track officials will also allow free admission to the VIR 400 for students that hold a Virginia Tech student ID. The Virginia Tech Blacksburg campus is less than 150 miles from VIR.

-credit: garra