Tryon and Landrum’s Blitzen Benz Racing’s endurance road racing team climbed the podium again on Sunday morning, Aug. 12, placing second in a field of 115 cars at the end of the grueling ChumpCar World Series “VIR 24 Hour Classic” endurance race at Virginia International Raceway. Completing 410 laps on two different V.I.R. courses, Baby Blitzen traveled 1,532 miles with pit stops for fuel and driver changes every two hours – the equivalent of driving from Tryon to Fort Collins, Colo. in 24 hours on country roads at racing speeds.
The ChumpCar World Series is held on the best road-racing courses in North America and draws entries from Canada to the Caribbean. Virginia International Raceway is one of the preeminent, technically difficult courses in the Eastern United States.

Aug. 11 – 12 races began on Virginia International Raceway’s challenging grand course – 4.20 miles long on rolling terrain containing 130 feet of elevation changes with 23 turns and 3,000-foot and 2,000-foot straightaways. Drivers’ skills were further tested when race officials changed the course configuration halfway through the race. For the last 12 hours, from 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11, until 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12, drivers ran the 3.27-mile full course.
For the team’s second consecutive race, Rob Hall set the fastest lap on the full course at 2 minutes, 22 seconds, averaging nearly 104 mph. The Mercedes-Benz’s mechanical performance, fine-tuned by Ned Gallaher, continues to be flawless in races typically finished by less than half the field, according to Warren Board.
The Blitzen Benz Racing team consisted of drivers Warren Board and Jim Wright of Tryon, Roland Linder of Columbus, Ned Gallaher of Asheville, Rob Hall of Concord and Mark Thomas of Waynesboro, Va. The crew chief was Rusty Tredinnick of Mills River and the mechanic was Greg Pressley of Hendersonville.
Blitzen Benz Racing will compete for the ChumpCar World Series Eastern Region Championship on Oct. 13 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
– article submitted by Warren Board