Durham Morning Herald, 4/19/68  

Practice, Qualifying Runs Scheduled Saturday At VIR

By SYLVIA WILKINSON

DANVILLE, Va. -The morning sun on the green pastures of Milton, N.C., will flash across a multi-color array of sports cars, over a million dollars worth of racing machinery, when the National Championship race at Virginia International Raceway gets under way this weekend.

Practice and qualifying for Sunday's championship event will open at 10 a.m., Saturday for European production sports cars, the big bore modifieds that will reach speeds of over 190 miles per hour on the back straightaway; the V8 American sedans; the United States' two fastest production cars -- the Stingray and the Cobra; and the open-wheeled Formula cars.

More than 200 cars from Canada to Florida are entered in the seven-race event, sponsored by the North Carolina Region of the Sports Car Club of America.

The second national race of the season, this event has attracted a record number of celebrities who are driving hard for the much desired invitation to the runoffs--the American Road Race of Champions at Riverside, Calif.

The Production classes promise to be the hardest fought with a former National Champion lineup which includes Bruce Jennings, Porsche; Jerry Truitt, MG; Bob Tullius, TR4A; Brian Fuerstenau, Spitfire; and Bob Sharp, Datsun.

All existing track records are expected to topple with the Brabham-Ford open-wheeled cars most likely to get the top slot on the twisting VIR course.

Photo caption: A Poor Man's Racing
The largest class entry for the National championship events to be held at Virginia International Raceway this weekend is Formula Vee. Twenty-five of the sleek open-wheeld racers will roar off for a "mini Indy" this weekend. Volkswagen-powered and made of fiber glass and aluminum, these agile racers can travel 115 miles per hour on 45 horsepower.