It is race day here at Virginia International Raceway and the four-hour ALMS debut in the VIR 240 has more hungry players that a high school football team at a big post–game pizza party.

Muscle Milk’s Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr want to open a little bigger championship gap for the season finale at Petit Le Mans. Dyson Racing wants to close that gap and added driver Johnny Mowlem and a new “Flybrid” Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to help do just that.

Corvette’s Tommy Milner and co-driver Oliver Gavin want to lock up the GT class championship here at Milner’s home state race, in Gavin’s 100th ALMS start, and before teammates, Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia or the BMW Team RLL guys get bigger ideas.

ESM’s Johannes van Overbeek and Scott Sharp want to turn the team’s first ever pole into its first ever win from pole.

Eric Bachelart’s Conquest Endurance duo of Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier-Hansson looks to keep Level 5’s Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut at bay.

CORE’s Alex Popow wants to ice the PC class driver’s championship while teammates Jon Bennett and poleman Colin Braun would like to keep the championship alive. Kyle Marcelli missed out on the PC pole by 0.001 second. Winning the race would ease that disappointment.

Did we mention the 3.27 mile circuit is fast and narrow and that Graf describes the speed differentials as “massive” while JVO notes the circuit is like a very fast street circuit in that, “the off-line gets quite dirty and dusty and the edges will suck the cars right off the track.”

Closing rates have everyone on their toes and GTC poleman Damien Faulkner explains there is nowhere for the GTC cars to hide. Championships are on the line. As the great Jackie Stewart might say, “this is real motor racing!” and it should be fun.