Race fans attending Virginia Tech’s Thursday night football game against Maryland are in for a treat. Virginia Tech motorsports research center VIPER Service will unveil a new color wrap -- burnt orange and Chicago maroon – on one of the Nextel Cup racecars donated by Petty Enterprises earlier this year. The letters “VT” will replace the ubiquitous number “43” associated with racing legend Richard Petty.
The car, sporting a Hokie Bird on its roof, will be on display from 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. on the Drillfield as part of the university’s tailgate activities, according to Steve Southward, VIPER Director. VIPER, the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research facility, is one of several mechanical engineering (ME) labs at Danville’s Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), an outreach partner of Virginia Tech. The VIPER Service vehicle also sports a new Dodge engine and other power-train components, so it is now ready to collect track data for research projects.
Petty and son Kyle donated the car, and a twin, to the Virginia Tech Foundation for use by ME graduate students pursuing degrees at VIPER’s facilities in Halifax County and at IALR. The second car retains its original No. 43 decal and yellow, red and blue color wrap. “We wanted one of the cars to be a marketing tool for the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, VIPER Service, and Virginia Tech,” said Southward. “And the best way to do that was put a new wrap on it.”
Wrap is a literal term. Few racecars are painted nowadays, according to Southward. Rather, cars are “wrapped” in vinyl sticker sheets – some quite large in size – formed to the car’s body. The basic wrap design doesn’t include the myriad of sponsor stickers and other decals placed all over the vehicle. On the car’s sides, where the doors normally would go, are the letters “VT.” In place of the number on the roof is a Hokie bird. VIPER, the IALR, the Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety (CVeSS) at Virginia Tech, Virginia International Raceway and a list of other research labs and manufacturers will be represented by an assortment of stickers. A series of mechanical engineering equations and actual test data also adorn the car.
Southward said the car’s engine may be fired up at the Drillfield event. “Everyone who sees it on Thursday will get a kick out of it,” he added.
For more information on Petty Enterprises’ donation of the cars to Virginia Tech, click here
For more information on VIPER, visit http://www.viperservice.com or contact Deborah Morehead at 434-766-6717.
For more information on Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, visit http://www.ialr.org/
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