Viper days bring amateur race car drivers to Putnam County

Friday, August 10, 2007
Four race-tuned Dodge Vipers and a Dodge Neon sit in the pits of the Putnam Park Road Course Friday. The cars will race as part of Viper Days Saturday and Sunday.

Putnam Park Road Course will play host to two Dodge Viper races this weekend as part of Viper Days.

The races will take place at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday and will feature dozens of race-tuned Vipers and other modified high performance street cars in the Viper Racing League.

The drivers, most of whom are businessmen with time and money to spare, will race for league points and trophies.

The League runs at tracks across the country, but it's been coming to Putnam Park for 11 years, and it also began there, said Viper Racing League owner Skip Thomas.

"It's really home track for Viper Days," he said. "This is a great facility"

In addition to the races, spectators will be able to see drivers of every skill level running the ten-turn road course at 5251 S. County Road 550 East, south of Mount Meridian throughout the weekend. The Viper Racing League also operates a driving school and offers track time to intermediate and advanced drivers from across the country.

A stock 10-cylinder Dodge Viper typically costs about $80,000, while the modified Vipers, like the ones that will be racing this weekend, average about $160,000, Thomas said.

The races are free to watch and the public is welcome.

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