Viper Owners Invitationals have never been a club only event. It was always open to everone who owns a Viper and their guest.
Never super children friendly, and usually organized around getting the Viper Faithful together and experiencing their Vipers on fantastic racing venues where people that may never in their lives had a chance to experience a super high performance supercar in a track environment.
Not a racing event for those with vast racing experience, but the opportunity to take your own Viper (or one supplied by the manufacturer) out on a real race track, and to experience how the Vipers come into their own on the track.
They usually provide professional or club racing drivers as instructors, with experience on those specific tracks They can show the owners the fast line around the track. They are there to encourage you to speed up or slow down, depending on their evaluation of your skills. If you can impress them with some track cred they will usually let you go pretty quickly. If you are driving above your ability, they will encourage you to slow down enough for the safety of all concerned.
They sometimes offer more than one day on the track, where on the final day mostly only the truly rabid racers show up, to get even more track time.
It is all pretty well controlled, as they want everyone to be safe out there.
They often offer autocross events, and offer rewards and acknowledge of the fast guys at evening dinners. Knocking over cones gets a rise out of everybody, but costs seconds.
There have even been drag racing events. The intent is to allow people who bring their cars to run them down the 1/4 mile, and experience the potential of their cars in a controlled environment. While most just run their factory equipped cars, some will modify them especially for 1/4 mile (or 1,000 ft) drags. They will have high hp Vipers with full racing slicks. Makes everyone take notice.
They usually have VIP speakers, and some awards. It is not unsual for SRT to unveil their latest updates to the faithful at these events. I saw the unveiling of the first Viper Convertibles, the first Gen IV Coupe, and first Gen V's at these events. You never know in advance what they are going to come up with, but everybody attending hangs on every word, and every picture on the screen.
If possible they also try to bring out the other SRT lineup where attendees get to see, and possibly drive their latest offerings. Many have ended up buying a new SRT Jeep, 300, Charger or Challenger after returning home from a VOI.
At the last VOI in Salt Lake City, SRT brought out a bunch of freshly released Gen V's on a special driving course for full acceleration, full braking, and maximum cornering. Many came away super impressed, and orders were quickly placed.
Details about upcoming VOI's are usually released first on the pages of this forum. It usually comes out in dribbs and drabs as the details get finalized. First are the dates, so people can arrange to get off work and make travel plans. Regional clubs often arrange their own slithers with other clubs, and they can coordinate the trip together. Side trips are arranged, and while most driver their own cars, many take advantage of provided car haulers to bring their cars to the event, one or even both ways. I remember two SoCal guys that shipped their cars to Charlotte, then turned the VOI into a Atlantic Ocean…to Pacific Ocean drive home, a once in a lifetime bucket list experience.
It is usual for club members to get first dibs on accommodations, as often the best places sell out in advance. They are give previews, mailings, and discounts of the event, while non- members must wait until the official kick off. Not sure how it will be handled this year, and there have been significant changes in structure (to say the least).
Sometimes the events sell out, and they need to put people on a waiting list. Will depend a lot on how many people the hotel(s) and track can hold.
So bottom line. Everyone is welcome, and encouraged to join in the fun.
See everyone in Texas!
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