From the March/April 2026 issue of Car and Driver.
In honor of speed, we annually bring together the year’s most interesting performance cars at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). We call this gathering Lightning Lap because we’re after the absolute fastest lap a car can turn around VIR’s Grand Course, a 4.1-mile asphalt serpent that’s the closest thing on this continent to Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Three days of pushing a car to its limits on one of the world’s best tracks sounds like a fun job, and it is. But while cars are pushed to their limits, so are the drivers. Getting the best time in a number of different cars is a challenge for all of us. We lie awake at night visualizing the perfect lap just to stop perseverating on the day’s mistakes. The Grand Course’s 24 corners afford many chances to miss shifts or turn-in and braking points and over estimate grip levels. VIR is unforgiving; even a minor misstep can blow an entire lap.
Lightning Lap proves the mettle of a car, but it also tests the limits of our photo and video teams. They shoot incessantly for days and then edit for many more. The results are in this magazine and also in the video of our recorded laps that thousands will watch, then mercilessly dissect, mentioning every perceived error in the comments. Like and subscribe while you’re there.
One place we don’t make mistakes is compiling the contestants. I assure you that we invite every one of the cars hopping off the curbing in your head. If they aren’t on pages 32–33, they either have already competed or weren’t available. Car companies’ communications departments seem trained on excuses. It’s everything from “Sorry, someone damaged the Mustang GTD, and it can’t be fixed in time” to “We don’t have [insert car name here] available” to “What else will be there this year?”
After finalizing the list, we assign cars to drivers. Typically, an editor is responsible for about four cars. We drive them ourselves to give you a firsthand account of the experience—and because it’s more fun that way. This year marks the first time one of us brought one of our own cars. I’d long wanted to lap my 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera at this track, since that car well predates the inaugural running in 2006.
Obviously, none of this happens without the cars, and those cars would probably never happen without someone in the C-suite championing them even when they’re selling slowly or, worse, are in a consultant’s crosshairs. So this fall, I’m opening Lightning Lap to not just the cars at the top of brands but also the people who shape those brands. There’s a selfish side to this plan, as I think it’ll take one fast lap for these execs to ensure the future of fast cars. And a day or two at VIR is a lot more fun than endless board meetings.
A day or two should be enough to become acquainted with VIR, set a time, and even drive some of the competition’s cars. Maybe you’ll learn what your rivals are doing. Maybe you’ll learn something about your car. Maybe you’ll mow some grass after you go into the Climbing Esses a little hot. There’s no better way to know a car than to drive it absolutely as fast as it’ll go.
Can you beat our lap times? Come and find out. Enthusiast executives such as Ford CEO Jim Farley, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda, and GM president Mark Reuss can consider this a personal invitation. Others I haven’t named are welcome too. We’ll call the special category LLC-Suite. Call or email me if you’re up to it, and we’ll get it set up.
Tony Quiroga is a 20-year-veteran Car and Driver editor, writer, and car reviewer and the 19th editor-in-chief for the magazine since its founding in 1955. He has subscribed to Car and Driver since age six. “Growing up, I read every issue of Car and Driver cover to cover, sometimes three or more times. It’s the place I wanted to work since I could read,” Quiroga says. He moved from Automobile Magazine to an associate editor position at Car and Driver in 2004. Over the years, he has held nearly every editorial position in print and digital, edited several special issues, and also helped produce C/D’s early YouTube efforts. He is also the longest-tenured test driver for Lightning Lap, having lapped Virginia International Raceway’s Grand Course more than 2000 times over 12 years.