DANVILLE, VA. – Jessica Zalusky, the female rider competing in AMA’s Superbike class, drove anchor for her kart team and pushed them into the lead in VIRginia International Raceway’s third annual Big Kahuna Kart Challenge Enduro. Run at VIR’s Plantation Valley Kart Track on Thursday afternoon prior to the track’s annual visit from AMA Pro Racing’s Superbike stars, the Kart Enduro is always a fan and participant favorite, pitting teams made up of a fan, a media representative, a team member from AMA, VIR or the promoter, and a professional rider. Each team member’s best time is recorded and the total of the four times is taken. The quickest total time is the winning team. Zalusky took part of her Thursday afternoon to drive in the last round of heats, setting a best personal lap time of 47.57 seconds. When added to the rest of her team’s times, a 47.80 set by VIR’s Mark Langford, Bryan Gibbs’ media time of 47.97 and fan Eric Person’s 49.01, the team had a cumulative total of 3:12.35, over two and a half seconds ahead of the second-placing team of Chaz Davies, Berry Gillsen, Racing2SaveLives’ Stan Foxworthy and fan Dean Mizdal. The second-place team’s total was 3:14.94. Third place went to Aaron Yates, Jack Carbone, Dave Sadowski of SPEED and fan Jim Lorimer, just under another three seconds back. The fans selected at random from those who registered their ticket purchases prior to the deadline all recorded respectable times. The quickest time overall was the 46.37, set by Mike Moshenek, an employee of VIR’s kart track. Some were quick to point out his advantage of experience, even accusing him of being a “ringer” but those voices were silenced by his team’s fifth-place finish. “The Kart Enduro is a real high point of the weekend,” said promoter Cameron Gray of M1 Entertainment, promoters of the race weekend. “We feel that this is just another way we can return something extra to the fans for their support of our events.” Members of the winning team are assured of a spot in next year’s Kart Enduro, and the winning fan will receive a three-day pass for the event. Plenty of tickets are available at the gate, for all three days’ action, capped by the Superbike races Saturday and Sunday afternoons. For more information on the Big Kahuna Nationals, link your browser to: ~http://www.moto1usa.com/~ . VIRginia International Raceway is a multi-purpose road racing facility, located on the Dan River between Danville and South Boston, Virginia. Reopened in 2000, VIR hosts a wide range professional and amateur auto and motorcycle racing and track events, and is well established as “America’s Motorsport Resort.” In addition to its historic 3.27 mile natural-terrain road racing circuit, VIR is the cornerstone of VIR Club, America’s first motorsports country club; the VIR Raceplex Industrial Park and Motorsports Technology Park, which includes the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research (“VIPER”); the Plantation Valley Kart Track, a 5/8 mile paved natural terrain karting circuit; an expanding variety of on-site lodging (including 45 hotel rooms and the trackside Villas which are for sale); Camp Motorsport for enthusiasts of all ages; and the Oak Tree Tavern, a full-service restaurant located within the circa-1840 Plantation Clubhouse. VIR’s next major event is the October 5-7 GT Live/Koni Challenge weekend. Billed as an “interactive motorsports festival,” GT Live brings young enthusiast fans of Japanese tuner-cars together to watch on-track action and to participate. The weekend features the widest assortment of motorcycle and sports car activities in one place. This year’s event plans to bring out such diverse programs as: . Ride in some of the world’s hottest cars in GT Sim Race cars on VIR’s 3.27-mile Full Course. . Drive your own car in Tarzan’s Lap Battle on the 1.1-mile Patriot Course in a Time Attack, competing for lap times . Drive your car on VIR’s gravel rally stage roads in Rally-X. . Race karts in the Karting Zone on VIR’s Plantation Valley Kart Track. . See car and bike shows and fan festivals for Mazda, Nissan/Infiniti, Subaru and Mitsubishi EVO. . GT Track Attack pits American tuners against their Japanese counterparts for cash prizes. . US Drift Shootout with the best amateur and professional drifters competing on the Patriot Course for cash awards. . The best motorcycle stunt riders in the business compete for cash prizes in the invitation-only XDL U.S. Stunt Riding Championship. For information on the track and other event schedules, call 434-822-7700 or check our web site at www.virclub.com.