Hyperfest 2025: The Legend Continues!

For this year’s HyperFest, the emphasis was on first-hand experience. “We aimed to invite spectators into the passenger seat. We had Warriors in Motion, a charity for veterans, who brought a bunch of Spec E46s and gave folks a chance to ride around VIR,” began Chris Cobetto, NASA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director. “We also brought in three Australian V8 Supercars to show our American audience how Ford and General Motors build road-racing versions of familiar platforms down in Oceania.”

Along with rare cars, the racing celebrities present kept the fans entertained. Matt Field brought his C8 Corvette drift car, Randy Pobst brought his “Randit” 1977 Trans-Am, Larry Chen hopped into a colorful Spec E30, and rapper T-Pain and Vaughn Gittin Jr. threw down laps in their RTR Mustangs. Not everyone knows it, but the rapper may have missed his calling — the man can drive.

A wide array of sponsors brought their wares and found clever ways to showcase them. The list included X Comp Tires, Summit Racing Equipment, Toyo Tires, Air Force, Army, RideTech, Hawk Performance, Haltech, and Monster Energy.

Jim Greenleaf, Motorsports and Events Manager at Summit Racing Equipment, was thrilled to see the turnout this year. “What excited us was the NASA element. Seeing over 400 racers gathered that weekend was amazing. Just as impressive was the level of organization for a big event like this. It was extremely streamlined,” he said.

“It was a learning experience for us, too. We’re known as a company centered around drag racing, and we’d like to branch out into new markets. To see all these different stripes of racers enjoying themselves has helped us understand the people and partners that make up road racing and drifting.

“We loved the energy and enthusiasm there,” he added, “and now we’re able to supply our drifters and road racers with the parts they need. They’re no longer special orders for us.”

The competition wasn’t limited to paved surfaces, either. “This year, we brought an off-road sector for a number of displays. X Comp Tire and Blake Wilkey arranged a number of kicker ramps for the off-road vehicles to launch over the drifters on the skid pad,” Cobetto said.

Better weather than last year’s event helped bring in an additional 3,000 attendees, as did an event that was more refined overall. “Every year, access to the facilities gets better, more vendors and a greater variety of cuisines to try. We also try to make it more fun for the family – not just for drivers. We added a hot pepper eating contest as well as an air-guitar challenge put on by Paul Reed Smith. The winner of that event received a brand new PRS guitar.”

The lightheartedness the event has become known for could be found on the autocross course, where two-man teams would temporarily blind their drivers to up the ante. “The driver puts on a pair of welding goggles and the passenger reads them the course notes as they navigate an autocross course. They have to drive blind, basically,” Cobetto said.

Another half-blind driving event helped title sponsor Haltech showcase its new camera system, which integrates with its UC10 display. “This is our multifunction fully-programmable screen that can do data logging, display, and it can be used for chassis control as well,” says Haltech’s Andrew DiMartino.

Haltech installed its cameras in a pair of Crown Victorias loaned by Racing for Heroes, then blanked off all the glass before handing the keys to a few of the celebrity drivers present, who had to run an entire autocross run on the skid pad using only the rear view camera. “We knew it was going to be chaos, and it was the best kind of chaos — hilarious and terrifying at the same time,” DiMartino added.

Two of those celebrity drivers were Hert of Hoonigan fame and rapper T-Pain. “I couldn’t have asked for a better pair of representatives to showcase these crazy antics. They’re just fun-loving racers, plus, it’s amazing to see someone like T-Pain step into motorsports and excel. He is a car lover to the core, and that shows with everything he does with [his new company] Nappy Boy Automotive.

There were festivities that didn’t involve vehicles. Monster Stage and Club Hyperfest put on two nights of great dance music and gave everyone a chance to let loose. “It’s really cool – like a party, but a motorsports party,” added DiMartino.

The revelry was never in short supply, but that didn’t mean the dedicated racers were the odd men out. The rosters were filled to the brim with serious competitors: more than 90 Power Wheels downhill racers, 120-plus drifters, 65 cars in each field approximately, and one of the biggest classes, HFGT, drew 44 cars and several celebrities, including Larry Chen and Randy Pobst.

“That series keeps bringing in higher-profile drivers, partially because the class sits somewhere in the middle of budget and performance-cool factor spectrum, for one,” Cobetto said. “The cars are mostly modern, and they’re very much enthusiast cars. Nice enough to be considered eye candy, and with a wide range of mods allowed, the tuners have a reason to be interested, too. Plus, the fact that HFGT’s ruleset is very close to the ST4 ruleset makes it easier for NASA regulars to give it a shot.”

One man who capitalized on this easy classing system was Charles Ford, a Spec3 standout.

This wasn’t his first time to Hyperfest, but it was his first time in the faster HFGT class. Ryan Bradfield, last year’s class winner, suggested Ford give it a shot, so he reached out to about 20 people to rent a quicker car.

“I’ve had a blast doing HFGT and have been trying to recruit as many people as I can. I knew Ford regularly dominates in Spec 3, and I figured he’d like to try racing against different types of cars,” Bradfield explained.

The friend who ended up providing a suitable car was Jim Khoury, a respected GTS3 racer with a packed garage. The car in focus was a GTS3-spec E46 M3, and with only a little extra ballast and a set of Toyo Rs in place of its usual Hoosier slicks, it was eligible for ST4 and HFGT.

Thankfully, the tire choice softened the learning curve. With the M3’s additional 150 horsepower and real aero, Ford had a lot to adapt to in a short time. The Toyo R is the same tire that the Spec3 cars run, so Ford was already accustomed to its breakaway characteristics and lifespan. “I had a high level of comfort jumping in the E46. The tire is comfortable, forgiving, and long-lasting. It might set its best time on lap 10 or 11.”

“I spoke with some of the GTS3 guys the night before on how to commit to high-speed corners and trust the aero,” Ford said.

Ford had two practice sessions to familiarize himself with the M3, and ended up putting the car third on the grid. “I was looking forward to battling with pole-sitter John Kozlow, a very fast driver, but his engine gave up right after qualifying. Then the second-place driver had some paperwork issue that forced him to pull out of the race, and, suddenly, I was sitting on pole.

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As the race was underway, Ford realized he was in a class of his own, setting his best-ever time on the second lap, some 2 seconds ahead of the rest. After establishing a healthy cushion, he ran a conservative pace to ensure he’d bring the car home in one piece.

“It was a special event because I felt that I’d be able to reach the HFGT podium if I could find a car, and I proved that. On top of that, my family joined me up on the podium as I was still buzzing from my win. That was probably the best part for me, honestly.”

The positive emotion and confidence boost from winning his debut race helped him when he jumped back in the Spec3 afterward. “That win definitely helped me in the Spec 3 races that weekend — I won all three.”

It’s these sort of shakeups and intensity that has helped the series grow in the last few years. This year, there will be three more HFGT races: one at Summit Point, one at NJMP, and one at Roebling Road.

There’s something to do almost constantly at HyperFest. No matter what you’re up to, there’s something else to try, and the atmosphere is welcoming, so, we hope, none of our guests feels hesitant to jump in a car, to race a golf cart, or whatever — it’s all for fun and trying new things. There’s so much to do, in fact, that most people don’t get a chance to try everything in one weekend, so the novelty remains for the repeat customer.

And that is reflected in the numbers. “Our sales were up 20 percent over last year, and our engagement was up drastically. I always love this event. It was a very successful event. We’re looking for growth, obviously, and new opportunity, and Chris Cobetto was willing and able to do that and able to do that at a budget that worked with us. He did a great job with getting creative on brand exposure to make it a win-win for us both! We have a working formula and a lot of data, which we’re sure will make next year’s event even better,” concluded DiMartino.