Success in Sports Car Racing in the US?

[KC]

With the ALMS beginning to garner more and more TV coverage with racing fans, we are now seeing more and more drivers interested in competing at venues like the Rolex 24 at Daytona. This trickle down effect from the ALMS to the Grand Am series is going to help sportscar racing in the long run in NASCAR dominated TV racing in America.

The list of drivers competing at the Rolex this year include NASCAR stawarts Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Petty, and Jeret Schroeder. Current Indy Racing League champion Buddy Lazier is also going to Daytona to drive for Dyson Racing. This is good for sportscar racing and the fans of it.

It seems that the Rolex is rapidly moving back into its original form as one of the better sports car events like the 12 Hours of Sebring. If it could draw more of the elite European teams into the fold like the ALMS has done, it would indeed become one of the coveted titles in endurance sports car racing.

[Heeltoe6]

Dyson usually has Papis racing, so having Lazier instead ins't really expanding the field of drivers, more like status quo. As for the Earnhardts, it's only because Vette is desperate for some media attention and is paying them a handsome sum, not beause they want to participate in the tradition of the Rolex. Rolex will never draw more elite European (or even domestic alms) teams as long as they have such restrictive rules. But that doesn't matter to garra, because garra was created to hurt, not help, US sportscar racing. France saw Panoz's juggernaut and was rightfully worried it could become a force in US motorsports(just look at its ratings). So he organizes this garra, steals most of the good US tracks(Daytona, WGI, Mid Ohio, Road America, Lime Rock Park) because either he(well ISC, same thing) owns them or because he offers such low sanctioning fees (because he doesn't need to make a big profit on the series because that is not it's purpose) that Panoz can't compete. Think I'm crazy. Just think about this. France could easily attach garra tv rights to Nascar, demanding that whoever broadcasts Nasar broadcast garra. But he didn't do this, he lets it languish on SV(no offense to SV, awesome coverage, but 35 million homes won't frow a series). That's cause he doesn't want garra to succeed and return sportscar racing to its former glory, he wants to just make sure ALMS doesn;t get too popular and threaten Nascar, and at the same time he has to protect form garra from becoming too popular and doing the same thing.

[KC]

You are right on those points Heeltoe6. It is a shame that the the ALMS and GARRC cannot agree, but I can understand to some degree both sides of the equation. Small teams like Dyson Racing are nigh uncompetitive in the ALMS against factory efforts, but such is racing. There are the have-nots deep in the field in the GARRC as well. They are just so poor they do not even appear on the scope.

I can understand some of the fears of encouraging factory efforts, because they will quit you at their convenience and leave a series high and dry without the main draw. Too many times has this happened to be ignored, but the show seems hollow without them as well. They are the ones that bring the top drivers and produce the killer cars and provide the hype that surrounds a championship, not small-fry teams like Dyson Racing.

I applaud Don Panoz for his vision of the ALMS and frown at Bill France for his narrow minded GARRC and wish the ALMS could visit world class circuits like Watkins Glen, Road America, and Lime Rock.

As far as guest drivers go, it does draw some viewers to the series who would pay it no attention otherwise. Some of those visiting fans might stick around after the Earnhardts are long gone. Most probabyl won't. It is too bad that Papis isn't there to race one of the Ferrari 333SPs in their final race.

GM needs their heads caved in for producing a good car and then mismanaging it so. GM should feel proud they finally beat the Vipers at Dallas last year, but AER deserves the credit becasue they brought the car there, not GM. The Cadillac LMP program is being run much the same way. DAMS does a much better job of fielding the cars than GM does, but all GM can do is complain about it. Oh well. GM will never change, and if they ever do it will always be too little too late.

[Heeltoe6]

Hey, maybe you are right about the Rolex getting more known drivers, at least for this year. Mcnish will be there, and I just read over at Speedvision that Johnny O'Connel(who will not be returning to Panoz) will be teaming with the Fellows/Kneifel/Freon Vette. And apparently David Brabham had hoped to join Mcnish in the Risi Ferrari, but, surprise, Panoz would not allow it. But for every step forward there's at least 1 back, as the race will be televised on SV, instead of the deuce, a difference of about 50+ million homes. Course SV will cover all 24 hrs(to thier credit espn2 carried, what at least 10 hrs live) and their crew will be slgihtly better, but espn2 always did a great job, imho, with Bob Varsha(or Reid when Vasrha went to SV) and Jeremy Dale in the booth. The only complaint I would have would not be having Parker Johnstone in the booth for his great sportscar knowledge(especially on the engineering side) and for using Dr Jerry Punch and Bill Webber on pit road isntead of Gary Gerould and Jon Beekhuis. But other than those minor flaws, espn2 had a great show, and was the best thing media wise sportscar racing had going for it.

Spot on about GM, course, them messing up a good thing is nothing new

[Jared]

Heeltoe, I wish to disagree with you about your comments on why the Earnhardts are racing in the Rolex. Dale Sr. has said for many years that racing in the 24 hours has been a goal of his.

Even Dale Jr., when asked if he could try another form of race car for a test, said he'd like to try an F1 or Champ Car. (Not the same as a sports car, but road racing nonetheless.)

I also wish to disagree with you about Bill France and Rob Dyson creating the GARRA. They did that, in their mind, to help U.S. road racing, but not to help world road racing. This year's Daytona field looks intriguing, but I would love to see a Panoz or even the Pescarolo Courage.

[Jared]

On the subject of drawing a more "international" field, the 24 Hours was supposed to be the opening round of the FIA Sports Car Championship, or whatever they're calling the ISRS now. However, as you know, this was called off, and now most of the international prototype teams won't be showing up. That is a shame, IMHO. Had they been lured to come contest the race, I think it would have been an even greater race, with the Lolas, the Panoz cars, and international Ferrari teams coming to race.

And on the subject of privateers vs. factories, I feel there needs to be a set of rules in place which allow factory cars to run, but that the factories have to sell comparable equipment to private teams. They should sell the cars, but for a more representative sum than the $640,000 the GARRA enforces. Somewhere perhaps around $1m. This, IMHO, is the only fair way.

[BobN]

Originally posted by Jared
On the subject of drawing a more "international" field, the 24 Hours was supposed to be the opening round of the FIA Sports Car Championship, or whatever they're calling the ISRS now. However, as you know, this was called off, and now most of the international prototype teams won't be showing up. That is a shame, IMHO. Had they been lured to come contest the race, I think it would have been an even greater race, with the Lolas, the Panoz cars, and international Ferrari teams coming to race.

And on the subject of privateers vs. factories, I feel there needs to be a set of rules in place which allow factory cars to run, but that the factories have to sell comparable equipment to private teams. They should sell the cars, but for a more representative sum than the $640,000 the GARRA enforces. Somewhere perhaps around $1m. This, IMHO, is the only fair way.

If Dyson is competitive with with the new MKIII series C (as many think he will be) it blows the whole $ arguemnet all to hell. And it looks like Audi and Panoz ARE making cars available to privateers (biggest complaint by Dyson). If Champion and Dyson are competitive it really takes the wind out of the positon that privateers can't compete with factories and would make Garra series meaningless. Then maybe we can have a unified sportscar series because the basis for Garra disappears.

Bob

[Heeltoe6]

"Heeltoe, I wish to disagree with you about your comments on why the Earnhardts are racing in the Rolex. Dale Sr. has said for many years that racing in the 24 hours has been a goal of his."

Maybe. I understand his respect for the challenges of other forms of motorsports. I do not contend this wasn't a goal of his; I am saying, though, that the reason he is in the field this particular year is not because the Rolex has somehow returned to its former grandeur and it attracting the best drivers, but rather that Vette needs something to spark interest in its Vette program.

Rob Dyson might've thought he was helping US road racing, but Franc has nothing in mind except making sure nothing rivals Nascar.

I agree with both your's and KC's comments about facotires; it's a catch 22. You need them to get a series which commands attention, but you have to make sure that not just 1-2 teams have access to works technology and that factories don't leave the series high and dry