the future of american sportscar racing

[DS"]

Originally Posted by Carsandmotorracing

That would never happen as NASCAR owns Grand-Am. I'm happy with the ALMS and Rolex Sports Car Series. But I agree with you that as long at Petit and Sebring are on the schedule than American Sports Car Racing will be fine.

That's the major problem here: IMSA doesn't want to be influenced by NASCAR, while Grand-AM doesn't want any influence from "abroad". But they should really start to work with each other, because it would definitely benefit both series.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by mirkob

(IMHO) ALMS should evolve in 3-4 events ACO serie with:
- 12 Sebring
- PLM
- Laguna Seca

Laguna has the potential to host a premier sports car event, but there are several logistical problems. The main one is that it is in the United States. Peugeot is not so keen on racing in the US, but perhaps other companies will join in and make their voices heard. Also, given that there may only be 1 North American race, the warmish early season weather of Sebring will always give it an advantage. Plus, Sebring is an established name and gives teams a good test for Le Mans. Also, I'm not so sure if Laguna has the infrastructure for a large grid like we would probably see for a combo ALMS-WEC event. Laguna could be a good track for a WEC standalone event though.

with a NA GT Championship for GTE (Pro) , GT3 (Pro-Am) and GTC (Am) cars, for the other races of the season

I don't know, I see some issues with that. First, I don't know if a GT-only series will be enough to sustain itself. Prototypes, even given the current situation, still add to the show. After all, it was the prototypes (and GTC, but who really cares about that) who gave us the most thrilling finish at Road America last weekend. Second, having three classes of similar looking cars (with similar performance in some cases) is bound to be confusing. Granted, the current situation isn't the easiest to follow for new and casual fans either!

That's the major problem here: IMSA doesn't want to be influenced by NASCAR, while Grand-AM doesn't want any influence from "abroad". But they should really start to work with each other, because it would definitely benefit both series.

It's not about influence really. Well, obviously they have different philosophies and different desires as far as keeping things domestic, but Grand-Am has followed European rules somewhat before and will again. The problem is control. Specifically, I think that NASCAR wants to have some control of the sports car situation (IMO of course, there are different ways to view it). The Frances have had their hand in sports car racing for a long time now so this isn't unprecedented. Having said all of that, having two different series with two different philosophies isn't the end of the world.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by AGD

GT3 would be a mistake. It could cannibalize GT, which is currently strong, and it would add to the confusion.

Originally Posted by Ferrari333SP

I guess the reason I bring up GT3, is that I feel those cars need(or really should) to be raced at LeMans, the Audi R8, Mercedes SLS, and Lamborghini Gallardo, and currently in GT3 they can't. There's just a big chunk of awesome GT cars that aren't racing at LeMans at the moment. That's why I feel they should be adopted into GT2(or GTE, whatever you call it). I just don't think those cars shouldn't be at the greatest sportscar race in the world, LeMans; GT racing in stature would really grow I think if they did.

Agree with both things. The ACO should have just one GT class for these high-performance cars. Then, other championships could have a second class for smaller sports cars (Nissan Z, BMW Z4, Porsche Cayenne, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Lotus Exige).

[AGD]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Agree with both things. The ACO should have just one GT class for these high-performance cars. Then, other championships could have a second class for smaller sports cars (Nissan Z, BMW Z4, Porsche Cayenne, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Lotus Exige).

I think it would make a lot more sense to have different GT classes based on street car performance. The 911 GT3 RSRs and F430 type cars can compete in one class with another class for Camaro/Mustang/Nissan Z type cars. That won't be so confusing and there should be enough cost difference to prevent cannibalization (having said that, I know things don't always work that way with costs). Plus, doing this would reduce the reliance on waivers and stuff.

Also, although it would be great to see a lot of different cars in GTE, I don't think the manufacturers necessarily agree with you. Specifically, a company may not want their many different brands competing against each other. This very well could be the case with VW and Porsche, Audi, and Lambo. Maybe not, but maybe Porsche would pull a "Fehan" (as Lou Gigliotti might say) to keep their privateer siblings on the sidelines. Also, some manufacturers may not want their brand to run in the back whether it be a factory or privateer team. That is going to be an issue with several different cars. That inevitably leads to performance balancing crying these days. That is a mess that I would rather do without.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by AGD

It's not about influence really. Well, obviously they have different philosophies and different desires as far as keeping things domestic, but Grand-Am has followed European rules somewhat before and will again. The problem is control. Specifically, I think that NASCAR wants to have some control of the sports car situation (IMO of course, there are different ways to view it). The Frances have had their hand in sports car racing for a long time now so this isn't unprecedented. Having said all of that, having two different series with two different philosophies isn't the end of the world.

That's basically what I wanted to say. The point is, no one wants to risk being screwed over by the other series. Because the France family seems to have more money than the IMSA after all, while IMSA is more recognized by the international scene of motorsport.

But unless one of the series tries to do a Tony George, both series could do more or less fine in the future. They just need a winning formula about how to attract either manufacturers (ALMS) or privateers (RSCS).

GT3 is also another interesting issue. I wonder why no one has tried to start an American GT3 championship yet. The manufacturers are just waiting for the US market to open so they can sell their cars. I'm afraid that the European market will be oversaturated by a couple of years, forcing the manufacturers out of GT racing once again. But a properly promoted US series gives them almost a license for printing money.

But I think that an American GT3 championship should run as a stand-alone championship first. Seeing that Grand-AM will establish an American DTM in 2013, this might be the perfect chance for IMSA to establish an own support series. When the GT3 series has established itself, they can think about creating a special GT3 endurance category. But before that, GT3 needs to be properly established and promoted in America.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by DS"

That's basically what I wanted to say. The point is, no one wants to risk being screwed over by the other series. Because the France family seems to have more money than the IMSA after all, while IMSA is more recognized by the international scene of motorsport.

But unless one of the series tries to do a Tony George, both series could do more or less fine in the future. They just need a winning formula about how to attract either manufacturers (ALMS) or privateers (RSCS).

Yeah, who knows what will happen. NASCAR probably has deeper pockets as you say, but who knows what impact that will really have. After all, the clabber girls finally got tired of Tony George burning their family fortune (I doubt that getting rid of Tony has actually fixed anything, but that is a whole different discussion). The same could happen with the Frances. Who knows. One of Grand-Am's biggest problems is that some die-hard racing fans will always view them with suspicion. Having "prototypes" with faux Chevrolet Impala headlight stickers only adds to the comedy, but there seems to be new blood in Daytona with, if nothing else, better ideas than the people there in the past. But, anyway, both series need to focus forward and do what is best for each individually. As Indy has shown us, amalgamation alone does nothing but eliminate one excuse for poor results.

I'm a bit leery with the direction the ALMS is taking in terms of spec classes, the sausagemobile, and somewhat excessive performance balancing (relatively speaking of course), but it is still one of the few series that comes close to some of the sporting ideals that I loved about auto racing back in the day. Hopefully the Deltawing is just one of Don's passing interests and the spec. classes are just a short term solution to bolster grid sizes during a down period for the prototypes.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by AGD

I'm a bit leery with the direction the ALMS is taking in terms of spec classes, the sausagemobile, and somewhat excessive performance balancing (relatively speaking of course), but it is still one of the few series that comes close to some of the sporting ideals that I loved about auto racing back in the day. Hopefully the Deltawing is just one of Don's passing interests and the spec. classes are just a short term solution to bolster grid sizes during a down period for the prototypes.

Appearantly I didn't follow the discussion about the "sausagemobile" (Kudos to you for that, I would have made dong jokes about it ), but what's the problem with that one. Not that I actually care about, I'm just curious.

As for the spec categories: It's a bit ironic that the GTC and LMPC grid sizes are rather low this year, given that they were brought in to bolster the grid. If the ALMS could field 10 LMPs and 20 GTEs, they could make a Formula Le Mans series as well as Carrera Cup America.

Think about it, a package with ALMS, GT3, FLM and PCC sounds decent enough. Europe could need such a package, but we have actually similiar problems with the never ending battle of ACO vs. SRO. So yeah...

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by AGD

Yes, but do you have any reason to doubt them? .

No, I have no reason to doubt what I know they've said off camera.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by DS"

Appearantly I didn't follow the discussion about the "sausagemobile" (Kudos to you for that, I would have made dong jokes about it ), but what's the problem with that one. Not that I actually care about, I'm just curious.

As for the spec categories: It's a bit ironic that the GTC and LMPC grid sizes are rather low this year, given that they were brought in to bolster the grid. If the ALMS could field 10 LMPs and 20 GTEs, they could make a Formula Le Mans series as well as Carrera Cup America.

Think about it, a package with ALMS, GT3, FLM and PCC sounds decent enough. Europe could need such a package, but we have actually similiar problems with the never ending battle of ACO vs. SRO. So yeah...

Well, first off let there be no doubt that I find the Deltawing to be hideous looking. Too ugly for the IRL even! That says a lot. But it is more than that. There is always the fear that the DW could become a spec class of it's own or a spec sub-class within LMP1 (or LMP2 I guess) where it has it's own rules within the larger class. Either situation is not good. It seems that the DW people got Don to push things through with the promise of them using Panoz materials and such. It just seems like it is a money grab. I don't have some of the performance doubts that some others have (I don't think they would go through this much trouble if the car can't turn), but it's more about the philosophy of the situation. People compare it to the Indy turbines and stuff, but those cars were within the rules. They did not get their own rules. On top of all of that, I think there 56th garage options that are more revolutionary (albeit perhaps more optimistic than realistic when it comes to race pace compared to the Sausagemobile).

Oh, and yes, there are some terrific nicknames for the thing. DeltaSchwing is probably the best I have heard, but I don't want to steal someone else's nice name!

As far as what direction the ALMS should take, I think the LMS is doing something interesting. They will have 1 LMP class (just LMP2s), GTE-Pro, GTE-Am, and a class made up of one-class championship cars (Porsche and Ferrari Challenge cars most likely, I don't know if there will be more). Perhaps the ALMS should go with one LMP class (a combined LMP1 & LMP2 class instead of one pure class though), GT (no need for an Am class), and the various challenge cars. The other option I like, as mentioned earlier, is to eliminate GTC and have a Pony car type class for Camaro/Mustang/Nissan Z type cars.

EDIT: I think LMS will have FLM/LMPC as well. I forgot to mention that earlier.

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

No, I have no reason to doubt what I know they've said off camera.

Well, now you have me bamboozled.

[Jacques Rabbit]

Originally Posted by AGD

Sponsors do like the new package. Major sponsors. Porsche, Corvette, Michelin, and BMW. They like it to the point that they are paying for the ALMS to buy airtime on ESPN and ABC. Ok, maybe Magnus Racing does not like the new package, but Porsche, Corvette, Michelin, BMW, etc. vs Magnus Racing. Um, yeah.

I should have said prospective sponsors to be more clear. I have a hard time believing it's made ALMS more visible to them, and I don't think it's a compelling format. You can't improve the car count without that.

Your point may stand, though, but it has been debated in the past few pages and any rebuttal I would have had has been taken for me by others.

Unfortunately, the TV package isn't going to change, because once you go off the air (at least to the degree they have), you've damaged yourselves enough to not get back on it. If they wanted to do live time-buys, they still would, and obviously they do not. It's a shame, because while we can debate whether or not it has been a success, the one thing still stands: I can't watch ALMS.

And I'm not sure how much I'd desire to with the grid they have. I've seen some highlights, and yeah, they can have good races in GT and the P1 battle at Road America was admittedly cool. But most races? It's hard to be enthused when there was a time we'd see teams like Intersport and Drayson make challenges to the battles of Highcroft, Dyson, and CytoSport, and going even further back, Penske/Porsche and Audi battling with Highcroft, Fernández, and Andretti.

It's unrealistic to expect things to swing back that way, though. At the end of the day, America is trying to support too many series that just aren't being run well, or aren't generating enough interest, or are on terrible financial ground. There isn't room to keep ALMS, Grand-Am, IndyCar, etc. all on life support, and sadly teams from both ALMS and Grand-Am are planning to ditch sports cars to go to Indy, when I see no reason to believe that series is any healthier. That's a subject for a different sub-forum, though.

It really just sucks to see my two favorite racing series, Champ Car and ALMS, fall apart.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by AGD

Well, first off let there be no doubt that I find the Deltawing to be hideous looking. Too ugly for the IRL even! That says a lot. But it is more than that. There is always the fear that the DW could become a spec class of it's own or a spec sub-class within LMP1 (or LMP2 I guess) where it has it's own rules within the larger class. Either situation is not good. It seems that the DW people got Don to push things through with the promise of them using Panoz materials and such. It just seems like it is a money grab. I don't have some of the performance doubts that some others have (I don't think they would go through this much trouble if the car can't turn), but it's more about the philosophy of the situation. People compare it to the Indy turbines and stuff, but those cars were within the rules. They did not get their own rules. On top of all of that, I think there 56th garage options that are more revolutionary (albeit perhaps more optimistic than realistic when it comes to race pace compared to the Sausagemobile).

Sounds plausible enough. If the guys managed to buy a Delta Wing within the LMP1 regulations, it would be fine by me. But then again, I don't really care much about Delta Wing. Still, thank you for explaining.

As far as what direction the ALMS should take, I think the LMS is doing something interesting. They will have 1 LMP class (just LMP2s), GTE-Pro, GTE-Am, and a class made up of one-class championship cars (Porsche and Ferrari Challenge cars most likely, I don't know if there will be more). Perhaps the ALMS should go with one LMP class (a combined LMP1 & LMP2 class instead of one pure class though), GT (no need for an Am class), and the various challenge cars. The other option I like, as mentioned earlier, is to eliminate GTC and have a Pony car type class for Camaro/Mustang/Nissan Z type cars.

EDIT: I think LMS will have FLM/LMPC as well. I forgot to mention that earlier.

I don't think that the cutting of LMP1 will do any good for the LMS. In my opinion, the LMS should run alongside the WEC in 2012, plus hold one or two extra events. But the separation from the WEC forces private teams like Pescarolo or OAK to either: a) Compete in the WEC with their LMP1s and be damned as backmarkers or b) Compete in the LMP2 category in the LMS but to lose some sponsors, as the LMS will not only lose their prime category, but also a lot of attention and sponsorship. Remember, MotorsTV doesn't have the same audience as ESPN or even SPEED, and who except the diehards cares about LMP2 anyway?

As for your proposed pony cars: Maybe the ALMS could do something along the lines of GT4. While the European Cup is nowhere as strong as the GT3, there are still interesting models like the BMW M3, the Corvette, Ford Mustang, Porsche 911 and more competing. Running a production-based Corvette at Sebring might be a good alternative to some private teams.

It's unrealistic to expect things to swing back that way, though. At the end of the day, America is trying to support too many series that just aren't being run well, or aren't generating enough interest, or are on terrible financial ground. There isn't room to keep ALMS, Grand-Am, IndyCar, etc. all on life support, and sadly teams from both ALMS and Grand-Am are planning to ditch sports cars to go to Indy, when I see no reason to believe that series is any healthier. That's a subject for a different sub-forum, though.

As far as I can tell from Germany, IndyCar seems to be run rather decent over the last months (Aside from stupid gimmicks like a lottery for the starting grid. ). And the future looks bright as well, with three engine suppliers engaging in 2012. My only concern is the lack of American drivers. IndyCar needs at least 10 drivers rather than the 4-5 they currently have. That's nothing against the "furryners", but an American series should have a sizable amount of home-grown drivers on the grid. Same goes for the ALMS, although they do have other problems in the moment.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by DS"

Sounds plausible enough. If the guys managed to buy a Delta Wing within the LMP1 regulations, it would be fine by me. But then again, I don't really care much about Delta Wing. Still, thank you for explaining.



I don't think that the cutting of LMP1 will do any good for the LMS. In my opinion, the LMS should run alongside the WEC in 2012, plus hold one or two extra events. But the separation from the WEC forces private teams like Pescarolo or OAK to either: a) Compete in the WEC with their LMP1s and be damned as backmarkers or b) Compete in the LMP2 category in the LMS but to lose some sponsors, as the LMS will not only lose their prime category, but also a lot of attention and sponsorship. Remember, MotorsTV doesn't have the same audience as ESPN or even SPEED, and who except the diehards cares about LMP2 anyway?

As for your proposed pony cars: Maybe the ALMS could do something along the lines of GT4. While the European Cup is nowhere as strong as the GT3, there are still interesting models like the BMW M3, the Corvette, Ford Mustang, Porsche 911 and more competing. Running a production-based Corvette at Sebring might be a good alternative to some private teams.



As far as I can tell from Germany, IndyCar seems to be run rather decent over the last months (Aside from stupid gimmicks like a lottery for the starting grid. ). And the future looks bright as well, with three engine suppliers engaging in 2012. My only concern is the lack of American drivers. IndyCar needs at least 10 drivers rather than the 4-5 they currently have. That's nothing against the "furryners", but an American series should have a sizable amount of home-grown drivers on the grid. Same goes for the ALMS, although they do have other problems in the moment.

Indycar as a series is indeed getting stronger, however, what is not getting stronger is their television ratings (biggest problem imo) and attendance, especially on oval circuits. But it is safe to say things are a lot stronger than the Chimp Car vs IRL days.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

I should have said prospective sponsors to be more clear. I have a hard time believing it's made ALMS more visible to them, and I don't think it's a compelling format. You can't improve the car count without that.

Your point may stand, though, but it has been debated in the past few pages and any rebuttal I would have had has been taken for me by others.

Unfortunately, the TV package isn't going to change, because once you go off the air (at least to the degree they have), you've damaged yourselves enough to not get back on it. If they wanted to do live time-buys, they still would, and obviously they do not. It's a shame, because while we can debate whether or not it has been a success, the one thing still stands: I can't watch ALMS.

And I'm not sure how much I'd desire to with the grid they have. I've seen some highlights, and yeah, they can have good races in GT and the P1 battle at Road America was admittedly cool. But most races? It's hard to be enthused when there was a time we'd see teams like Intersport and Drayson make challenges to the battles of Highcroft, Dyson, and CytoSport, and going even further back, Penske/Porsche and Audi battling with Highcroft, Fernández, and Andretti.

It's unrealistic to expect things to swing back that way, though. At the end of the day, America is trying to support too many series that just aren't being run well, or aren't generating enough interest, or are on terrible financial ground. There isn't room to keep ALMS, Grand-Am, IndyCar, etc. all on life support, and sadly teams from both ALMS and Grand-Am are planning to ditch sports cars to go to Indy, when I see no reason to believe that series is any healthier. That's a subject for a different sub-forum, though.

It really just sucks to see my two favorite racing series, Champ Car and ALMS, fall apart.

Well, they are still on TV. It isn't live flag-to-flag TV granted (neither was Speed all of the time), but ESPN2 is in more homes and has greater relevance amongst general sports fans and perhaps even casual race fans than Speed. There is ABC as well, although the ALMS always brought some broadcast network airtime.

Anyway, I actually like the two-tier media system. The web streaming gives the die-hards a chance to see the race fully and live. The highlights gives casual fans and fans with shorter attention spans (most fans) a chance to see the race without the nonsense like yellow flag laps (this works better for the shorter races than the longer races though obviously).

The other thing, and this gets forgotten often, is the flexibility that this new media system gives the schedule makers. There is nothing really restricting the ALMS from scheduling longer races now and they can schedule whatever dates work for them and the track. Before, the starting point was always what TV time was available. This is much less of an issue now. Ok, I'm guessing they want to pick times where ESPN2/ABC have good slots available, but there is usually decent timeslots available on ESPN2 on the weekends during the summer.

The ALMS definitely needs to fix some holes in their web streaming though. Restricting viewing to US viewers while allowing it freely to all international viewers is a bit of a slap in the face. It affects me too since I don't get ESPN3 at home (I do at work and it looks beautiful). Also, maybe the international stream quality needs to be improved, but you would have to talk to a non-US poster about that. I've heard that it isn't always smooth.

Anyway, even if you don't get ESPN3 and don't want to watch highlights, you can always watch the full race archive on the ALMS website. It gets posted after the first airing of highlights usually. It requires a little patience, but that is an option. Unfortunately, I don't know if many people know about it. ESPN3 keeps archives for their users as well.

As far as popularity goes, sports car racing will never be all that popular. It just won't be. And I don't think it should be. There is something good about a series that isn't doing everything it can to be popular because the series who try to do that usually end up A) ruining their rulebook and subsequently B) never end up popular anyway. (See Champ Car and the IRL for more information!). Even without widespread popularity, it can attract a captive audience that will allow for some manufacturer teams. Manufacturers come and go though, that's the way it has always been with sports cars, so don't expect decades of glory years. Right now the ALMS is a bit fortunate in that at least they have a good GT field while the prototypes are struggling. Roles will probably reverse at some point. It's just the way it is.

Originally Posted by DS"

I don't think that the cutting of LMP1 will do any good for the LMS. In my opinion, the LMS should run alongside the WEC in 2012, plus hold one or two extra events. But the separation from the WEC forces private teams like Pescarolo or OAK to either: a) Compete in the WEC with their LMP1s and be damned as backmarkers or b) Compete in the LMP2 category in the LMS but to lose some sponsors, as the LMS will not only lose their prime category, but also a lot of attention and sponsorship. Remember, MotorsTV doesn't have the same audience as ESPN or even SPEED, and who except the diehards cares about LMP2 anyway?

As for your proposed pony cars: Maybe the ALMS could do something along the lines of GT4. While the European Cup is nowhere as strong as the GT3, there are still interesting models like the BMW M3, the Corvette, Ford Mustang, Porsche 911 and more competing. Running a production-based Corvette at Sebring might be a good alternative to some private teams.

Well, it seems that the LMS had no choice. Pescarolo wanted to go to the WEC anyway next year. Rebellion is already there with one car. Amaral's team has withdrawn. OAK isn't even in the LMS this year I don't think. That leaves just very ragged efforts from Guess (who has failed to actually show up for any races) and Racing Box. That isn't enough to justify having a class really.

I know LMP2 isn't a crowd pleaser, but LMS does it very, very well. They also do GTE-Pro very well. They will focus on those. They'll probably end up doing GTE-Pro and LMP2 better than the WEC. Ok, the series won't be mega popular for sure, but maybe they can establish continuity. Out of all the sports car series out there, I think the LMS understands their niche in the racing world and they aren't going to deviate from that. I respect them for that.

I think the LMS saw how the ILMC, particularly ILMC LMP1, sucked all the air out of the room. The LMS got almost no recognition at all at the shared events. In the case of Imola, there were more entries than spaces and some LMS FLM cars were excluded from the grid initially. Basically, things weren't working well for them so they made changes. I'm interested to see how they work out. Then again, I'm that one weirdo that actually enjoys LMP2!

[JAG]

Originally Posted by DS"

That's the major problem here: IMSA doesn't want to be influenced by NASCAR, while Grand-AM doesn't want any influence from "abroad". But they should really start to work with each other, because it would definitely benefit both series.

I don't for one minute think NASCAR has any interest in sportscar racing, they have an interest in doing away with the ALMS, keeping road racing under the thumb and protecting Cup racing. That maybe wrong but actions speak louder than words, what sportscar fan would offer up DP's as a headline act?

As for how this will pan out, rumours and second guessing hasn't been particularly reliable, both series are so fragile one major announcement could turn everything on it's head.

[AGD]

I just saw this at the ALMS website:

The Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase at the iconic Wisconsin road course drew the Series’ largest TV audience of the year and more viewers than any ALMS broadcast since the ABC network showing of the 2009 Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. In fact, with more than 900,000 households tuned in, last weekend’s show ranks as the second most-watched ALMS race in the last seven years.

http://www.americanlemans.com/primar...cat=news|16157

Most of the article is a PR fluff piece (they are quotting Peter De Lorenzo for crying out loud), but that is pretty impressive if it is the second most-watched race in the last 7 years. I'm guessing that figure is just for TV and not TV+Web. I don't think the race had that great of a lead-in either (Little League World Series), but maybe that stuff is popular.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by AGD

I just saw this at the ALMS website:



http://www.americanlemans.com/primar...cat=news|16157

Most of the article is a PR fluff piece (they are quotting Peter De Lorenzo for crying out loud), but that is pretty impressive if it is the second most-watched race in the last 7 years. I'm guessing that figure is just for TV and not TV+Web. I don't think the race had that great of a lead-in either (Little League World Series), but maybe that stuff is popular.

This to me is the key, instead of quoting a kiss butt of the series and other PR fluff, I just wish they would give the exact ABC television rating (ie 0.4, 0.9 ect) instead of households.

[Fogelhund]

The ALMS has never understood the difference between Hits and Households.

[Jacques Rabbit]

The race on ABC did have the benefit of being promoted during the coverage of Sprint Cup on ESPN and starting right around the time Cup ended. Not saying this makes a huge difference, but I do know more than a few people who put the ALMS on after Cup ended.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

This to me is the key, instead of quoting a kiss butt of the series and other PR fluff, I just wish they would give the exact ABC television rating (ie 0.4, 0.9 ect) instead of households.

I doubt it would be as high as a .9. Something between .6 and .7 would be my guess. Maybe .8.

Ok, reruns of Mama's Family can probably get more than 900k, but it's not horrible for a minor sport TV rating. ABC IRL races are sometimes in that range. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Of course, those would be live broadcasts and this was tape delayed and butchered (1.5 hrs for a 4 hour race plus all the sponsored segments) broadcast.

By comparison, the Long Beach Versus IRL race had 323K households. Ha. The highest ever IRL race on Versus (at least as of July) scored 642K households.

Not having to compete against other racing leagues would help the TV figure a little, but probably not a ton.

[Purist]

The Baltimore figures could be more interesting. I think they have a 2 hour block on ABC, and it's a 2 hour race. So, we'll see. And isn't next weekend's NASCAR race on Saturday in primetime? That could also be helpful.

[JAG]

Regarding the rumour about Dayton buying Sebring (is that the rumour), what could that lead to?

The circuit holding a WEC round independent of the ALMS, the core event behind an ALMS rival, or the first stage of an ALMS takeover?

[AGD]

Originally Posted by Purist

The Baltimore figures could be more interesting. I think they have a 2 hour block on ABC, and it's a 2 hour race. So, we'll see. And isn't next weekend's NASCAR race on Saturday in primetime? That could also be helpful.

I'm not sure about NASCAR, but what will hurt the Baltimore ratings is that there will be practically no lead-in to the broadcast. My local affiliate is showing paid programming as the lead-in. The good news about not having a sports lead-in is that there is no chance of a game going over the slot time, but not having a lead-in isn't ideal. Anyway, that will be the last non-NFL Sunday of the year I believe so there is still hope for a relatively decent rating I think.

Originally Posted by JAG

Regarding the rumour about Dayton buying Sebring (is that the rumour), what could that lead to?

The circuit holding a WEC round independent of the ALMS, the core event behind an ALMS rival, or the first stage of an ALMS takeover?

Maybe all of the above. Maybe some. Maybe none. Perhaps there would be conditions. It's just rumor so who knows.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by JAG

I don't for one minute think NASCAR has any interest in sportscar racing, they have an interest in doing away with the ALMS, keeping road racing under the thumb and protecting Cup racing. That maybe wrong but actions speak louder than words, what sportscar fan would offer up DP's as a headline act?

As for how this will pan out, rumours and second guessing hasn't been particularly reliable, both series are so fragile one major announcement could turn everything on it's head.

While I think that NASCAR has some interest in Grand-AM's activities, because they want to divert themselves as a corporate entity, it's still clear to me that the Sprint Cup will always be their #1.

But I don't want to see road racing completely under control of NASCAR. This would be really bad for motorsport in the United States. Kinda like professional wrestling after WWE bought WCW.

[Mal]

It was interesting to note that there was a fairly strong advertising presence by Audi during the ABC coverage of Road America

[DS"]

Originally Posted by Mal

It was interesting to note that there was a fairly strong advertising presence by Audi during the ABC coverage of Road America

Recently, Wolfgang Ullrich gave motorsport-total.com an interview, where he said that there would be only a racing program in America, if there is an importer who finances a large chunk of it. But appearantly Audi North America isn't interested enough in the ALMS. Can't blame them though, because there isn't really anyone to beat for them. Maybe HPD, if they had stayed in the ALMS. But not a privately entered Aston and some Lolas.