IMSA USCC in 2016 and 2017

[Maelochs]

" U.S. racing does not need anyone or thing from Europe any more than Europe needs the U.S. The only makes the average U.S. fan knows are Ferrari and Porsche; while if they do not show, no one truly cares, nor do or will they save, or destroy, U.S. racing."

I'd say that a brief perusal of historical records show otherwise. In sports car racing, Porsche, Jaguar, Ferrari, BMW, and Alfa Romeo have long been important players.

Australia? Well, I guess—but only if you count the complete domination of Can-Am by McLaren—until Porsche arrived.

Also, Sports Car fans (I don't know who you think "average" fans are, but I know who I have spoken and corresponded with) are very aware of Porsche, Audi, Ferrari and their impact on U.S. sports car racing ... and there is this race, Le mans? You might have heard of it. Pretty much every sports car fan I have every communicated with seems to think it is the premier sports car race on the planet.

When was it that sports car racing was bigger than everything else? The Indy 500, the Daytona 500, and the Monaco Grand Prix were for a decade about the only races shown on TV. Sports car racing might have had a sizeable community, but the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 got a quarter of a million fans showing up at the track every year. I doubt 250,000 people showed up at every sports car event combined in 1961 or 1963.

However, when the sports car scene really started growing in the U.S. after WW II ... it was European cars entirely, because American cars were obese, over-cushioned, underperforming boats. Except for the motors, which were put in hand-crafted or European chassis, there were no American anything except drivers in sports car racing.

Your examples of how well North American sports car racing works without any international relevance: ALMS after 2009, Rolex, and TUSC. Yahoo.

As for getting Detroit involved again ... you mean like Corvette and Viper? or are you referring to the GTP era, when Ford and Chevy raced ... Porsche and Toyota. As for taking out all the stupid BoP—I am right there with you on that. Thing is, it is the manufacturers who want the BoP, so I don't see that going away. Sadly.