FUMES

September 12, 2012

Now what?

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

(Posted 9/10, 10:30 a.m.) Detroit. Well, we've survived the rumors of a coming together of the Don Panoz-led American Le Mans Series and the NASCAR-owned Grand-Am series led by Jim France, then we witnessed the official announcement last Wednesday morning in Daytona Beach and now the collective hand-wringing has begun as to what will really happen. The reality that it was a buyout of the ALMS by NASCAR cannot be underestimated, because the basic philosophies of the two racing organizations couldn't be further apart. Yes, I heard all of the kumbayas last Wednesday, but that still doesn't mask the fact that it will be a long tough road to build some consensus going forward.

Grand-Am has always been about the "gentleman racer" - those deep-pocketed amateurs who have sustained the sport of road racing since Day One. Yes, Grand-Am willingly courted auto manufacturers but only when it suited them, like when they put the manufacturers who race with them in Sprint Cup in a headlock, "suggesting" they help out their little ol' Grand-Am series. Which the manufacturers did somewhat reluctantly to be sure and at different levels of involvement, depending on their interest.

The American Le Mans Series on the other hand made no bones about its connection to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its more adventurous embracing of technological exploration and advancement. Yes, there are deep-pocketed amateur racers in the ALMS as well but with Scott Atherton leading its day-to-day operations the ALMS openly courted the world's automobile manufacturers, because Atherton understood completely and welcomed the fact that it was the manufacturers that allowed the ALMS to put on their show.

The fundamental difference boils down to this: Grand-Am operatives wooed the auto manufacturers when it was convenient and it aligned with their interests, willingly using its NASCAR clout to get what they wanted, while the ALMS used its connection to Le Mans to entice manufacturers to participate and in turn partnered with them to help make for more competition and a better show. The result was that the Grand-Am was largely a haven for glorified amateurs - except for the Daytona 24 Hour race, which pros treated as a bus man's holiday - while the ALMS became a hotbed of competition among global auto manufacturers looking to display their wares to American consumers.

That was evident when I asked Atherton a question during last Wednesday's press conference about whether or not the current GT class in the ALMS, which is the best pure road racing going on in the world, would remain intact. Atherton of course responded with an enthusiastic call to action, that it was a priority for him personally to protect the integrity of the GT class. Which was fine except at the very end of Atherton's comments Jim France piped-up suggesting that his Rolex GT cars were pretty good too or something to that effect, and that there would be a place for them. This to me suggests a significant disconnect, and you can bet that this will be a prickly factor going forward.

With all of that as background then, what's next? What will be the key factors going forward for this new organization?

The new series needs a name asap. I've heard of one rumor, "International Sports Car Auto Racing" or ISCAR, for short, but there is no confirmation of that. Needless to say the naming has to be figured out in a hurry, because marketing strategies (and a new logo) have to be developed and advertising planning has to begin, which is no small undertaking.

The auto manufacturers will play a primary role. Make no mistake, this new series will push Grand-Am traditionalists in Daytona Beach in a new direction. With a unified sports car series in the U.S. - still the most influential auto market in the world by the way, despite China's emerging dominance - the world's luxury-performance automakers are going to want in, and in a big way too. That means Audi, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche and others will want in or are considering new programs, and every single one of them will want to extract some sort of built-in advantage going in as well. And it also means that the NASCAR "way" of doling out favors to manufacturers here and there will not fly when these manufacturers are contemplating committing multimillion dollar budgets to the new series. Which begs the next key point...

The new class structure will be crucial. With the world's luxury-performance automakers clamoring to get in, the class structure of the yet-to-be-named sports car series is basically the whole shebang. If this new series doesn't get its class structure right from Day One, nothing else will matter. The new series has confirmed that the ALMS LMP1 class will be deleted and that the current ALMS LMP2 cars and Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes - along with the DeltaWing (which Don Panoz has a financial interest in) - will be performance balanced and combined into one prototype class. This will be difficult, but having one prototype class is absolutely key. (One valid criticism of the ALMS is that the multiple classes were confusing and tedious to the casual fan, which prevented people from developing an interest in the series.) Just as having one GT class is key and will go a long way toward enticing manufacturers to participate, the new road racing entity needs to have two clear, distinct classes rather than six or eight. But this is also where the intense, behind-the-scenes conflicts will take place. If Jim France wants to have a place for his tube-framed Rolex GT cars, then accommodations will have to be made so that the series doesn't end up with multiple classes within the GT class, which to me would be a worst-case scenario. The participating manufacturers, or those contemplating participation, will weigh heavily on this decision, believe me. One strong GT class and one strong prototype class should be the ultimate goal of the stewards of this new road racing series, and they absolutely must get it right.

One major league TV contract. The unification of road racing in this country will create a strange phenomenon not seen in well, forever. And that is that TV networks will actually be bidding against one another to get a piece, or all of the action. That will be a unique happening for sports car racing in this country and nurturing a proper TV partner will be another important detail for the new road racing series as well. That means live events and featured coverage - anything less will be a failure.

I can say emphatically that the unification of road racing in the U.S. has changed three major auto manufacturers' thinking about the possibility of participating in sports car racing in the U.S. Whereas before the unification their interest was marginal or nonexistent, now they are actively considering programs. That is huge, but it also means that this new road racing series must announce their class structure in the next 60 days in order for it to make any sense at all for these manufacturers to consider participating in 2014.

Now that the announcement has been made, its time for the new series' principals to get down to business and make it all work for everyone concerned. And the sooner they can announce the key ingredients of the series in detail, the sooner the manufacturers can finalize their future racing plans, and the better off they'll be.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week in motorsports.

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Photo Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives and Wieck Media)
Daytona Beach, Florida, February 7, 1966. The No. 95 Holman & Moody 427 Ford Mk II driven by Walt Hansgen/Mark Donohue makes an overnight pit stop. The duo qualified third and finished third. The pole-winning No. 98 Shelby American 427 Ford Mk II driven by Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby won going away by eight laps. The No. 97 Shelby American 427 Ford Mk II driven by Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant finished second. Gurney set the fastest lap of the race in the predawn hours at 1:57.700. The pole time was 1:57.800. Watch a short video here, and check out pictures from the event here at racingsportscars.com.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD

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