This isn't like junior soccer where everyone gets a trophy and a hug. It's supposed to be big-time sports car racing.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. For road racing enthusiasts, last weekend couldn't have been much better. With the Grand-Am/ALMS doubleheader at "America's National Park of Speed" - Elkhart Lake's Road America - and the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series at Watkins Glen, it was time for road racing enthusiasts to savor the fact that their favorite type of racing was on display for a national viewing audience on Saturday and Sunday.

Some quick impressions?

It will forever be amazing to me just how quickly a well-driven, modern-day NASCAR race car can get around a proper road racing circuit. Even though the stock cars use the short-course layout at WGI (a real shame in my estimation), it's still mighty impressive. And this just in? These drivers flat get it on a road course. In the old days a road racing "ringer" could easily show the NASCAR regulars a thing or three on what the fast way around a track looks like. But that hasn't been the case for well over a decade now. The fact of the matter is that many of the top drivers - American and otherwise - have gravitated to NASCAR because of the money over the last fifteen years and when you see these drivers in action on a road course today, you're seeing some of the best in the business. Even though Sunday's race suffered from a severe - and frustrating - case of racing interruptus, the NASCAR show on a road course is always pretty spectacular.

Which is even more reason why NASCAR needs to add at least two more road races to its schedule, without adding to the overall total, of course. Imagine Road America and Road Atlanta in The Chase for the Sprint Cup. Now that would be worth seeing in person.

Speaking of Road America, last weekend's doubleheader provided for some interesting observations. First of all, the Grand-Am race on Saturday was more interesting, more entertaining and just flat-out better. There, I said it. Why? First of all, the racing action was livelier and make no mistake, even though I think the DPs are anvil-like in their technical sophistication, there is no question that they sound like proper racing machines and people liked 'em. And there wasn't the confusion of multiple classes either. The three classes running in Grand-Am are pretty clear-cut and differentiated, as opposed to the class mashup in the ALMS.

I have been brutal on Grand-Am in the past, but I'm beginning to see that the Daytona Prototype class - considerably updated and opened to more chassis and engine manufacturers - could be seriously entertaining in the future. Why? Ask anyone who was there and they all say the same thing: "They sound like real race cars." That, in a nutshell, is what the new United SportsCar Racing series should focus on. I know that the ALMS P2s are something like five seconds per lap faster than the DP cars at Road America, but if I was running the USCR series I would hammer away at making the V8-powered machines the stars of the series. (But not without a massive rethink on the look of the cars, because except for the "Corvette"-bodied cars they still look homely and unappealing. That needs to change, and quick.)

I'm all for technology in racing as longtime readers of this column know, but there's no denying the fact that there's nothing like the sound of a racing V8. Memo to the powers that be at the USCR series: Please take that V8 power advantage and make it even better.

As for the ALMS on Sunday, yes, it suffered from piss-poor weather that even looked worse on TV - as opposed to the emerald green grass and blue skies for the Grand-Am race on Saturday - but even though the DeltaWing showed well the fact that the Muscle Milk P1 car drove around basically unchallenged makes for seriously bad TV. And oh, by the way? The class structure is a mess. Look, the TV guys aren't at fault here either. They tried with everything they had to make the races within the race look interesting and they succeeded at it better than ever before, but ultimately all you're left with is confusion. Yes, the road racing aficionados may appreciate it, but spending half the broadcast explaining what's what with the classes is not conducive to generating excitement.

As I said a couple of weeks ago the United SportsCar Racing series has its hand full. And right now they're going to offer just as many classes in the new series as there are in the current ALMS, if not more. And that's a giant bowl of Not Good too.

One more memo to the USCR series honchos?

1. Simplify. Multiple classes isn't being accommodating and inclusive, it's just confusing and debilitating. How about this? Not everyone gets to run. This isn't like junior soccer where everyone gets a trophy and a hug. It's supposed to be big-time sports car racing. Why not act like it? It should be the best of the best in American road racing, and anything less will be a massive disappointment. A DP-level class and a GT class should cover it. Everything else is just clutter.

2. Mine the popularity of booming V8s. It's time for the ALMS leftovers in the USCR series to realize that proper-sounding racing machines usually have V8s in them. I know, I know, how backward of me. But this just in, the typical road racing fans that I polled liked the Grand-Am race at Road America better than the ALMS race. Why? The Grand-Am DPs (along with the GTs) sounded like proper racing machines. So make sure that's part and parcel of the thinking that goes into your 2014 rules package. That's not to say that Porsche couldn't come along and stuff one of their monster flat-sixes in a new DP and run (again), but what if Porsche took the V8 out of the Panamera or Cayenne and made it into a factory-supported USCR series engine?

3. Remember where you are. Yes, American road racing fans are as sophisticated as road racing fans anywhere else in the world and fully capable of appreciating advanced technology, but does that mean that ultra-advanced technology should always be shoved down people's throats? Maybe. But then again maybe not. Go back to point No. 1. Simplify. Racing enthusiasts in this country like to see fast cars. And they like it even more when those cars sound like proper racing cars. And what sounds like a badass racing car the most? Something with a V8 stuffed in it. Relish the fact that American road racing has a V8 flavor to it. It's a good thing. Just ask the typical race fan at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. To them, American V8s have a certain je ne sais quoi.

4. It's about the racing, folks. Yes, it's about technology and yes it's about proving new technology, blah-blah-blah. But ultimately it's about the racing. It's easy to forget that fact when every manufacturer with a new powertrain to sell is trying to help you create a class out of thin air. The United SportsCar Racing series has to be about the racing first and foremost. That means that the decisions being made now should focus on that above everything else.

Sounds simple doesn't it?

(Photo by Brian Cleary)
Cars and drivers from the GRAND-AM Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón gathered Friday afternoon at the start-finish line at Road America for a group shot. There were 61 cars representing a total of seven classes from the two series. Starting in 2014 the two series will be combined into one – United SportsCar Racing.

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)
Nurburgring, Germany, May 31, 1964. The factory-entered, No. 140 Ford Advanced Vehicles Ford GT40 makes a pit stop in the rain in the Nurburgring 2000k. Phil Hill (co-driving with Bruce McLaren) qualified second with a time of 9:04.700. The John Surtees/Lorenzo Bandini No. 143 SpA Ferrari SEFAC Ferrari 275P sat on the pole with a time of 8:57.900, but they would DNF. Hill and McLaren, though blistering fast during the race, took a DNF as well with suspension issues. The GT40 was plagued with myriad problems during the early days of the program. The No. 144 Ferrari 275P driven by Lodovico Scarfiotti and Nino Vaccarella won the race. Mike Parkes and Jean Guichet (No. 83 Ferrari GTO) finished second, and Gerhard Koch and Ben Pon finished third in the No. 45 Porsche 904 GTS.

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