LEARNING TO LIVE IN A RACING WORLD OF REDUCED EXPECTATIONS.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Elkhart Lake. Although the “State of the Sport” presentation at Road America – site of this weekend’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase – by the International Motor Sports Association's Scott Atherton provided details on future platforms for three of its sanctioned series, some of which were notable, the lingering feeling I took away is that we really do live in a changed racing world, especially when it comes to the sport of road racing as practiced here in North America. 

Since Jim France bought out the American Le Mans Series, Atherton, Ed Bennett and the entire group comprising the new racing entity have worked tirelessly over the last three years melding the two older series (Grand-Am) into the new, reimagined IMSA, and it has been handled remarkably well for the most part. It has been a monumental task, too, and the difficulties in pulling this off shouldn't be underestimated or somehow dismissed as being insignificant, either, because it was anything but that. And the "enhancements" to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and what is now known as IMSA Mazda Prototype Lites presented by Cooper Tires that will be rolled out beginning with the start of the 2017 racing series and continuing through the next 2-3 season are indeed notable, as I previously mentioned.

The most significant, of course, is that the prototype class will be made up of Le Mans Prototype 2 and the new Daytona Prototype international (DPi) machines (you can expect a "Cadillac"-badged entry in DPi, for starters, more on this next week), Prototype Challenge will go away after next season in favor of Le Mans Protoype 3 machines beginning in 2018, GTLM will formally run to GTE rules, and GTD will fall under the guidance of GT3 rules. Those are the high hard ones, but you can go to IMSA.com to find out more. (The Continental Tire series received positive tweaks, too, with the races going from 2-1/2 hours to 2 hours in duration beginning next year. I would have cut them to 1-1/2 hours to eliminate the droning on and on factor, however. I know, sacrilege, but get over it.)

This is what IMSA CEO Ed Bennett had to say in a released statement: “Over the past several months, we have engaged with nearly all of our stakeholders and competitors to gather their input and discuss the most appropriate way to modernize our various platforms. At the same time, we have analyzed trends in the global motorsports landscape to arrive at what we believe is the most logical strategy. While it’s impossible to make decisions that will satisfy the interests and needs of everyone, we feel confident that our plans for the future are sound and position our platforms for continued growth, stability and interest.”

Reading between the lines, what the statement from Atherton and Bennett should have said is this: "We've busted our collective assess over these last three years to put these disparate entities together, which was extremely difficult, more than most people will ever know in fact. And after making significant progress, we are just now able to focus on tweaks going into the future. The main thing to us is that road racing in this country is stabilized into a single racing entity, which is absolutely crucial to our team owners and drivers, but especially to our sponsors and the international racing community."

In other words, we should all be happy that we have a fully functioning major league road racing series in this country that is viable and stable, because the alternative is a giant bowl of Not Good. The feature race at Road America was exceptional - the riveting, balls-out action in GTLM carrying the day - so it would follow then that "business as usual" is the prevailing mantra down in Daytona Beach, with a few improvements and tweaks added on the fly as deemed necessary.

But being "happy" with what we have in terms of a major league road racing series in this country doesn't exactly sit well with me. Why? Well, so, in effect, does this mean that in a changed racing world, where the status quo rules over everything, that we have to set the bar to "medium" and be done with it? I don't think so.

Talking to a few significant manufacturer racing reps who would only do so off the record, there is a lingering feeling that there needs to be more. Much more. Meaning more excitement, more horsepower and more unexpected thinking. As one key player told me, "We get all of the predictability and sameness we can take from NASCAR. Same schedule year after year, same drill over and over again. It's borderline ridiculous. IMSA can do more. IMSA should do more."

My sentiments exactly.

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

Editor's Note: Many of you have seen Peter's references over the years to the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation (HERF), which he launched in 2007. For those of you who weren't following AE at the time, you can read two of HERF's press releases here and here. And for even more details (including a link to Peter's announcement speech), check out the HERF entry on Wikipedia here. -WG

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)
Riverside, California, October, 1967. Parnelli Jones (No. 21 American Rubber & Plastic Corp. Lola T70 Mk.3/Ford) during practice for the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix Can-Am race at Riverside International Raceway that year in a Lola powered by a modified Ford DOHC Indy V8. Ford tried its Indy V8 in Can-Am and F1 with little success. Jones qualified sixth and finished fourth. Bruce McLaren (No. 4 McLaren Cars Ltd. M6A Chevrolet) won the race, followed by Jim Hall (No. 66 Chaparral Cars Chaparral 2G Chevrolet) and Mark Donohue (No. 6 Roger Penske Racing Ent. Lola T70 Mk.3B Sunoco Chevrolet). Watch a video here. 

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