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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Sharp, ESM Optimistic About Merger
From helping trigger merger talks to formulating 2014 plans, Extreme Speed Motorsports team owner is upbeat about future...
Extreme Speed Motorsports team owner Scott Sharp is upbeat about the merger between the ALMS and GRAND-AM. (Photo: ESM)
While Sept. 5, 2012 will go down in the history books as the day GRAND-AM and the American Le Mans Series announced plans of a unified series, it was actually nine months earlier that some of the key players got the ball rolling on the groundbreaking merger.
At the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona, Patron Spirits CEO Ed Brown and team owner Scott Sharp met with GRAND-AM founder Jim France in Brown’s bus, discussing the state of U.S. sports car racing and possible solutions for its decade-plus long rift.
One thing led to another, and Brown suggested that France speak to ALMS founder Don Panoz.
“I think a lot of people thought it would be a real long-shot of it happening, because some of the ill wills between the two sides in creating this attempt that hadn't really gone anywhere,” Sharp said in a SPEED.com exclusive interview.
"Jim was very serious and [ALMS President and CEO] Scott Atherton worked hard on it. And they were able to get this done. I think it's great all the way around."
While having a piece in both pots, the Extreme Speed Motorsports team owner/driver is elated over last week’s news that made the merger official between the two longtime rival series.
"All around I'm excited,” Sharp said. “From an ownership perspective, there's got to be a way that sports cars can become a little more viable. The prize money is very minimal, almost non-existent. That doesn't help teams cover any real costs.
“The product has to be something that's more sell-able. I think with the two series coming together and the NASCAR mentality that carries over, as far as helping some of the smaller teams, combined with what you expect the best of the ability for sports cars to get exposure.
“I would expect a much better television package than what the ALMS currently has, combined with bigger events. I just think it's ultimately going to be a tide that rises all boats."
Sharp, who fields Ferraris full-time in the ALMS and a partial-season effort in the Rolex Sports Car Series, reaffirmed Extreme Speed Motorsports’ commitment to the ALMS GT class for next year, especially on the heels of the team’s maiden victory at Mosport in July.
And despite the highly competitive GT category likely to remain intact for the launch of the unified series in 2014, the 2009 ALMS P1 class co-champion hasn’t hidden his desire to one day take ESM to prototype racing. Could 2014 be the right time to make it happen?
"I think we made the right move with the ALMS GT class,” Sharp said. “We've still got some work and some results to do there. But certainly, it's an open book. It's all about opportunities. If the right situation came along [in prototypes], we would certainly take a look at it.
"But it certainly won't be for next year and then you have to look at how the unification classes unfold and what different opportunities lie there.
“I would have to be pretty excited about GT racing in general, with the unification, because the present ALMS GT class could only be supplemented with the unification... But it would be interesting to see what the prototype class would look like as well.”
With Patron, the current presenting sponsor of the ALMS, believed to be evaluating a similar, or potentially increased series role for 2014, and ESM remaining committed as ever to sports car racing, both Sharp and Brown are set to be to be some of the core players in the unified sports car series.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
At the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona, Patron Spirits CEO Ed Brown and team owner Scott Sharp met with GRAND-AM founder Jim France in Brown’s bus, discussing the state of U.S. sports car racing and possible solutions for its decade-plus long rift.
One thing led to another, and Brown suggested that France speak to ALMS founder Don Panoz.
“I think a lot of people thought it would be a real long-shot of it happening, because some of the ill wills between the two sides in creating this attempt that hadn't really gone anywhere,” Sharp said in a SPEED.com exclusive interview.
"Jim was very serious and [ALMS President and CEO] Scott Atherton worked hard on it. And they were able to get this done. I think it's great all the way around."
While having a piece in both pots, the Extreme Speed Motorsports team owner/driver is elated over last week’s news that made the merger official between the two longtime rival series.
"All around I'm excited,” Sharp said. “From an ownership perspective, there's got to be a way that sports cars can become a little more viable. The prize money is very minimal, almost non-existent. That doesn't help teams cover any real costs.
“The product has to be something that's more sell-able. I think with the two series coming together and the NASCAR mentality that carries over, as far as helping some of the smaller teams, combined with what you expect the best of the ability for sports cars to get exposure.
“I would expect a much better television package than what the ALMS currently has, combined with bigger events. I just think it's ultimately going to be a tide that rises all boats."
Sharp, who fields Ferraris full-time in the ALMS and a partial-season effort in the Rolex Sports Car Series, reaffirmed Extreme Speed Motorsports’ commitment to the ALMS GT class for next year, especially on the heels of the team’s maiden victory at Mosport in July.
And despite the highly competitive GT category likely to remain intact for the launch of the unified series in 2014, the 2009 ALMS P1 class co-champion hasn’t hidden his desire to one day take ESM to prototype racing. Could 2014 be the right time to make it happen?
"I think we made the right move with the ALMS GT class,” Sharp said. “We've still got some work and some results to do there. But certainly, it's an open book. It's all about opportunities. If the right situation came along [in prototypes], we would certainly take a look at it.
"But it certainly won't be for next year and then you have to look at how the unification classes unfold and what different opportunities lie there.
“I would have to be pretty excited about GT racing in general, with the unification, because the present ALMS GT class could only be supplemented with the unification... But it would be interesting to see what the prototype class would look like as well.”
With Patron, the current presenting sponsor of the ALMS, believed to be evaluating a similar, or potentially increased series role for 2014, and ESM remaining committed as ever to sports car racing, both Sharp and Brown are set to be to be some of the core players in the unified sports car series.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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