david_phillips's avatar
Author:
David Phillips
Login For More
Rate this article:
  • 0/5 Stars
SPEEDtv.com Store
Grand National:America's Golden Age of Motorcycle Racing, by Joe Scalzo
Joe Scalzo’s book captures the spirit of the Golden Age of motorcycle racing.
Our Price: $39.95
Visit Button
Buy Button
Man-Made Thunder
The book examines the sport of stock car racing through the eyes and ears of the men behind the wheel and the wrenches.
Our Price: $49.00
Visit Button
Buy Button
Unisex Sandwich Cap
Unisex Velcro back hat with SPEED logo on front. PINKS logo embroidered on left and PAO logo on right. One size fits all.
Our Price: $24.95
Visit Button
Buy Button
Speedway T-shirt
Men's 6 oz. 100% Cotton Jersey Short Sleeve Tee. SPEED logo imprinted on the front center chest.
Our Price: $24.99
Visit Button
Buy Button
Ferrari Red Classic Hat
100% cotton twill. Ferrari shield embroidered on front, piping on the peak and Ferrari logo embroidered on back strap adjuster.
Our Price: $30.00 ($27.00 Member)
Visit Button
Buy Button
Footer Bg
  • Zoom More Photos Button
  • Camera Icon
PHILLIPS: A More Meaningful Split
Written by: David Phillips
SPEEDtv.com   http://www.speedtv.com
05/21/2007
Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
Lots of cars, lots of action is the order of the day in Grand-Am's Rolex Series. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos



When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

That's my way of warning you that today's subject is one near and seemingly inseparable from my heart: competing and/or split motorsports sanctioning bodies and series. You know, like the Indy Racing League and CART/Champ Car, which have been at it going on a dozen years now. Or the American Le Mans Series and the Grand American Road Racing Association, which have been going at it since the turn of the century with rather less (which is not to say no) animosity between themselves, their fans and competitors than their open-wheel doppelgangers.

Lollygagging around home last weekend, missing the faux drama of Bump Day and preparing to head out to the Indianapolis 500 prior to the commencement of Act II of the 2007 Champ Car World Series, I took in the ALMS race from Miller Motorsports Park and the Grand-Am race from Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway courtesy of our friends at CBS and SPEED Channel. I couldn't help but be struck by the differences in the two-headed monster of American sports car racing as opposed to its open-wheel counterparts.

Regardless of where your loyalties lie – or if you don't have strong feelings either way – you have to admit the ALMS and Grand-Am represent two distinct philosophies. ALMS is following what one might call a traditional path of sports car racing, one that invites auto manufacturers to do battle in four classes with cars featuring state-of-the-art technology. Ultimately, the sky is the limit when it comes to technology and budgets. Although the manufacturers often make their cars available to privateers, the works teams are generally a step or two ahead of the independents when it comes to their cars' technology and, more importantly, the vast sums of money it takes to campaign them to good effect. At least that's the case in LMP1, LMP2 and GT1, while GT2 is largely dependent on privateers running an assortment of Ferraris, Panoz and Porsches.

In contrast, Grand-Am is following what might be called the NASCAR model (no surprise given the series is the brainchild of Jim France), one that invites auto manufacturers to do battle but within very strictly controlled parameters in, effectively, two classes. If cutting-edge technology is not exactly verboten, it's certainly discouraged by rules designed to keep the playing field as level and affordable as possible. In contrast to the ALMS, everyone is a privateer of sorts, with the cost and performance of engines and chassis tightly monitored and no works teams, per se.

From the NASCAR/Grand-Am perspective, it's a philosophy that's working, particularly in the flagship Daytona Prototype class which has produced five different winners from five different teams and four different engine/chassis combinations so far this year – although Sunday's win by the Alex Job Racing's Crawford/Porsche owed much to a couple of fortuitous (as opposed to gratuitous) full-course yellows. Similarly, thanks to the ALMS' interpretation of its LMP2 rules, the sports prototype Davids of Porsche and Acura have given LMP1 Goliath that is Audi all it can handle when it comes to overall victory.



Catch up on the latest in IndyCar racing each month in
RACER. Jeff Olson gets inside the new and improved Andretti Green Racing team in our June issue, on sale now.


On the other hand, with Champ Car/IRL, you have two series that are – in most respects – variations on the same theme. To wit, rear-engined, open-wheel chassis with spec engines, spec chassis and spec tires. Put a Panoz DP01-Cosworth beside a Dallara-Honda and all but committed gearheads will be hard pressed to articulate the differences.
ALMS' brand of unabashed manufacturer largesse creates a very different, yet equally engaging spectacle. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Certainly technology comes into play in both series, but while Champ Car's Panoz DP01 represents a step forward from the Lola B2K/00, it's no more state-of-the-art than a GP2 Dallara, an A1GP Lola or, for that matter, a Dallara IndyCar compared to say, a Ferrari F2007 or McLaren MP4-22. And what once defined the difference between the two series – all ovals versus an assortment of ovals and road/street circuits – has been blurred by the IRL's move to street circuits at St. Petersburg and Detroit's Belle isle (where Champ Car used to race, of course) and traditional road courses like Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio and Infineon Raceway (aka Sears Point).

The real issues that continue to differentiate Champ Car and the IRL have little to do with the on-track competition, everything to do with the "scintillating" action at corporate headquarters. Born in part as a reaction to the "of the team owners, by the team owners, for the team owners" structure of Championship Auto Racing Teams, the IRL steadfastly sticks to its "strongman" leadership principles with series founder Tony George in firm control. Whether by design or not, Champ Car has evolved into "son of CART" with the series in the hands a limited number of team owners. That and Champ Car's interest in international events compared to the IRL's domestic focus (Twin Ring Motegi excepted), define whatever differences remain between the two.

Watching TV on Sunday, the differences in the products on offer from the ALMS and the Grand-Am were obvious. The ALMS offers up a spectacle focused on technology, strategy and racing among four classes that can be awkward to televise in this, the age of widespread and chronic attention deficit disorder. The Grand-Am offers up a spectacle whose focus is on racing (including a hefty dose of fender-banging), drivers and strategy, with technology afforded little more than lip service. And as is increasingly the case, Sunday's race was a Daytona Prototypes-only affair (the Rolex GT Series having raced on Saturday), producing a single winner and a more straightforward television show.

This is not to say one sports car series is better than the other, only that there are distinct differences in their guiding philosophies and in the products they deliver to fans at the track and on television. In the fullness of time, one or the other may – through a superior product supported by greater investment and/or clever marketing – emerge as the dominant force in American sports car racing. If not, then the two distinct philosophies and products will continue to be available to the American racing fans. In contrast, absent one or the other tiring of swimming in red ink, Champ Car and the IRL appear destined to continue offering two competing products with little to differentiate one from the other – to no discernible benefit for the sport or its fans.

David Phillips is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine.