Recently Autoextermist worte about the need for a unified Road Race series in the US. Why a unified, major league U.S. Road Racing Championship is desperately needed by 2014. And why it's probably not going to happen.
Sounds good in theory, and I agree that cooperation between the series would be beneficial, but the cost differences between funding a Grand-Am team and an ALMS team are huge. It'd be like an Indy team trying to run a competitive F1 car. Or the UMass baseball team trying to beat the Red Sox. Nobody likes a race that's won before the green flag drops, and the author neglects to mention how competition would improve by merging the two series.
While there are some similiarities between the series, there are enough differences in the classes that there is no practical way to try and get all of them into the same series. And imho the ALMS is not as goodas the Grand-Am series is. On a similar note, I would like to see the Pirrelli World challenge series merged into the Grand-am series. Lots of similiar cars there.
His assumption of the grandeur of the fandom after a unified road racing series is over rated. US motorsports enthusiats (this includes NASCAR and IRL fans) aren't as interested in road racing. That isn't to say that no one is but there just isn't the same drive for it as circle track racing. Fewer people interested means that manufacturers and sponsors aren't as interested and the outside funding is reduced which, in turn, reduces the $ available for the series. Unification of the two series would be great if the greater US racing fandom cared. They don't. Sad but true.
Europeans like their road racing...Merikuns watch cars go roundy-round or in a straight line... Taste is taste...not saying one is better than the other, but the sad reality is that road racing will always take a back seat to turning left in America. My point? just reiterating what has been stated above
Hey now, I want a road race series AND I don't drink coffee :wink: It would be really cool, but I must agree it's unlikely. *sigh*
I quite enjoy coffee whilst watching or participating in road racing. Though the latter can get a bit hazardous...