George Follmer is an American former auto racing driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His family moved to California when he was just an infant.
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile (4.088 km) road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams. The track has 12 turns, including the famous "esses" between turns three and five; and Turn 12, a downhill, diving turn. The track is owned by IMSA Holdings, LLC through its subsidiary Road Atlanta, LLC, and is the home to the Petit Le Mans, as well as AMA motorcycle racing, and smaller events throughout the year. Michelin acquired naming rights to the facility in 2018.
Peter Holden Gregg was a racecar driver during the golden age of the Trans-Am Series and a four-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He was also the owner of Brumos, a Jacksonville, Florida car dealership and racing team.
The 1967 Trans-American Championship was the second running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. After the dominance of Alfa Romeo in the under 2000cc class in 1966, Porsche would rise to prominence, starting a dynasty that would last for several years. 1967 would also mark the debut of Mercury, with Dan Gurney winning at Green Valley for the company in its new Cougar. David Pearson would also win in a Cougar at Riverside later that year. Ford and Mercury would both end the year strongly, with four wins apiece. Mark Donohue would provide the first win in the series for Chevrolet at Marlboro Speedway. He would go on to win at Stardust and Pacific Raceways, igniting the Ford vs Chevy rivalry that made the series legendary. Ford and Porsche won the manufacturers' championships.
The 1968 Trans-American Championship was the third running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. 1968 marked the addition of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Daytona, the only year that the Trans-Am Series featured those races. The season also marked the first time that an event was held outside of the United States, when a race at Mont-Tremblant brought Trans-Am into Quebec, Canada.
The 1969 Trans-American Championship was the fourth running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. The championship was open to SCCA Sedan category cars competing in Over 2 liter and Under 2 liter classes. 1969 marked the end of the use of co-drivers in the Trans-Am Championship, as most of the races were between 2.5 and 3 hours. The Over 2 liter and Under 2 liter Manufacturers' titles were won by Chevrolet and Porsche respectively.
The 1970 Trans-American Championship was a motor racing series organised by the Sports Car Club of America for SCCA Sedans. It was the fifth Trans-Am Championship. Ford and still potent Alfa Romeo won the Over 2 Litre and Under 2 Litre titles respectively.
The 1972 Trans-American Championship was the seventh running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. The first seven rounds used split classes, while the last four classes had the Under 2500cc class only. Milt Minter brought Pontiac its first win, at Mid-Ohio. George Follmer and American Motors won the over 2.5L division, while John Morton led Datsun to the championship title of the "Two-Five Challenge".
The 1974 Trans-Am Series was the ninth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. It began on May 4 and ran for only three rounds, including the Six Hours of Watkins Glen.
The 1977 Trans-Am Series was the twelfth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. Porsche swept the season. All races except for the Six Hours of Watkins Glen ran for approximately one hundred miles. With the revival of the Can Am Series that year, 1977 also began a resurgence of interest in SCCA events. Trans Am would contribute with a slight resurgence in the eighties.
The 1978 Trans-Am Series was the thirteenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. It was the first time the series left North America, with a round in Mexico at the end of the season. All races except for the Six Hours of Watkins Glen ran for approximately one hundred miles.
The 1979 Trans-Am Series was the fourteenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. All races except for the Six Hours of Watkins Glen ran for approximately one hundred miles. For the first time in series history, the schedule included a round held outside the United States and Canada, with the first round being contested in Mexico.
The 1980 Trans-Am Series was the fifteenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. After several years of recovery from the decline of demand for muscle cars in the early seventies and the 1973 Oil Crisis, Trans Am evolved into a support series for the IMSA GT Championship, using vehicles that were also used in IMSA GT races. This would set the standard for the series thereafter, and this standard would be applied to the SCCA's World Challenge series many years later. Almost all of the races ran for approximately one hundred miles. Besides Watkins Glen, the only exception was Trois-Rivieres.
The 1988 SCCA Escort Trans-Am Championship was the 23rd running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. 1988 would mark the end of the "GT era", in which the series had been the support series, and often the lesser classes, of the more popular IMSA GT Championship, which had overtaken Trans Am as the most popular road racing series in the United States beginning in 1973 after the decline of muscle cars and the 1973 Oil Crisis. This led to an increase in competitiveness from foreign manufacturers.
The 1989 Trans-Am Series was the 24th running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. The year marked a new era in Trans Am, with American branded automobiles with American V8 engines, regardless of what vehicle was being used. For example, the Buick Somerset came with a three-liter V6 at best, but was entered with a V8 in the series. This new "American muscle revival" era would last for eleven seasons, after which the Italian manufacturer Qvale would win the championship.
The 1994 Trans-Am Series was the 29th season of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series.
The 2013 American Le Mans Series was the fifteenth and final season of the International Motor Sports Association GT Championship being labeled as the American Le Mans Series, before merging up with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in 2014.
The 2014 Pirelli World Challenge season was the 25th season of the Pirelli World Challenge championship. It marked the debut of a new "Touring Car A-Spec" class. A new "GT A-Spec" class also made its debut. These new classes featured amateur drivers. The series also held a round at Brainerd International Raceway for the first time in its history, with a touring car doubleheader held in support of a Trans Am Series event; also making its series debut was Barber Motorsports Park. The GT groups competed in sixteen fifty-minute sprints on nine circuits. The touring cars competed in fourteen sprints on seven road courses. The first race for GT cars at St. Petersburg was canceled due to heavy rain, so a make-up race was added for the series finale at Miller Motorsports Park. The second race for touring cars at Barber was also canceled due to rain, so a make-up race was added to the schedule at Mosport.
