The 1997 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge season was the eighth running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. The 1997 season is notable in that it began a thirteen-year era of the touring car class being contested primarily between BMW, Mazda, and Acura. This changed in 2010 with the adoption of an entirely new format. 1997 also saw the end of combined classes, with separate races for each group. This lasted until the 2010 season. After several years of having at least three groups, the series was reduced to only two, a format unseen since the series' inaugural season. This went unchanged for thirteen years, after which the series changed to three and later four groups. After only mild success for three seasons, the Saturn brand got its final wins this season as another blow to General Motors in the series.
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.
The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types including road courses and street circuits. Trans-Am is split into the TA and TA2 classes for silhouette racing cars, while its production classes are the GT, SGT, and XGT.
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive director of SCCA, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series. IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company.
The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 2017.
Jeff Altenburg is a professional race car driver born in the USA. He has won sixteen national championships in both amateur and professional racing.
Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club of America Formula Atlantic.
The USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States Auto Club, and is the second rung of the Road to Indy.
The 2010 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge was the 21st season of the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge. It was the first season since 1998 without the sponsorship of television channel Speed.
Peter "P.D." Cunningham is an American race car driver and owner of RealTime R&L, Inc., based in Saukville, Wisconsin and currently competing in the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship. His name and his team, RealTime Racing, have become synonymous with the Honda and Acura brands. Through 2013, he has claimed 91 professional race wins across 12 different North American road racing series and holds numerous World Challenge records.
The 2011 Pirelli World Challenge season was the 22nd season of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. It was the first season under the Pirelli sponsorship. Championships were awarded in three classes: GT, GTS, and Touring. The season began at St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 26 ended after 12 rounds at Road Atlanta on September 30. All rounds were covered on television by Versus.
The 2012 Pirelli World Challenge season was the 23rd running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. All races were televised by NBC Sports Network. All telecasts were tape-delayed, with all races being streamed live.
SCCA Pro Racing is the pro racing division of the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA Pro Racing was formed in 1963, the company is a fully owned subsidiary of SCCA.
The 1998 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge was the ninth running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. It was the final year before SpeedVision purchased the series, thus giving the World Challenge a TV contract. This led to the series' popularity growing and ultimately surpassing that of the Trans Am Series. 1998 was the final year of the T1/T2 format, as Speed reformatted the classes into GT and TC.
The 1996 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge season was the seventh running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. It was the final season before a thirteen-year-long rivalry in touring car between BMW, Mazda, and Acura. This was ended in 2010 with the adoption of a new touring car class, moving the older touring cars to a new "GTS" group. It was also the final combined class year until 2010. This was also the final season with more than two classes until 2010. It was the first season with more than three classes since 1992. Eagle got its final wins after being a major competitor in the series since the beginning. The brand was discontinued only a few years later. Also getting its final wins was the Oldsmobile brand, having also been competitive for several years. A notable entry was the Mosler Intruder, a supercar which was never seen again after 1996.
The 1995 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge season was the sixth running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. The season marked the start of a long reign of Honda in the touring car classes. The classes were changed from World Challenge, Touring Car, and Super Production to Sport, Touring, and Super Production.
The 1994 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge season was the fifth running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. To this date the 1994 season is the most recent in which an American manufacturer (Oldsmobile) won the touring car championship. The groups were changed from A, B, and C to World Challenge, Touring Car, and Super Production, reviving the class names not seen since 1991.
The SCCA Spec Racer Ford Pro Series was a sports car racing series in the United States. The series existed between 1994 and 2002 the series was revived for 2010 and 2011.
The West Michigan Grand Prix was a weekend of professional auto racing held at the Scott Brayton Memorial Street Circuit in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first edition was held in 1998 and the final edition in 1999. The Grand Prix was sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing.
Michael Lira is a Peruvian-American professional stock car racing driver.
Tony Buffomante is an American racing driver. Buffomante won the Star Mazda championship in 1997. Currently Buffomante has been competing in the Trans-Am Series' TA2 class since 2013, and won the championship in 2016.
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