Season results
Overall winners in bold.
The 1998 United States Road Racing Championship season was the inaugural season of the revived United States Road Racing Championship run by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and also the first North American sports car endurance split era. The season involved four classes: Can-Am prototypes and three Grand Touring classes referred to at GT1, GT2, and GT3. Five races were run from January 31, 1998, to August 23, 1998.
| Rnd | Race | Distance | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rolex 24 at Daytona | 24 Hours | Daytona International Speedway | January 31 February 1 |
| 2 | Homestead 2 Hours 15 Minutes | 2 Hours 15 Minutes | Homestead-Miami Speedway | May 17 |
| 3 | U.S. Road Racing Classic | 2 Hours 30 Minutes | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | June 14 |
| 4 | Sprint PCS Grand Prix of Minnesota | 1 Hour 45 Minutes | Minneapolis street circuit | June 28 |
| 5 | First Union 6 Hours | 6 Hours | Watkins Glen International | August 23 |
Overall winners in bold.
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in a larger emphasis on the reliability and efficiency of the car and its drivers as opposed to outright car performance or driver skills. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of one of the best known sports car racing series.
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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.
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. It sanctioned five auto racing series. The series announced in September 2012 that it would be merging with the American Le Mans Series, which had been Grand-Am's main US competitor since its inception. The two series fully merged in 2014 under the banner of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, with the International Motor Sports Association.
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The technical requirements for an LMP include bodywork covering all mechanical elements of the car. As of 2023, there are two classes within Le Mans Prototypes, designated LMP2 and LMP3.
Wayne Taylor is a South African sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. He drove for SunTrust Racing with Max Angelelli. He co-drove in the 2006 International Race of Champions in the United States with Angelelli. Taylor now owns and manages his own team competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and got the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2001. It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating on two classes of open-cockpit sports prototypes in endurance races mostly around Europe. The series was folded after the 2003 season.
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship. Rolex took over as series sponsor in 2002.
The United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) was a Sports Car Club of America series for professional racing drivers. SCCA Executive Director John Bishop helped to create the series in 1962 to recover races that had been taken by rival USAC Road Racing Championship, a championship that folded after the 1962 season. For its first three seasons, the series featured both open-topped sports cars and GT cars. Ford and Porsche dominated the Over- and Under-2 Liter classes, respectively. The USRRC ran from 1963 until 1968 when it was abandoned in favor of the more successful Can-Am series, which was also run by the SCCA.
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.
The 2002 Grand American Road Racing Championship was the third season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved five classes: Sports Racing Prototype I and II, Grand Touring Sport (GTS), Grand Touring (GT), and American GT (AGT). 10 races were run from February 2, 2002 to November 10, 2002. Mont-Tremblant replaced Trois-Rivières. California Speedway replaced Lime Rock. Virginia International replaced Road America. The season also was marred by the death of Jeff Clinton during the Nextel 250 race weekend.
The 2001 Grand American Road Racing Championship was the second season of the Grand American Road Racing Championship run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved five classes: Sports Racing Prototype I and II, Grand Touring Sport (GTS), Grand Touring (GT), and American GT (AGT). 10 races were run from February 3, 2001, to November 3, 2001, with Watkins Glen International gaining a date in August.
The 2000 Grand American Road Racing Championship was the inaugural season of the Grand American Road Racing Championship run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved five classes: Sports Racing Prototypes I and II and three Grand Touring classes referred to as GTO, GTU, and AGT. 9 races were run from February 5, 2000 to August 17, 2000.
The 1999 United States Road Racing Championship was the second and final season of the revived United States Road Racing Championship run by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The season involved four classes: Can-Am prototypes and three Grand Touring classes referred to as GT2, GT3, and GTT. Five races were scheduled from January 30, 1999, to October 2, 1999, but the series was cancelled after three rounds on June 6, 1999.
Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. is a Mexican former race car driver. Successful in American sports car racing, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the Rolex Sports Car Series, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, and a two-time European Le Mans Series champion. He is the first Mexican driver to win a major American racing championship.
The Six Hours of Watkins Glen is a sports car endurance race held annually at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race dates from 1948, and has been a part of the SCCA National Sports Car Championship, United States Road Racing Championship, World Sportscar Championship, IMSA GT Championship, Rolex Sports Car Series and currently the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
João Ricardo da Silva Coelho Barbosa is a Portuguese auto racing driver. He currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Sean Creech Motorsport in the LMP2 class.
Darren Law is an American racing driver.
The 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the 11th season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. It began on January 30 with the Rolex 24 at Daytona and concluded on September 12 at Miller Motorsports Park.
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It is a result of a merger between two existing North American sports car racing series, the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series. At its inception, the name was United SportsCar Championship, which subsequently changed to IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2016. Rolex SA's Tudor brand was the championship's title sponsor in 2014 and 2015, and since 2016 WeatherTech has served as title sponsor.
