Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built sports prototypes which are the highest level in sports car racing or grand tourers based on road-going models and therefore, in general, not as fast as sports prototypes. 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 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.
William Anthony Auberlen is an American factory race car driver known for his affiliation with BMW, driving cars made and run by the famous German marque for a number of years. Auberlen currently competes for Turner Motorsport in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge. He is the winningest driver in IMSA history.
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.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid to a professional racing series where the world's largest automakers spent millions of dollars per year.
A Daytona Prototype was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specifically Le Mans Prototypes (LMPs). The cars later competed in the merged series of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, from 2014 to 2016, before being phased out and replaced by the Daytona Prototype International class in 2017. They are named after the main series event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
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 2005 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the sixth season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The format was reduced to two classes, Daytona Prototypes (DP) and Grand Touring (GT). 14 races were run from February 5, 2005 to November 5, 2005. Laguna-Seca and Hermanos Rodríguez were added. It set the record for the longest Rolex season.
The 2003 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the fourth season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved four classes, Daytona Prototypes (DP), Sports Racing Prototype II (SRPII), Grand Touring Sport (GTS), and Grand Touring (GT). 12 races were run from February 1, 2003 to November 2, 2003. Barber Motorsports Park was added.
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 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.
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.
Terry Borcheller is an American professional racing driver who races in the Grand American Road Racing Association Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series.
Darren Law is an American racing driver.
Joseph Alan Hand is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring GT class for BMW Team Rahal, and the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro class for Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA driving the Ford GT. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing.
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.
