Grand-Am Road Racing

Last updated
Grand-Am Road Racing
2012 Grand Am Road Racing Logo.jpg
Sport Sports car racing, Touring car racing
JurisdictionFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
AbbreviationGrand-Am
Founded2000
Headquarters Daytona Beach, Florida
PresidentEd Bennett

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.

Contents

Overview

The Grand American Road Racing Association was established in 1999 and was located in Daytona Beach, Florida, near the homes of NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation (ISC), and Daytona International Speedway. Although originated by some members of the NASCAR community, Grand-Am centers on different styles of racing including sports car racing and touring car racing on road racing circuits throughout North America.

On September 4, 2008, NASCAR Holdings announced their buyout of the Grand American Road Racing Association in an attempt to merge communications, research, and marketing resources into a single entity, while allowing each organization to continue to control their own racing series. [1]

On September 5, 2012, the series announced that they would be merging with the Braselton, Georgia-based American Le Mans Series. Both series stayed current in 2013 and began a combined series in 2014. [2]

Rolex Sports Car Series

A field of Daytona Prototypes in Grand-Am's premier championship, the Rolex Sports Car Series Porsche 250, July 2006.jpg
A field of Daytona Prototypes in Grand-Am's premier championship, the Rolex Sports Car Series

The premiere series of Grand-Am was the Rolex Sports Car Series which originated in 2000 as a successor to the defunct United States Road Racing Championship. Combining classes of Sports Racing Prototypes and Grand Touring-style production-based cars, the series was centered on the Rolex 24 At Daytona but included a wide variety of American, Canadian, and Mexican tracks.

In 2003, the series replaced its Sports Racing Prototypes with new Daytona Prototypes, a custom-built class built specifically for the Rolex Series. These cost-effective race cars offer a relatively economical racing environment in which technology is carefully controlled to ensure close racing and approximate parity between different chassis and engines. For the 2012 season, the Rolex series rolled out Gen-III prototypes with new bodies, engines and chassis. These new chassis were designed to keep costs low while also creating body shapes with more brand characteristics. The new chassis were headlined by Corvette and new Ford prototypes.

The GT classes were also simplified over the years, allowing for a variety of American, European, and Japanese manufacturers to participate including Audi, Chevrolet, Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, Ford and Mazda. Rules allowed tuned production cars or custom tube frame chassis to be used, letting participants save cost if necessary.

In 2013 the GX class were introduced running with alternative fuel and new technology that was not already in use in GT cars. The contending manufacturers were Mazda, Porsche, and Lotus.

Daytona Prototypes and GTs usually shared the track although do occasionally race separately, typically at shorter circuits.

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series

Originally based on a Canadian series before being acquired by Grand-Am, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (originally known as Grand-Am Cup) is a production-based touring car series. The series is split into two classes known as Grand Sport (GS), intended for large capacity GT-style cars, and Street Tuner (ST), consisting of smaller sedans and coupes, some of which are front-wheel drive. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge until 2013 supported some Rolex Series races but also headlined some of its own dates. This series continues with the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship The series is somewhat comparable to the old Trans Am Series.

Ferrari Challenge

Grand-Am was the sanctioning body behind the North American arm of the international Ferrari Challenge series. Using identical race-tuned Ferraris, the series originally ran the F355 then switched to the 360 Modenas before switching to new F430s in 2006 and the 458 Italia in 2010.

Shell Historic Challenge

Tied together with the Ferrari Challenge series, the Shell Historic Challenge is a series consisting of older Ferrari, Maserati, and Scuderia Ferrari-run Alfa Romeo models. Although a racing series, the competition is more of an exhibition of the classic machinery than a true race.

Grand-Am iRacing.com Online Sports Car Series

Grand-Am also sanctioned an online racing series through the racing simulator iRacing.com. This series raced digital versions of a Riley Daytona Prototype and the McLaren MP4-12C, mirroring the Rolex series. [3]

Series defunct before the merger

Formula Renault 2000

Grand-Am initially sanctioned the North American arm of the Formula Renault series under the 2.0 Litre formula. However the series was later reorganized and came under the control of the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) where it currently runs under the Formula TR name.

Ford Racing Mustang Challenge

A Ford Mustang FR500S which competes in the Mustang Challenge Ford Mustang FR500S 19.JPG
A Ford Mustang FR500S which competes in the Mustang Challenge

The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup was a series which started in 2008. A one-make series similar to the Ferrari Challenge, this series used identical Ford Mustang FR500S cars co-developed by Ford Racing and Larry H. Miller, owner of Miller Motorsports Park. The series featured amateur drivers in 45 minute sprint events.

The series held its final event September 12, 2010 at Miller Motorsports Park. [4] In the announcement, the series predicted that the FR500S Mustang "will continue to be eligible for competition in a variety of series." The FR500S chassis are now eligible for competition in the GTS class of the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge, with several modifications to bring their level of performance equal with the other cars in the class. [5] Six Mustang Challenge competitors entered their first event as GTS cars at the Mid Ohio race August 7 and August 8, 2010. [6]

SunTrust Moto-ST Series

Two classes of bikes used in the SunTrust Moto-ST Series Moto-ST 17 and 59.JPG
Two classes of bikes used in the SunTrust Moto-ST Series

The only motorcycle series run by Grand-Am, the SunTrust Moto-ST Series was an endurance racing series launched in 2007 for production-based motorcycles. Races ranged from three hours to eight hours. Motorcycles were four-stroke, two cylinder models and broken into classes depending on power and weight. Teams of riders were used to run an endurance event. From 2009 the series was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports car racing</span> Type of motorsport road racing

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. Broadly speaking, 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 a sports car racing series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24 Hours of Daytona</span> Sports car endurance race held in Daytona, FL, US

The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout, a 3.56-mile (5.73 km) combined road course that uses most of the tri-oval plus an infield road course. Held on the last weekend of January or first weekend of February as part of Speedweeks, it is the first major automobile race of the year in North America. The race is sanctioned by IMSA and is the first race of the season for the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

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.

Krohn Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Houston, Texas. The team competes in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype class, and has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup GTE-Amateur class; the American Le Mans Series GT2 class; and the Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class.

Darius Grala is an endurance sports car racing driver. He is currently racing in North America and living in the United States. In 2007, Grala was one of the founding instructors for Supercar Life. In 2006, Grala was one of the founding instructors of the Ferrari Driving Experience. He continued working with Ferrari in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolex Sports Car Series</span> Former racing series

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Braun</span> American racing driver

Colin James Braun is an American racing driver. He is the 2014 and 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 for Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the No. 04 CrowdStrike Mercedes AMG-GT3 in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America Series. Driving the ARX-06, he was part of the winning team of the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IMSA GT Championship</span> Auto racing championship in the United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Lally</span> American racing driver

Andrew J. Lally is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the Audi R8 for Magnus Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15/51 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">João Barbosa</span> Portuguese racing driver

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 LMP3 class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Borcheller</span> American professional racing driver

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.

The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) is an American automobile club and sanctioning body that supports vintage racing in the United States. The organization was founded in 1981, and is regarded as the premier vintage racing organization in the U.S.

Multimatic Motorsports is the competition arm of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations. Founded in 1992, the team has competed in the Firestone Firehawk Series, Motorola Cup, IMSA GT Championship, American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am Cup, Rolex Sports Car Series, Michelin Pilot Challenge, FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Multimatic Motorsports is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Maxwell</span> Canadian sports car racing driver

Scott Maxwell, is a Canadian auto racing driver.

Elton Julian is an American racecar driver and team owner. After driving at the International Formula 3000 and the FIA World Endurance Championship, he has entered DragonSpeed at the FIA WEC, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and IndyCar Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Hand</span> American racing driver

Joseph F. 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.

The 2012 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the thirteenth running of the Grand American Road Racing Association's premier series. It began with the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 28–29.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 24 Hours of Daytona</span>

The 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a long-distance motor race for sports cars conforming to the regulations of the Grand-Am Road Racing series. The race was held over a duration of 24 hours, starting at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 28, finishing at 3:30pm the following day. The race was held on the sports car version of Daytona International Speedway, which includes only a portion of the NASCAR Superspeedway course and a loop of circuit which winds through the infield of the speedway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enzo Potolicchio</span> Venezuelan racing driver and businessman (born 1968)

Vicente "Enzo" Potolicchio is a Venezuelan racing driver and businessman, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Rolex Sports Car Series for Starworks Motorsport. He won the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2012 12 Hours of Sebring, both in the LMP2 class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Johnson (racing driver)</span> American racing driver

William Ryan Johnson is an American professional sports car and stock car racing driver. He is the 2016 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS champion. He currently competes part-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing UK in the No. 66 Ford GT.

References

  1. ↑ "NASCAR Holdings Announces Plan to Acquire GRAND-AM". Grand American Road Racing Association. 2008-09-04. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  2. ↑ "GRAND-AM: ALMS Merger Made Official". Archived from the original on 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
  3. ↑ "GRAND-AM to Sanction Multi-Class Online Racing for iRacing.com". grand-am.com. October 25, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  4. ↑ "Mustang Challenge // Series News". Archived from the original on 2010-07-25. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
  5. ↑ FR500S Vehicle Technical Specifications [ permanent dead link ], SCCA Pro Racing, 11/16/2011, accessed 1/30/2012
  6. ↑ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 2010-08-21. Retrieved 2010-09-07.

Grand-Am, American Le Mans Series Merger Details

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.