My Visit to the Dark Side
AC Guillermo
I attended my first American Le Mans Series race this past weekend at Road Atlanta. Many times I have been on the south side of Atlanta at Bruton’s big NASCAR track, but I never adventured anywhere near Road Atlanta. After watching dozens of Grand-Am races, I was anxious to compare the two series.
Roger told me the only thing worth watching at Road Atlanta were motorcycle races, and he should know. He also told me when Brian and Jim eventually buy this place, they will probably make it some kind of retirement village for NASCAR drivers.
Following a delicious breakfast at Waffle House, I headed to the track Friday morning. I picked up my credential at registration without any problem. This disappointed me. It is just not the same without the “Donna Treatment” to make you feel unwelcome.
The track employees were all friendly and helpful, which I thought was kinda weird. The security staff at the World Center of Racing would be in shock at this disgraceful display of fan pampering. No insults or verbal abuse? I think these people up here have a lot to learn about crowd control.
This leads me to the very large crowd at Road Atlanta. It was packed. I have never seen so many people at a sports car race (Godwin tells me there are twice as many at Sebring, but since that track is on the News-Journal/ISC “does not exist list,” I have no intention of witnessing that spectacle). I never realized there were so many elitist sports car racing fans in north Georgia. They seemed to be having a good time (however I did notice all of them had a patch of some type on their arms … hmmmm).
I headed to the media center to find it full of media. That never happens at Grand-Am races, even though that is a much better series. The media center is “quaint,” but no match for Daytona’s luxurious facility, which now includes a Krispy Kreme outlet, foot massages, and valet parking.
So I got settled and fired-up my lap top to check on Talladega practice. It was then that I overheard some silly rumors in the media center, insinuating that Grand-Am is in trouble…
Competitors fed up with Roger? Not so, they love him.
Frustration over the lack of spectators? False, fans have never been part of the Grand-Am business model.
A schedule too heavy in ISC tracks? Guess what, ALL tracks will be ISC tracks one day!
Dissension in other NASCAR series’ stemming from funds going to Grand-Am? Just some sour grapes planted by a few sponsorless Nationwide teams.
Theories that the NASCAR purchase was essentially a bail-out for the original investors (we’ve heard the term “bail-out” a few times lately, haven’t we?). I’ll bet you 100 shares of SunTrust that isn’t true.
No real series title sponsorship in Grand-Am, other than a few free watches for the ISC big wigs? Hurley assured me that was not true.
All those Grand-Am rumors are obviously untrue (except maybe that one about Boris getting a new set of choppers, ala Dan Wheldon). By the way, that bear sitting behind me in the press room really got on my nerves. Fortunately, this photographer named “Huge” showed me around the circuit. Not once did security threaten us with expulsion! Road Atlanta could learn so much from Daytona.
The Petit Le Mans entry list was void of any top-flight drivers like Scott Pruett and Wayne Taylor. Other than Mr. Krohn, I recognized just one other name in the race, IRS driver, I mean IRL driver Helio Castroneves. And not a single Pontiac entered! Not even a Chase! And you call this field world class? Forget Peugeot vs. Audi. I’d like to see those beautiful DPs, all 14 of them, screaming down the hill at GT2 speeds. Now that would be exciting!
I went to the “State of the Series” sermon on Friday, and heard just what I expected. The Green Challenge hype was interesting, but Grand-Am is light years ahead of the ALMS in this department (read my previous column that addresses this issue).
The race? So the Petit Le Mans had more cars than the Grand-Am finale (don’t read anything into the word “finale”). So the cars are faster in the ALMS. So the race was competitive. So there was more factory involvement. So the cars are more high-tech than Grand-Am … You are forgetting the most important thing: Grand-Am is now owned by NASCAR! Trust me on this, Brian and Jim have enough bankroll to keep Grand-Am going until the year 2099.
So there you have it, my first (and probably last) visit to Road Atlanta. Until Grand-Am takes over, that is.
A.C.
October 11th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Pontiac is planning a prototype for 2009…
It will be a closed “coupe”
Pontiac has purchased an advanced automobile design
that has been tested from time to time over the last two
decades. The vendor was Road & Track Magazine.
The car is the “Cyclops” - Pontiac is very impressed.
Sponsors include a major tuna brand.
October 12th, 2008 at 4:55 am
“Pontiac is planning a prototype for 2009…
It will be a closed “coupe”
Pontiac has purchased an advanced automobile design
that has been tested from time to time over the last two
decades. The vendor was Road & Track Magazine.
The car is the “Cyclops” - Pontiac is very impressed.
Sponsors include a major tuna brand.”
What does that mean?
October 12th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
“Pontiac is planning a prototype for 2009…
It will be a closed “coupe”
Pontiac has purchased an advanced automobile design
that has been tested from time to time over the last two
decades. The vendor was Road & Track Magazine.
The car is the “Cyclops” - Pontiac is very impressed.
Sponsors include a major tuna brand.”
What does that mean?
The Pontiac pit crew will be eating Tuna rather then Tacos.