Murphy wrote in May’s Paddock Poop 190 that McDreamy would go LMP2 racing with Mazda, probably in the newly announced World Endurance Championship. A month later, Speedtv.com told you pretty much the same thing in an “exclusive.”

Since then, Patrick Dempsey has announced his Mazda GT team will continue with whatever Grand Am races it can manage given the resources that will be required to launch the LMP2 program, with two cars to go at Daytona and no promises after that. The full WEC was considered and rejected, and the Mazda LMP-power is in doubt due to delays by the Japanese company. When considering a program at this level, it seems badging an AER valve-cover will no longer do.

Ferrari in Grand Am

Slam-dunk? Perhaps for Daytona, but not for the remainder of the season. When Ferrari decided to build a Grand Am 458, Mazda was headed out of GT. Now it appears the gang on International Speedway Boulevard can’t bring themselves to give up an old friend. Mazda will be back in 2012. For Ferrari, who will accept losses to Porsche (tradition, there), but has a hard time getting beaten by BMW, is absolutely apoplectic about a Mazda RX8 winning a race in which anything from Maranello participates. Given the way Daytona has manipulated the rules to keep McDreamy’s cars competitive, no one trusts them not to allow an underweight Mazda to make a Ferrari look bad. If Mazda is back, then Ferrari is probably out as a full-season entrant – unless there’s a privateer who will defy Maranello to run a Prancing Horse without its blessing, or help.

The Houston Ferraris

The best Ferrari team in North America (you could argue in the world) is Guiseppe Risi’s Houston Wild Bunch. (Murphy thinks Houston is the wild west, so he just couldn’t help himself). What will they do next season?

As arrogant as they are in Braselburg, they probably don’t know how much they’ve pissed off their premier Ferrari team. Trust the Bear, there’s no love lost there. So Risi Competizione is considering its 2012 options. Here they are, ranked in order of probability: (1) WEC, (2) Grand Am, (3) American Le Mans. What keeps Grand Am out of first place? Mazda.

Lotsa Protos?

That was the rumor this week that the ALMS would have more prototypes in 2012 than the WEC. Excuse the Bear, he’s choking with laughter. Autocon is probably gone, with long-time leader Mike Lewis leader  certainly gone. The IRS is chasing Intersport around – that’s never good. Tucker? Over 20 state’s Attorney’s General have set their sights on the payday loan, rent-a-tribe king. Cytosport? Greg’s as pissed off as Guiseppe. Dyson and Oryx? Alone? Get real. One thing Chris and Rob don’t relish is to look foolish racing against themselves. Maybe they mean to count a pack of LMP Challenge cars. Or counting on Signature. Now the Bear is really gagging.

What about Grand Touring

Jaguar shouldn’t be back, but against all reason, they might. Is that the most incompetent GT program in the history of the sport? Murphy thinks so. If they’re back, does anyone really care? Robertson’s – and the Doran Ford – are gone for sure, and probably Risi Competizione. If Extreme/Patron is back – and that’s doubtful, too – it will not be with a Ferrari. BMW has been mentioned. Corvette will likely return, but the fuse is burning down there. Keep losing and all that executive support will evaporate overnight. That’s the way big, impersonal corporations work.

Grand Am

Chip Ganassi has to choose between Corvette and BMW power for 2012. BMW wants him, so much they are willing to promise him one of the North American DTM teams in 2013. Chip and others think that Chebby power will have the upper hand next year, though. It does already this season, Chip’s BMW wins having all come in the first half of the season, with the “Worlds Greatest Sports Car Driver” keeping him in front the rest of the way. Starworks is the other BMW team, but as much as the Bear likes Peter, BMW isn’t as high on him.

Robin Liddell may be headed to Autohaus. Jordon Taylor to Stevenson to partner Paul Edwards (Chebby doesn’t plan on losing another championship if they can help it).

The Grand Am schedule won’t be announced until SEMA in November. There are 15 possible venues  to be winnowed down to 12. ALMS will have to go first, and that will answer some key questions: Will ALMS retain Long Beach? Will they keep Road America? According to rumors, both are “in play.”

Out of the Kitchen

Clay Malooley is working on another American Le Mans Series program. Just sayin’.

State of the Series

The Boss and The Don will again preside on the Friday before PLM. If they don’t move away from the ACO’s shackles, the paddock will be very disappointed, Murphy hears. Some say that “status quo” will be the death of the series, or at least the trigger to team departures. However, the Bear thinks they are delusional enough in Braselburg to believe they’re doing “just fine.”

The WEC and the ALMS

In 2012, North America may retain Petit as a WEC round…that’s about 50-50. After that, it’s doubtful. Will there be much worth watching in the American Le Mans Series next year and beyond. Just the Bear’s opinion – and remember, Murphy’s attended over 100 ALMS races. Anybody else out there been more loyal? (That wasn’t paid to be there.)

Your Bookie Lays the Odds.

Murphy’s first job was Society Editor for a British sports car racing publication. He noticed the Limeys bet on everything…and the Bear means anything. So Murphy’s laying odds here at the Jellystone Casino on the things sports car fans worry about.

Robertson Racing returns to the American Le Mans Series  100-1
Risi Competizione returns to the American Le Mans Series in 2012  2-1
Petit Le Mans is a World Endurance Championship round in 2012  Even money
Sebring is a World Endurance Championship round in 2012  1-5
Ian Dawson brings a race team to a North American event  3-1
An Ian  Dawson entry takes the green flag in a North American event  10-1
Audi races a prototype in the American Le Mans Series  50-1
Peugeot races a prototype in the American Le Mans Series  200-1
Jon Field dodges the IRS  50-1
Level 5 races in the American Le Mans Series in 2012  50-1
Cytosport/Muscle Milk contests a full 2012 ALMS schedule  150-1
Dyson Racing contests a full 2012 ALMS schedule  2-1
Ferrari contests a full 2012 Grand Am schedule  5-1

Since New Hampshire, after which his season’s winnings totaled $1,608,881, Andy has since raced four times (the Brickyard, Pocono, the Glen, and Michigan) and won $391,000 for himself and Kevin Buckler.

The American Le Mans field through Lime Rock totaled $1,046,000. Since Lime Rock, the thirty-odd ALMS entries have raced three times (Mosport, Mid-Ohio, and Road America) winning between them $319,000, and bringing their total earnings in the 2011 season to $1,365,000. With Andy’s total now $1,999,881, the American Le Mans Series field now trails Sprint Cup’s Street Luger by over $600 thousand dollars. Time is not on the ALMS’ side, since Andy has 13 races remaining; North America’s premier sports car road racing series has just three.

The Market

Forget real estate. The market for racing series/sanctioning bodies has really taken it in the shorts. A few years ago, The Don turned down an offer rumored to be on the far side of sixty grand. A year later, he would have made the deal for a mere thirty, but those same folks had lost interest.

Nobody’s put up a “For Sale” sign on the lawn at 1394 Broadway Avenue, Braselburg yet, but they’ve been “willing to listen to offers,” since some time in 2007. And there have been “extended discussions” with one or more “interested parties.” What happened? Well, the auto business went south – that slammed now-moribund Panoz Auto Development. At about the same time, the real estate market went in the dumper. Most of the value Panoz assigned to his racing empire derived from the real estate valuation of Road Atlanta, that having nothing at all to do with its current use as a race track.

Despairing of selling the whole, The Don spun off Mosport first. What will follow is hard to say. Sebring is a lease, and the leasehold is saddled with debt for a hotel and other (relative to debt) cash-flow-poor property. The series itself? “Circling the drain,” is how Murphy’s friend Miles Geauxbye put it. (The Bear won’t go quite that far, but he does believe that a string of lousy decisions have put IMSA at risk once again.)

The hot rumor at Road America was a story that Duncan Dayton was leading a group of buyers that was (is?) close to an agreement for IMSA and the series. One source indicated that intense talks continue. Only Duncan has been named in this rumor, but it’s nothing he’d do on his own, and insiders agreed others are involved. The belief in Wisconsin was that it was IMSA/ALMS “in play.”

However, since Murphy returned home, he’s heard the discussion now (perhaps always) revolves around the Sebring lease, not the series. That scenario would have The Don retaining Road Atlanta and the American Le Mans Series, the latter as a place to race what? The Abruzzi is dead. If Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans loses it’s WEC date (see below), is The Don hanging on for its underlying residential real estate value?  And unless there’s something after the Abruzzi, will The Don keep his sandbox after he’s no longer got a toy with which to play in it?

We’ve been here a number of times before and it all came to nothing. But stay tuned.

Corvette

Chevrolet isn’t happy with the performance of its American Le Mans Series road racing adventures. It’s believed that Corvette Racing is on a two-year “watch.” That may seem like an oddly long period of time – it certainly does to the Bear – but if true it indicates “official” concern for the first time since the auto industry melt-down. Is another driver turnover likely? A Dane and a Monegasque have been mentioned. Though locked in close contests for manufacturer and team titles in both classes over in Grand Am, the Bowtie is concerned about its program there, particularly since the competition – particularly in GT – is expected to stiffen considerably in 2012. One change widely expected is the assignment of factory drivers to more Chebby Grand Am teams full time rather than this season’s part time loans on ALMS open weeks.

It’s even rumored that a Corvette Racing regular will be subbed for at Laguna Seca so he can join Autohaus at Grand Am’s final event. The Bear thought that was a non-starter for a whole raft of reasons, including the fact that the Autohouse drivers lead the GT championship. But since it’s possible to use three drivers in a Grand Am sprint race because each needs only a minimum of 30 minutes, a driver could be added to “save” the GT championships, now down to a scant three-point lead. In any case, It seems there will be a significant reshuffling of Chevrolet’s road racing “assets” before the 2012 season.

Will Corvette move to the WEC? Some say that’s unlikely, since the racing program is supported solely by the North American sales division. But what happens if the competition goes away? Will Corvette be willing to go down that road again?

The Last Petit

Is it already “The Last Harrah” for Petit Le Mans? Murphy’s hearing that although the 2012 WEC schedule will “be based on” (a meaningful choice of words) the 2011 ILMC schedule, only Sebring will be retained. A Japan round at the Tilke-redesigned Fuji Speedway will replace Road Atlanta.

If Sebring is spun off by the Braselburgers, that leaves the series with no “hard” connection to the ACO. Might that be part of the plan? Does that reinforce the rumor that the IMSA of the future will diverge substantially from ACO rules, including even an “open” class?

Robertson on the Ropes?

Robertson Racing is said to be missing from the Baltimore entry. In a Facebook entry, the team says it’s because they skipped Long Beach and don’t have a “baseline” setup for a street course. The rumor mill suggests there’s also a “cash shortage.”

Intersport on the Edge?

They’ve been down this road before, avoiding a significant hit on their racing, but will Intersport be able to shrug off this latest legal trouble for its principal? Yes, Clint is the “owner,” but the IRS has a history of piercing that shield with little trouble.

Jersey Shore

Another F1 race for the United States took a big step forward last week at a meeting in Trenton, New Jersey. The venue will be a street course across form Manhattan (no, not the Meadowlands).

Charm City

Will the Baltimore Grand Prix be “charmed?” An August 13 feeature in the Baltimore Sun was largely positive, but raises the familiar questions about cost/benefit, and doubts about St. Pete’s event.

Is that a Threat?

Rob Dyson and Greg Pickett – among the last surviving racers of their era – requested and got a meeting with Scott Elkins before Mid-Ohio. The Bear hears the message was two part: we’re going to enter the 50th Anniversary Rolex and January, and also Sebring. We expect to be capable of competitive times – with all the LMP1 entries – in March. Then we will decide what to do for the remainder of the 2012 season.  (Murphy suspects lap times the Acura posted in 2009, and those by Lola-Aston Martin in 2010 might be sufficient – but he doesn’t know.)

50th Anniversary GT Entries

Daytona’s 50th will see a much-expanded GT field.  Look for Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, and Audi to join.

More Series On the Block

Trans Am will soon be sold to  an investor group headed by Jim Derhaag of Shakopee, Minnesota.   Simon Gregg is said to be the financial power behind the acquisition.

A revitalized Trans Am owned by a group of amateur racers, poses the same threat “from the bottom” (skimming off the wealthy amateur racers) that the WEC presents from the top (skimming off the factory teams).

It’s conjectured that arguments between the “diesel big 2” and the ACO have delayed the rules, and in the end  the 2009 R15 is entirely illegal (it’s not included in the “waiver list,” although the R10 is, with restrictions on who can enter and who can drive one). Thus Audi wouldn’t have a ready-to-race Sebring car if they wanted one, but could have one ready to race at PLM if they begin testing in Florida in March. Though there is no shortage of conflicting stories, Murphy believes both Peugeot (and just possibly Audi) will be at the Paul Ricard test in March, Peugeot (but not Audi) will race at Paul Ricard in April, and both will race at Spa. Audi will test at Sebring the week following the 12 hours, and at Paul Ricard the week after the April LMS race, then contest Spa, Le Mans, and PLM.

Unfortunately, the other Audi rumor item is that Mike Rockenfeller and Harold Primat will be dropped from the werks team.

That event – Murphy hears now the ACO will participate with Audi – is scheduled for 2045 CET, just a couple of hours from now.

More Bad News for the ALMS?

When Murphy reported the replacement of BP sponsorship with that of subsidiary Castrol just a week ago, he speculated whether Mazda would ‘step up,’ as hoped by the team at the end of the 2009 season. I seems from a new rumor from two quarters that question has been answered: They will  not.

The Bear heard two days ago that Dyson Racing will field a single entry in 2010 for Chris Dyson and Guy Smith. Newlywed Marino Franchitti will move to Highcroft for enduros, while Butch Leitzinger, Dyson’s ‘senior driver’ will take the year off.

If that’s true (and it remains only a rumor), it says much more about Mazda’s commitment than it does Dyson’s. We know the latter has been there through the years, ‘thick and thin’ as they say. As for Mazda, they chatter on about ‘more Mazda’s racing than any other car,’ meaning of course that there are a whole bunch of your neighbors wrenching and flogging Miatas around local tracks on weekends. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean much for racing as a spectator sport, does it? It’s been nearly 20 since the 787 and the only Le Mans win by a Japanese auto manufacturer.

Going, going, gone  – but Where?

Rumors continue to swirl around the Grand Am successor to the former Farnbacher-Loles team. (Farnbacher having left that partnership at the end of this past season.) Now media reports – and a 2007 SEC action that we all missed (or ignored) – have overtaken the rumors. A story published yesterday by the New Haven Register  regarding St. Barbara’s  Greek Orthodox church in Orange, Connecticut would seem to be enough – if true – to signal the end of those racing adventures. It’s now speculated that an earlier reported medical event might be cover for “a runner.”

One of Murphy’s elves has just sent him an update, from today’s New Haven Register:

“The investigation into a potentially massive embezzlement of St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church funds is centering on the man placed in charge of the church’s investments, who has been identified by multiple sources as Gregory Loles.

Loles was in charge of managing the church’s building fund and endowment, and several church members allowed Loles to handle their personal retirement and college investments, several sources within the church community said.

As the federal investigators begin looking at the case, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office is reviewing facts to determine whether state laws were broken. But the U.S. Department of Justice has the lead in the investigation, he said.

“Sadly and tragically, this potential fraud seems to be of massive magnitude — making the federal investigation and involvement very appropriate,” Blumenthal said.”

With funds “in the millions” reportedly having gone missing, will (should) Porsche recognize the winner of Grand Am GT at its upcoming annual “bun fight”?

Murphy notes that St. Barbara is the patron saint of artillery and other “things that go Boom!”

Lou to Grand Am

Pencil our friend Lou out of ALMS and into Grand Am. He’s building a pair of Grand Am Corvettes, and rumor would connect those to Black Forest Motorsports. Lou may be more than just a supplier to Black Forest in the coming Grand Am season. The ALMS GT2 is for sale with no bites yet. (We all know who “Lou” is, don’t we?)

More ALMS for Cytosport?

The Muscle Milk moniker is gone from SCCA Trans Am. That increases the probability that Cystosport will run more aggressive ALMS program than they have in past years. The team’s relatively quick success with the Porsche Spyder last season and IMSA’s coming equalization of the prototypes should make that likely, right? Another rumor has Pickett working on a project so secret that even the Bear’s elves haven’t been able to pick up more than a scent.