by A.C. Guillermo

 The storm clouds are gathering. 2012 is shaping-up as a showdown year between the NASCAR Rolex Grand-Am Series presented by Chip Ganassi and the floundering American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron.  

I know 2011 has barely started, but already the stage is set for a battle next year between Daytona and Braselton. If you only knew what I don’t know! (Editor’s note – AC must have consulted Yogi Behra on that one).   Each sanctioning organization is set to embark on an aggressive expansion, and you can put your money on the ALMS coming out the first loser when it is all said and done.

Let’s check the scoreboard.   Next year the Daytona Rolex 24 will celebrate its 50th Anniversary, while Sebring will its mark its 60th anniversary. Although Sebring has a better history, a more exciting circuit, more fans, a much better entry list, and a far better anniversary celebration, they still don’t have a Hooter’s in Sebring. Grand-Am 1, ALMS 0.

Scott Pruett won’t be entered at Sebring. So make that Grand-Am 2, ALMS 0.  

Next year the ALMS will again host two rounds of the ILMC, and will likely expand into at least three new markets by 2013.  Meanwhile, Grand-Am will continue with its non-spectator concept, using Homestead as a model.  Expect to hear about races in 2012 that were held at five new venues nobody will know about, adding to the allure and mystique of Grand-Am racing.  Grand-Am 3, ALMS 0.  

Grand-Am will be the feature race at the Austin F1 weekend, and each DP will have an F1 pilot as a co-driver. You heard it here first.  Grand-Am 4, ALMS 0.  

Grand-Am will begin to field a huge variety of GT3 entries in 2012, including Audi, Audi, Audi and Audi.  Grand-Am 5, ALMS 0.  

Grand-Am will run a version of the DTM (see my previous columns for details) and will somehow manage to make all the cars look alike. Grand-Am 6, ALMS 0. 

Chip Ganassi will not be allowed to race in that series. Grand-Am 7, ALMS 0.  

ALMS will continue with its internet broadcast concept, while Grand-Am continues broadcasting on the NASCAR Network (new name for  SPEEDTV to be announced soon).  Grand-Am 8, ALMS 0.  

The new DP bodywork will be stunning, sleek, ground-breaking and evocative (thanks for that word, Godwin). Even though they may still make your eyes bleed, Wayne Taylor will love them, and so will you. Grand-Am 9, ALMS 0.  

The ALMS Green racing initiative will be countered by a far more effective Grand-Am marketing program touting the Rolex Series’ lack of fans, meaning far less fuel is consumed by people coming to Grand-Am races than ALMS events. Absolutely genius.  The “Less fans. More Fuel” slogan will first appear on the Spirit of Daytona entry.  Grand-Am 10, ALMS 0.  

Mark R. has assured me Grand-Am “Competition yellows” will continue in 2012, and will be supplemented by “Competition Timing & Scoring,” that will add and subtract laps from various teams as needed. Grand-Am 11, ALMS 0.  

Finally, the big one. I know you won’t believe this, but it is going to happen. At least one round of the Rolex Series (and maybe two), will be on an oval next year. Yes! An oval race for sports cars. Why not! Its going to be wild. You think that will be too hard on equipment? Ever seen a street race?  Grand-Am 12, ALMS 0.  

A shutout.   I think my track record is pretty solid in reporting on the NASCAR Grand-Am Series. If you checked back at my previous columns, you would not find one single true thing I reported was not true considering the truth is what happened and the untruth didn’t, unless the truth was falsely reported as untrue.  

Grand-Am Notes 

• At Barber, J.C. France was sporting one of his new “Don’t You Know Who I am?” shirts, part of a new apparel line he designed exclusively for wealthy offspring who frequently get pulled over by the police… 
• A 17-foot tall statue of Scott Pruett will be erected in front of the NASCAR offices later this year, joining statues of Ann & Bill France, Dale Earnhardt and Tim Richmond …. 
• Yours truly was not a bit surprised to find out an ALMS Media Guide was found at the Bin Laden compound in Pakistan …
• Since nobody showed up for the Grand-Am Fan Club meeting at Barber, any future meetings will be held in Hurley Haywood’s office at the Brumos dealership in Jacksonville .…
• Although the same team wins every Rolex Series race, I am told that will change in 2012.  Suntrust has already purchased three victories, and the Gainesco Team is seeking financing to purchase two others …
• NASCAR and SPEEDTV issued a joint statement vehemently denying there was collusion between the two parties to prevent the ALMS from being on that network. SPEEDTV also explained that it was a “technical problem” that resulted in Scott Pruett only talking about Grand-Am cars while commentating at Le Mans last year…
• Daytona officials were devastated when the State of Florida recently voted down permission to have fans buried at the speedway.  I’m told the Daytona Security Department was especially disappointed. …
• Heads-up for ALMS fans and IMSA staff: Baltimore has the highest VD rate in North America …
• Rumors still persist there is a supporting series sanctioned by Grand-Am; I’ll let you know what I find out…
• More details to come, but I have to get back to my hobby of posting anti-ALMS rants on the Grand-Am forum.

 

 A.C.

The Bear got this note from A.C. tonight. The famous motorsports writer was inspired by the big upgrade to Speedtv’s Le Mans commentary, and expresses some doubts about Murphy’s recent rumor record. Always a practitioner of careful journalistic research, A.C. even gives us a statistical analysis of  the Bear’s scurrilous stuff.-Murphy-
 
I watched some of the garbage known as Le Mans, only because “The Most  Interesting Man in the World” was doing some commentating. Thank goodness he was there, reminding the viewers 236 times about his Rolex collection. I was especially impressed how Scott had such an in depth knowledge of Le Mans, even though he personally could care less about prototypes that are fast, technologically advanced and not made by Riley. And I have to laugh a little at the Audi R15. The design of this car was obviously based on the Riley. Look at them side-by-side. Can you tell a difference?
 Corvette had a rough go of it at Le Mans after a fine start. Perhaps they could learn a few things watching the fine performance of Corvettes in the Rolex series.
 
I am really excited about the smaller fields that Grand-Am has introduced this season. The Rolex series has always been geared to simpletons who like NASCAR, so fewer cars and classes are the way to go. I bring that up because my understanding is that Grand-Am may be restructuring in 2011, going from two classes, to no classes. Not sure how that will work, but Mark tells me one of the benefits is that Timing & Scoring will no longer be needed. More details to follow.
 
The thing I hate most about sports car racing, other than the Nicotine Patch, is all the rumors. That little furry bear seems to always have a rumor about something, and less than 90% of the time, 10% of it is half true and the other 80% is not even close to the majority of the
20% he says might happen if it doesn’t.
 
On that note, let me dispel the rumor there is growing dissension among the NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series about the money wasted on Grand-Am. I can report to you this is absolutely, positively, probably not true. I have been personally assured by the Grand-Am management that everyone in NASCAR is in full support of subsidizing the road racing department, and that the France family has allocated one trillion bazillion dollars to insure it will exist well into the 2011 season, if not longer. As a shareholder in International Speedway Corp., I can tell you that I am in full support of the company’s involvement in road racing. And so is Godwin. As long as we can keep using those loaner Pontiacs.
 
Another rumor floating around is that the above mentioned company is buying Sebring and Road Atlanta. I have been told that is not true. However, there is interest in buying the ACO and the Le Mans circuit. I know NASCAR has been very keen on building an 8.5-mile tri-oval in France, and this would be an ideal site.
 
I got a lot of nasty emails after my last column about J.C. France. It seems many of you think J.C. got those charges dropped because he was a member of the France family. That is simply not true. J.C. has EARNED everything he has, including all 14 of his exotic cars.
 
Finally, let me issue an apology to the Continental Tire competitors. I have no idea this series exists. Can you prove it?
 
Until next time,
 
A.C.

It has been a while since you’ve heard from A.C. My temp job with the Census Department has really tied me up, and I haven’t been able to attend any Grand Am races since Daytona.

There has been a lot of news about the Rolex Series recently, and its all been good. Probably the best thing is J.C. France has been fully exonerated of those bogus charges against him.  J.C. is a good citizen and an asset to the Daytona Beach community and the Rolex Grand Am Series. It almost brought a tear to my eyes when I saw all those “Free J.C.” Banners at the Rolex 24. 

It was obvious from the start J.C. was targeted by law enforcement. This is called RWGP (“Rich White Guy Profiling”) and has become a serious problem in our country.  The fact he has 30 traffic stops on his record proves the police are unfairly targeting him. From what I understand, the ACLU was going to defend J.C. because of the nature of this RWGP case.  Fortunately, all charges have been dropped.

I wasn’t surprised to hear the good news that Scott Pruett was just named the “Most Interesting Man in the World,” replacing that bearded Dos Equis guy (“Stay Thirsty my Friends”). The announcement was made by the NASCAR Road Racing PR Department after a poll of Grand-Am fans (Andy F., I know you stuffed the ballot box, but I won’t tell anyone).  As I’m sure all you Grand-Am fans know- Scott is simply the greatest race car driver ever.  By the way, Memo Rojas is a great guy too, but not that interesting.

I received an email from a reader suggesting I comment on the dwindling car count in Grand Am. First of all, 12 DP’s is an excellent number, because it’s quality, not quantity that matters.  More important, it’s kind of cool that there is usually one car per spectator at Grand Am races, which creates a very intimate feeling.  NASCAR does not overlook anything!

I really like the new ballast drawing instituted for the GT class. If you are not familiar with it, it is quite simple: When a Mazda team arrives at the track, they draw a number [between 74 and 76] out of a hat, and that is the amount of extra pounds they carry in the race. Non-Mazda teams are exempt.

Don’t know if any of you have had a chance to see the massive new NASCAR offices on International Speedway Boulevard, but they are awesome.  The lobby features a tribute to the France family and the importance of NASCAR to our society. Its like a little museum; there’s a special display by Winston, showing the number of NASCAR fans who got lung cancer during their sponsorship. Another display shows the technology advances of NASCAR (for some reason the timeline ends with the 1970s).  A neat item on display is the actual urine sample Jeremy Mayfield submitted for his drug test.  Probably the coolest thing is the “Wall of Contrived Controversies” the NASCAR PR department has dreamed up to create fan interest.  They were just adding the Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmie Johnson feud when I was there the other day.  Anyway, the Grand Am office is on the first floor in the back corner, next to the restrooms and the “Office of Loyalty.” Inside the Grand-Am office there are 159 different photos of Hurley Haywood on the wall, arranged in a pattern that spells “DAYTONA.”  Really cool.  If you ever have a chance to visit the new offices, I recommend it.

The “silly season” is upon us already!  Lots of juicy rumors.  I’ve heard Jim France is the stroke of a pen away from buying the three Panoz tracks.  If he steps up to the plate, and I think he will, expect the Rolex schedule to expand by three races next year!

I’ve also heard the next generation of DPs will be announced later this year!  The rules will send shockwaves throughout the road racing community (and especially in Braselton).  I am sworn to secrecy, but I will give you these hints: Jim Hurtubise, Zima, and The Village People.

A.C.

All About Watches

Watches have to be the most reliable cash cow for motorsports of all kinds. Rolex sponsors every concours and historic race it can lay its hands on, and keeps the 24 Hours of Daytona more or less on the map. Interestingly, its famous “Daytona” model predates its sponsorship of that race by over two decades. The “Daytona Paul Newman” is thought by some to be the most valuable of the many collector Rolexes.

Sebring has a new watch sponsor, Alpina Genéve. At Bahrain we heard that Dutch watchmaker TW Steel is sponsoring Renault F1, has signed Emerson Fittipaldi and will produce a special TW Steel Emerson Fittipaldi watch. Hublot, part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey group, is the new Official Watchmaker of Formula 1. Hublot’s first F1 watch will retail at $23,000.

Tag Heuer funded Porsche’s Formula 1 motor, its “Tag Turbo” name displacing Porsche entirely. The most iconic Tag Heuer, by far, however, is the “Monaco” worn by Michael Delaney in “Le Mans.”

Breitling bankrolled Bentley. LP Italy sponsored Risi Competizione, and launched its Stratosphere Competizione model in 2006.

Girard Perregaux’s is one of Switzerland’s “Cadillac” watchmakers; its “Chebby” Jean Richard subsidiary was fittingly an ALMS (since then Autocon) sponsor. Tissot is the official watch of NASCAR (which has an “Official Pain Reliever” – no, not Goody’s Headache Powders – amongst its 50 “official” partners). Then there’s the tasteless Debaufre… 

Murphy’s trying to decide whether he’ll get a Rolex Daytona Paul Newman, or a Tag Heuer Monaco Steve McQueen. The Bear needs your advice.

Where’s the Rocket Part?

According to an unnamed alms official after Wednesday’s test, Rocketsports would sit this one out if it couldn’t get the Cat around Sebring in a reasonably competitive time – something it hadn’t yet done, struggling to a 2:29.5 in just two laps. Murphy expects the Cat has now “qualified,” managing a sub-2:05 today, running 22 laps over the course of 2 sessions, the best showing to date.

Late note: The Cat missed night practice. Will they get a free pass? The drivers haven’t all previously night-driven at Sebring, the basis for previous waivers.

In Murphy’s Mail

My name is Albert Wong, am a Singaporean citizen and a seasoned Banker in (Berhad office), A deceased client of mine died. He lost all the members of his family in the incident. He secured a contract of (10,000,000.00 million dollars) left behind in the bank. I contacted you in distributing the amount before it is confiscated by then bank. Please get back immediately to proceed.

If the Bear wants to go racing, he should call Albert, right?

Dead Horse Department (added)

The Bear’s heard that Zoran Stefanovic is headed to a meeting tonight with Hurley, Anderson, Windsor, et. al, and expects to walk out with a purchase agreement for USF1 that will put him on the grid at Melbourne with USF1′s entry.  But Todt says, “no, the entry is forfeited, and be ready to pay a fine for missing the first races.” He can’t really have it both ways, if you don’t have an entry, you really can’t be fined. The FIA (Jean Todt) says you have to attend all races, while the Concorde (Bernie) says you can miss; so we still don’t know who is in control here, and probably don’t until it all ends up in a French court – which is exactly where Zoran intends to take it. Getting the smoking hulk left by Ken Anderson at USF1 is the first step toward that.

There seems to be some belief (Anderson, the Bear supposes) that USF1 would then build its own cars for 2011 after running whatever Toyota had left over for this season. Murphy thinks that’s dilusional, and in any case is about 5 steps removed from where this thing is now.

Lost

Andy W. apologized for being “quiet” in a Feb 27 “Hi Folks…” then went on about getting “things finalized for the ALMS,” and the C10 “rocketship.” Probably got lost somewhere in South Carolina. It’s good the Bear doesn’t easily get excited.

The Stars

Michael Schumacher returned; the German average audience during the Bahrain F1 race was 10.5 million. Last season it was 5.4 million. Fernando Alonso drew 5 million in Spain. Sports car racing claims drivers aren’t important. “The cars are the stars.” Right.

The Racing Disease

Murphy’s crack staff has connected Scott Tucker to electronic funds processing services at a buck a pop, 600K pops a day. It seems he went for the Challenge LMPs to bolster a Le Mans dream, but then found he could just buy his way in – not just as a driver (perhaps $300K), but footing the whole enchilada for an Audi, more like $2 million.

Driving Mister Fehan

With Emmanuel Collard and Antonio Garcia on board at Sebring you might think future Chebby pilots are ‘set.” Yes, the Bear’s heard there will be significant change in the team for 2011, but it’s not quite that simple. Corvette Racing will stick around Sebring after the 12 Hours to test possible future drivers. Butch Leitzinger, Paul Edwards and Graham Rahal are testing.

Lotus

Lotus will launch a sports car program with Kevin Kalkhoven’s KV Racing Technology and Cosworth, another Kalkhoven company. We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Murphy says, “slim and none.”

The Perloined Part

There’s been a little mistake. A differential for a reptilian Porsche ended up with a raptor Porsche. The latter immediately jumped up the performance chart. They like the part a lot better than the one they had and have so far refused to return it.

Murphy’s Sebring Punter’s Guide

Murphy’s Le Mans Punter’s Guide is again a “simulpub” with Last Turn Clubhouse, here. Honestly, that site’s software handles tables much better than the Bear’s little blog.

Porker Plans

Is there a 2010 ACO spec Porsche? Of course there is: the 2009 GT3 RSR with a 2010 plate. Falken has one, according to driver Brian Sellers. Don’t be surprised if Sellers is joined by a factory pilot. Porsche’s running out of places to put the boys, and Porsche doesn’t want them idle. Socrates would have classed them as idle anyway, having opined, “They are not only idle who do nothing, but they are idle also who might be better employed,” and the Porker pilots won’t be very well employed in the American Le Mans Series.

With Farnbacher reported to be a partner in name only (best source say shop shut down), if that, Murphy is less than convinced there will be a Greg Loles GT2 entry rumored by others in ALMS. He also hears the west coast reptile team will only enter a single car, with Seth at the wheel partnered by another of those under-employed Porsche pilots. Is that it, then? Just two Porsches in GT2, neither competitive? Murphy thinks it’s likely. Another source this afternoon is convinced there will still be two Lizard Porsches. Meanwhile, the entire reptilian brain trust is driving in one of Kevin’s Porsches at the Daytona 24.

Ferrari

After hearing all kinds of rumblings, and nothing convincing to the contrary, the Bear wonders if his favorite Texas Ferrari dealer will field a full-season entry. Someone said they were likely to at least contest the major enduros, but this week he heard Jaime Melo is off to Europe, and Pierre Kaffer will partner Scott Sharp at Patrón Sharp (OK, Supreme Speed, er, Excess Speed, er, Extreme Speed, or something like that), with Johannes van Overbeek partnering Ed Brown in the team’s second Ferrari entry.

Other GT2

There’s been nothing further of substance in regard to a second BMW team (believed at the time to be Schnitzer). In fact, Murphy was told the whole thing was game-playing by BMW with the World Touring Car Championship – something they’ve done before.
Corvette is likely to be back, of course. Is that causing Porsche to flee? Massive equipment sales raise questions about a Panoz entry. The Bear knows an underfunded operation when he sees one, and he certainly saw one at PTG last season. It was said around the paddock that upgrades and testing were being done on ptgboss’s nickel (certainly out of character) because the Don was being his penurious self. Those cars are old wrecks.

Elsewhere, it’s rumored that Robertson’s trip to Asia was for the fun of it and a reward for the past season more than having anything to do with 2010. Is it possible that was a au revoir? Though Murphy’s best information is that Robertson will certainly be back, he’s sharing that contrary rumor (or speculation).  Primetime shopped for a replacement to the aging and uncompetitive Viper last season, and has been mentioned in connection with LMP Challenge. A return with the snake will be a surprise. If Rocketsports holds it together – not certain by any means – it will be for one, not two, Cats.

That’s a GT2 of 9 – Murphy’s best guess of a “take it to the bank minimum” so far, 10 if Robertson is added. Add six – maximum 8 – LMP combined class, and three in LMP “C” class, and you get 19 entries before the all-Porsche spec. amateur, you-can- see-better-at-a-Porsche-club-meet GT Challenge. The Bear thinks a ticket price reduction is in order for 2010. Murphy won’t be ready to lay out his projection of the whole field until January, but it looks like doo-doo here at the beginning of December.

Krohn Krunched in Kourt

Murphy was reading a document from Delaware’s Chancery Court, a November 12th ruling on Krohn’s response to Lola’s allegations of perfidy (the Bear’s word; good one, huh?). The short of it is Krohn was krunched, and has two options: settle or go to trial. On the latter, the Bear’s no barrister, but the Texas oil maggot’s (is that speeled right?) chances seem slim and none.

Krohn is one of just 11 entries in the Rolex December test at Daytona. (Ed: Murphy relied on reporting by DSC to come up with that 11 figure. It was wrong – or perhaps just out of date, being dated November 28, two days before the Bear wrote this. The real number of entries is 24; 10 DP and 14 GT entries, here.) Regardless of the lawsuit – and it’s a nasty one – Krohn paid for the cars and can race them if he chooses, but the Bear’s not sure that will remain the case as that dispute goes forward. Brumos now admits they’ll enter just one DP in 2010. The Bear believes even that’s a bit of a stretch. Oddly (since they’re on their own) four of the five DP’s in the test are Porsche-powered.

Can’t give it away

As the boss prepares to extol the virtues of green racing to academics at Clemson, the first foray of the American Le Mans Series into such things – ethanol – is getting even an even bigger black eye. Now they can’t even give the stuff away. With the drop in gasoline sales, the congress-mandated barrels required to be sold by ‘big oil” can’t be met (another law caps ethanol in “regular” gasoline at 10%) and ethanol plants are shutting down and going belly up all over the country.

The other problem is that the all the “big media” features are about NASCAR recycling its motor oil and picking up the trash after its events, with ALMS rating a little paragraph in the middle of that non-story. So, how many cars on the grid and fannies at the track will the Clemson evening get the series? Or planting trees in California – the other big green contribution by the “world’s greenest racing series.”

The oil of racing

Is really cash, of course, and it looks as if 2010 will be tougher than 2009. It’s ”farewell, we’ll see ya (and our checkbook is going with us),” by Audi and Acura. Porsche is rumored to have likewise cut funding to the series – all of these cuts are some combination of reduction of ad buys and of other contractual payments. In Porsche’s case, Murphy thinks something is left over – a requirement of the “commercial considerations” that are keeping GT Challenge exclusively Porsche. Likewise, Michelin continues to pay for ad spots, features, and the dubious honor of title sponsorship of the Green X Challenge (what’s the “X” for, by the way).

Now it seems that for all the “green” blather, BP’s going to “walk” on Dyson. Murphy’s friend Rick reports retailers have been told of the departure. I guess they decided it was a lousy vehicle to promote their substantial investment in Butanol. Good call, after the ALMS refused to promote the two “demonstration” runs in its final two events. Would you continue to lay out hundreds of thousands after that nonsense? Murphy sure as hell wouldn’t. Dyson even begged the series to provide some coverage via participation in the qualifying session, even if the qualifying time wasn’t recognized. IMSA “wouldn’t budge,” (and yes, that’s a quote). The Bear wonders if Mazda is going to “step up,” in 2010 as hoped by the Poughkeepsie team.

It’s rumored that Castrol will replace BP on the Dyson cars. The Bear wonders what that’s worth to the team. Not much, probably.

Look for Murphy’s first annual Christmas quiz. It’s got big prizes…honest.

I’m writing this in the Homestead media center as I occasionally glance at the monitor to see yet another caution period in front of 80,000 empty grandstand seats.  Caution is the operative word in Grandamland this weekend. The shock has yet to wear off over the arrest of one of our legendary drivers. Indeed, when I left the World Center of Racing yesterday morning, things at International Speedway Boulevard were in full damage control mode.  No Lamborghini in the parking lot.

Of course, this sad incident is in no way a reflection of the Rolex Series. And quite frankly, no one here particularly cares, since the Indy Racing League is getting 98% of the attention.

While some may use this incident as a reason to bash the France family and its support of the Grand-Am series, you must admire their courage (and bank account). So many teams benefit from their financial generosity, its hard not to admire their honest and open way of doing business. One bad apple should not reflect on the whole tree.

I was very pleased to see the 2010 schedule and that Grand-Am is not wasting its time at elitist venues such as Laguna Seca, Road America, Sebring, Road Atlanta, Infinion or Mosport.  I hear for 2011 they are considering running every race at Daytona, which would be fine with me and make a great deal of sense. The idea of a spec-track series has been going around the halls of NASCAR for several months and I think this idea will be a winner.

Other Grand-Am news for the 2010 season I heard about this weekend: Daytona International Speedway’s legendary security department will be simply known as the “SS” beginning next year (Speedway Security). They just got a grant from the American Oval Track Institute to purchase special RRF (Road Racing Fan) Pepper Spray for next year’s Rolex 24  …All Koni Series races will run on Mondays in 2010, according to a GA official who said “mainly because they simply always get in the way of everything” … All Grand-Am team owners will wear special sensors that will activate an alarm if they stand within 25 feet of a an ALMS Le Mans Challenge car… Grand-Am Koolaid Award winners Matt C. and Andy F. will be awarded special vacation packages at the Chateau Elan in Braselton Georgia … Jim France will no longer pay for Rolex team owner’s massages … Jim Hunter’s new book “Dirt Under the Nicotine Patch: An Underground History of the American Le Mans Series” will be out in January (Jack Flowers is rumored to be the ghost writer) … Since most Grand-Am races are non-spectator events, the NASCAR PR Department will bus in residents of Assisted Living Facilities so the “Record Crowd” press releases can continue.

Well, I see now that the race will end under caution, and so will the season. And so will this column.

A.C.

I missed Montreal in favor of a trip to Vegas, where I spent a good part of my three-day junket at the craps table. I’m still trying to recoup from the Zogaib debacle, and I thought Vegas could provide some financial relief. Well, it didn’t.

And this whole racing thing has become a crap shoot. Six months ago I thought the Grand-Am Rolex Series was on the verge of dominating the road racing world … I could envision spec DPs racing at Sebring and Le Mans … and now I wonder if the series will even be around in 2011?

Why the pessimism? It seems some NASCAR people are pretty upset with the whole road racing thing, and they think NASCAR should go back to what it does best, going in circles. The old guard on International Speedway Boulevard believes this Grand-Am thing has been a folly. In today’s economy, you can’t keep throwing money at something. Just ask Tony George.

Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in the concept of Grand-Am: Beautiful low-tech spec-cars subsidized by the sanctioning body; contrived and manipulated finishes; scales with a margin of error of 25 pounds, constant rules changes, and fun racing without the hassle of crowds. None of that mega-money ALMS madness.

As Jim “Catfish” Hunter, former Oakland A’s legendary pitcher recently wrote, the ALMS is only driving up costs even more with their restructuring of classes. (Editor’s note – A.C. seems to be confused, Jim Hunter works for NASCAR, Jim “Catfish” Hunter is deceased.)

But for some reason, the Rolex Series just isn’t catching on. Sometimes I think Roger and Jim rolled snake eyes for NASCAR. The fields are now smaller than the ALMS, no more free salad bar at Ruby Tuesday, and if the rumors I hear are true, the car count could be worse next year. With one car owner in a big lawsuit, and another about to ditch the whole thing to concentrate on wine-making and synchronized swimming, I have to wonder if maybe there is no future for sports cars in North America. And that’s what is causing the internal strife at International Speedway Blvd. As the Sprint Cup sputters, some are wondering why NASCAR is dabbling in sporty cars anyway? One ISC old-timer told me while standing in line at the SunTrust ATM in the NASCAR gift shop: “Wayne is a good guy, but he IS a foreigner, you know.”

But then I remember NASCAR is running the show, and they ALWAYS know what is best. Just ask Jeremy Mayfield’s stepmom.
  
So all you ALMS supporters are probably saying “I told you so” right now. Well, the ALMS isn’t exactly a model of success. So what if Sebring and Road Atlanta will be packed with elitist fans? NASCAR has low-cost, low-tech racing for the masses. One day, fans will return to the Rolex 24. We don’t care about technology, or green racing, or Le Mans … Braselton will never defeat Daytona. That is a sure bet.

AC

Ever since I stepped in that Clydesdale poop on the Sebring grid, things have not been going my way. My daughter was planning on attending Duke, but it looks like it will be Daytona Community College instead, thanks to Henri Zogaib.  Unless she gets a golf scholarship, or Henri finds that sack full of money I gave him to invest, it is not looking good. Even my part-time job polishing motorcycles for a friend of mine has fallen through.

As I sit here in the Watkins Glen Media Center writing this column, I can’t help but think you just don’t know who to trust these days.

And speaking of trust, I got this rather angry phone call during my radio show (2-4 am on WZQU Ormond Beach, 1850 AM). This idiot, foaming at the mouth, was yelling that NASCAR should be sued for antitrust violations. Something about how they control what tracks get what races, control the sanctioning bodies, control television, and even pay teams to run in one series and NOT in another series.  Is that ridiculous or what?

So I got on Wiki and checked up on antitrust laws. It seems there are three main elements to fair competition violations, which I can easily prove do not apply to the NASCARization of road racing, or any other aspect of motor racing.

1. Practices that restrict free trading and competition. In the spirit of fair play, Kevin, you can go back to the ALMS.  Please! See how easy that was?!  Any team in NASCAR road racing is free to race wherever they want. We are not responsible for what happens to them after that, however.

2. Abusive behavior by a firm dominating the market. Of course that doesn’t apply to NASCAR. They are far from dominating the market.  They still don’t own every track, yet. Abusive?  While the ISC Security Department has that word on their shields, it is NOT the policy of NASCAR from a business standpoint.  They are a friendly, open and honest company always willing to help anyone in the road racing community see the light.

3. Mergers and acquisitions that hinder the competitive process.  That is why NASCAR doesn’t want to acquire the ALMS.  We feel sorry for them. In fact, they want them to survive so Jim and Roger have something to make fun of at staff meetings.

I guess I ruffled a few feathers about NASCAR taking over Sebring and Road Atlanta next year (they don’t want Mosport because its too hard to learn to speak Canadian).  As mentioned above, NASCAR believes in fair competition, so instead of taking over Sebring and Road Atlanta, NASCAR will just wait for Darwin to finish the job, if you know what I mean.

So if you going to call my radio show, please don’t waste my precious air time with this anti-competition nonsense.  I am happy to talk about how Scott Pruett freed those journalists held in North Korea, or why the Riley DP is the most technically advanced prototype in the world, or how the Rolex Series has record crowds everywhere it races, or whether Enzyte really works.  But please, stop the antitrust questions.  And no mention of all those empty grandstands at NASCAR races, either.

With another successful NASCAR Grand-Am season nearing an end, stay tuned for some very interesting news from your favorite motorsports journalist.

AC

I missed the Mid-Ohio race, but I am primed and ready for my favorite series to return home to the World Center of Racing. It is going to be awesome, with Grand-Am and the Cup cars running on the same day!

Mid-Ohio was another fantastically officiated race.  All the team owners I talked with last week were absolutely thrilled with the event, and hopefully next year spectators will be allowed.  Although the entry list has been steadily shrinking to ALMS levels, the close competition gave me goose bumps! I don’t know about you, but that race made me want to go out and buy a Rolex and get a car loan at Sun Trust!  Not so sure about Kevin’s wine, however.

There’s no doubt this year is going great. I just saw a NASCAR press release that confirmed the Grand-Am Series is growing by leaps and bounds.  I was very impressed to see Grand-Am merchandise sales up 41%.  I think Wayne Taylor buying those 10 t-shirts at New Jersey might have had something to do with that.

While Grand-Am’s Riley Rolex Series is booming, all you hear out of Braselton are words like ‘homologation” (isn’t that what certain people do in San Francisco?), “green racing” and “relevance.” 

I almost feel sorry for the ALMS. Once NASCAR officially took over my beloved Rolex Series, game over. The experts at Daytona are proving NASCAR will indeed rule the road racing world. Jim F. and Roger E. have penciled in Sebring and Road Atlanta on the 2010 Rolex schedule (which will be Grand-Am’s first races with spectators!). Of course, Petit Le Mans will have to change its name to Petit Daytona. And the DIS Security Department will have to go to Sebring to straighten out those Green Park people (I’ve been told the fine folks at DIS Security have been watching videos of the Iranian police’s suppression of protesters as a model for crowd control).

The transition from ALMS to Grand-Am should be relatively painless for ALMS fans. Other than the NASCAR loyalty oath, a ban on all technology developed in the last 20 years, and mystery debris yellow flags, they probably won’t notice anything different other than bigger fields of Porsche Cup cars and those beautiful DPs!

And yes, Le Mans was another yawner this year. Until Peugeot and Audi prove they can beat Rileys, Coyotes and Crawfish, they haven’t proven anything.

In closing, I can’t wait for the season-ending banquet after Homestead.  I have heard the entertainment lineup will again include Kevin Buckler doing his mime routine again, Mark Raffauf’s band “Mark and the Scale Calibrators,” plus special guest Tony George will join Roger E. in an emotional tribute to Michael Jackson.

A.C.

As soon as the Bear posted his expectations for the Sebring grid, a chorus of “wait-a-minutes” came in.
As a result, he’s going to downgrade the Salt Lake City prototype from “probable” to “possible,” and upgrade the “No Name Team” Ferrari from “possible” to “possible plus.” (Ok, that’s a new rating – live with it.)
Regardless of his reduced confidence, he hopes that the Zytek makes it to the grid, since he’ll win a Jameson (and his assistant will treated to some fine Dutch brew) at Chicanes if it does. For now, those changes will cut his likely P1 starters to seven. Murphy’s going to keep his expected GT starters at 17, making Sebring’s total grid 29.

Murphy’s Rolex Punting Rools

Last year, the Bear picked five favorites for the Daytona win, and went 1-2-3. Suddenly all the punters are clamoring to know how Murphy does it. Well here’s the Poop, five rules for picking the Rolex (the other two are Bear secrets):

1. Riley only. Are you kidding? The first non-Riley was 15th, eight in class. Domination, baby.
2. Teams you’ve heard of, even if you’ve been in a cave. Ganassi (that’s three in a row), Penske, GAINSCO, Brumos. They have guys who know how to screw down lug nuts.
3. No oil billionaire drivers, no scrawny girls. No drivers with the same name as the team.

Rolex Favorites

Here are Murphy’s by-the-rools five favorites for the 2009 Rolex. Look familiar?
01 Ganassi  Dixon, Montoya, Pruett, Rojas – Lexus / Riley
02 Ganassi  Dixon, Franchitti, Lloyd, Pruett – Lexus / Riley
16 Penske Racing Bernhard,Brisco, Dumas – Porsche / Riley
58 Brumos Racing Donohue, Garcia, Law, Rice – Porsche / Riley
99 GAINSCO   Fogarty, Gurney, Johnson, Vasser – Pontiac / Riley

Murphy’s Predictions

The Bear enjoyed AC’s and Katrina’s so much he made some of his own.

Baring unfixable practice disasters (or rubber checks) four classes will take the green flag: Riley Class – 13; ODP Class – 6; TF Class – 13; Porsche GT3 Cup Class – 17. (ODP = Other Daytona Prototypes; TF = Tube Frame)

With great fanfare, the infield will be closed on race morning after the 5,000 fans and 500 cars for which there is still room have been waved through the tunnel.

The NASCAR-driver storylines will disappear with the near-disappearance of NASCAR drivers. No longer singing “NASCAR über alles,” Grand Am will tout the “international flavor” of the driver field.

No entry with a “gentleman driver” will win overall.

Matt Connolly will win a close contest for the “Most Annoying Team Owner Award.”

The hot paddock rumor will be about JCF’s missing $12 million.

The only mentions of ALMS will be in Boris Said interviews.