Panoz did a lot. Bought and rejuvenated Road Atlanta, started the ALMS, built the Panoz brand and even the Chateau Elan Winery & Resort. I used to drive by the old Panoz building somewhat regularly.
Even before the rebirth of the prototype class, the GT classes were getting healthier by the season. I was around during the USRRC and Trans Am and Can Am. Nothing from that era IMO, comes close to what we have now. So yeah, it is truly a new golden era of sports car racing.
@@darnoldie I agree, but things are relative. What we had in the early '70s in IMSA seemed like the best in the World. Yes, by today's standards, we were racing in the stone age. That said, some of the tracks we raced on were great, iconic, legendary, then they got modified and in my opinion, ruined. Sebring, Daytona and Laguna for example.
I live 45 miles (73k) from Michelin Raceway at Road Atlanta, and I went to the very first race there in 1970. The Petit LeMans has ALWAYS been a destination event. I've met folks from all over the world there, and they are some of the most knowledgable race fans extant! Also, there was the year the GT class won overall at Daytona over the DPs. They were "gah-bage!!
The early DPs were ugly and slow, yes. But it's worth pointing out that in 2000, two Vipers and a Corvette finished in front of the Riley & Scott that won overall in '99, and the highest-finishing prototype in 2001 was 11th. Those turn of the century GTS/O cars were no joke.
Great vid Jake, definatley makes sense of things. ALMS was my go to series growing up and i'm glad to see IMSA unified once more, long live sportscars.
Imsa doing better than NASCAR? Not exactly, nascar is still way more popular but imsa is definitely growing faster because it’s more globally recognized.
IMSA is certainly outpacing its expectations, and reaching new heights. Many events had record attendance in 2024. Meanwhile NASCAR continues to struggle to live up to its previous successes
Part of the reason why people don't think of it as much is because it wasn't as nasty/tragic as the open wheel split. CART-IRL was a civil war brought about by incompatible personalities that doomed one of the most popular motorsports on the planet. IMSA meanwhile was already basically dead, and there were two competing visions for its reconstruction. Likewise I think Grand Am and ALMS coexisted better, and when they did merge they quickly advanced their series' profile much more than reunited IndyCar has (honestly modern IndyCar is probably worse off than either of its predecessors were in 2000).
@@jahs4209 Outside the Indy 500, I don't agree. The TV Numbers and Attendance tell a far bigger story (which is equally powerful given F1's massive Popularity rise in the states). Throw in less then steller decisions like the continuing lack of a 3rd manufacturer, a Non-championship race that no fan asked for, the late incorporation of the Hybrid (Mostly to appease Honda), a still significant lack of ovals and the continued use of a now decade old chassis and I struggle to see what makes it more popular then a series doing so well that not only were they able to have a schedule put together for 2025 before they even started their second race of the season but are having to turn away entries because they can't fit anymore.
I loved it when both series ran at Mid-Ohio. You’d get Indycar, ALMS, GrandAm, the Vintage GP, and the SCCA Run-Offs. That was a heck of a summer schedule.
Thank you for the video. This made me realize I had the luck to see both in the early 2000s, Imsa in Trois-Rivieres and Grand-Am at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
1:52 Carl Shafer and Peter Gregg. What a great series to see two cars like that racing each other. I saw these two at Laguna Seca, that Camaro had an aluminum 454 and it was thunder coming down through the corkscrew.
At one point the glorious IMSA GTP series was truly spectacular and exhilarating. But eventually, the manufacturer's competition was getting waxed by the Toyota Eagle Gurney program and all the others fell off the necessary mark to make the series competitive as it had been just a few years earlier. Even the Jaguar (Cosworth) machine (an F1 car with a shell on it) was struggling to keep pace with that Toyota. The privateers simply lacked the budget to keep up with factory entries. What propelled the WSC directly thereafter was the Ferrari 333SP and while a big lure for spectators, even this fell off. This series has had quite the evolution.
I actually liked the Grand-Am Rolex Series and the only thing I do not like about the present IMSA Weather Tech Series is, it like IndyCar is owned by someone who is also a team owner in the series meaning Jim France. The owner of Action Express Racing
I hated the Daytona Prototypes... They were anything, but prototypes... MK1's had no carbon fiber allowed with spec chassis and steel brakes. They said it was for cost savings... But like NASCAR Cup cars, spec stuff, the part supplier can make the price be whatever they want and teams have to pay or quit.
@@Dexter037S4 There's massive differences between the DPs and anything NASCAR was running at the time. Among things, the DPs had IRS and rack and pinion steering, meanwhile the Busch series cars ran live axles and recirculating ball steering. NASCAR Busch series used carbureted, OHV V8s connected to a four speed transmission only, DPs could run DOHC, fuel-injected engines and ran either 5 or 6 speed gear boxes. All they really have in common is using a tube frame.
It's had some ups and downs for sure! It’s not quite the same as the split in IndyCar. Several different groups had different ideas on what endurance racing should be like, and there was a power vacuum in the 90s which led to two series.
@@FlashoftheBlades ALMS was the "correct" of the two since modern IMSA is very much ALMS in spirit and regs. Only things that really remain from Grand-Am are the D24 (which used to be an IMSA race before that so even that's not fully Grand-Am) and the 6 hours of the Glen.
Confusing and constant change of regulations after the death of GT1. It even happened in Europe as well where the prototype class was in shambles. No one really knew what to do until the factory efforts for prototype efforts post gt1 interested manufactures. They would start to bring much needed stimulation to the sport.
It was the style at the time, just like tying an onion to your belt. Now, to attend the race cost a nickle and in those days nickles had pictures of bumblebees on them. Give me five bees for a quarter you'd say. Now where were we? The important thing was I had an onion tied to my belt, as was the style at the time. We didn't have white onions because of the war, the only thing you could get were those big yellow ones...
It wasn't a "split". Don Panoz created the ALMS from scratch and adopted the ACOs regulations for his US based racing. The cars in IMSA were ineligible to run in the ACO races like LeMans without significant costly modifications that the car owners and manufacturers were unwilling to do.
@@williamford9564 When did IMSA categories stop being allowed to run at Le Mans? _It looks like it was 1995._ The Porsche 961 was entered as an IMSA GTX car in 1987, rather than under FIA Group B.
I used to love watching IMSA on ESPN as a kid in the 80's, it was great. I wish I could watch it now as they have great racing but they have a horrible TV deal and it's mostly commercials. I've been watching F1 and WEC races for years commercial free and can't stand them.
The FIA did, and is doing, a truly remarkable job rebuilding sports car racing and bringing the top manufacturers in racing to their WEC series. This is the FIA’s success. IMSA’s only success is in ceding to FIA, hoping some of the manufacturers of WEC come to America (not enough have to say doing a good job here,) and giving IMSA teams opportunity to race in some WEC events. The sports car resurgence is an FIA success story; not an IMSA one.
PWC used to be SCCA owned before it went to USAC for a single season before Ratel set his sight on the American market and bought it (after which he reorganized the entire thing leaving bacially nothing of the original PWC setup)
Grand-Am had much better racing for many years. Also, their initial concept of DPs being exaggerated versions of GT cars (like the Porsche-Fabcar having 911-esque features) is still a great template that should be way more popular. The current "hypercars" and "LMDh cars" all look generic AF except maybe the Toyota. You pain them all black, show them to random people and NO ONE will guess the manufacturer correctly. Meanwhile, Grand-Am had the Porsche-Fabcar, Corvette DP and a couple more.
No, IMSA is not an endurance series per sé. It has also shorter races. Some races are GT's only (Mosport 2024 afaik). WEC is a world championship. Also to be eligiable for IMSA, the regulations have different rules than to be eligiable for the WEC.
At least the schedules have very little conflict with each other. Personally, I think it would be cool to see WEC teams challenge IMSA’s endurance races. Daytona and Sebring in particular would be excellent warmup acts for WEC teams as they prepare for their upcoming season.
and now we have crap road racing....chev has heavy pull.... 45 min full course cautions for minor things.... class split restarts all to get that fake "after six hours look how close it is" finish. WWE racing
Don Panoz creating ALMS out of the ruins of a dead series almost entirely out his own pocket, what a hero.
He really was
Panoz did a lot. Bought and rejuvenated Road Atlanta, started the ALMS, built the Panoz brand and even the Chateau Elan Winery & Resort. I used to drive by the old Panoz building somewhat regularly.
@@alexcoxe4303i also still remembered Esperante GTR-1 and Esperante Q9 Hybrid that supposed to take part in IMSA.
In my opinion, Dr. Dan Panos is what saved top level road racing in the United States.
We are definitely in the new golden age of sports car racing
Especially with GTP growing up in size and Mercedes joining IMSA & WEC grid.
All it needs is NASCAR split and both 2 NASCARs actively destroy themselves.
Even before the rebirth of the prototype class, the GT classes were getting healthier by the season. I was around during the USRRC and Trans Am and Can Am. Nothing from that era IMO, comes close to what we have now. So yeah, it is truly a new golden era of sports car racing.
@@gerardkhachaturyan4814 as a nascar fan… I see that happening very soon 😭
@@darnoldie I agree, but things are relative. What we had in the early '70s in IMSA seemed like the best in the World. Yes, by today's standards, we were racing in the stone age. That said, some of the tracks we raced on were great, iconic, legendary, then they got modified and in my opinion, ruined. Sebring, Daytona and Laguna for example.
I live 45 miles (73k) from Michelin Raceway at Road Atlanta, and I went to the very first race there in 1970.
The Petit LeMans has ALWAYS been a destination event. I've met folks from all over the world there, and they are some of the most knowledgable race fans extant!
Also, there was the year the GT class won overall at Daytona over the DPs. They were "gah-bage!!
Why not visit Canadian Tyre Motorsport Park? (Formerly Mosport Park). It is a great track like Laguna Seca.
The early DPs were ugly and slow, yes. But it's worth pointing out that in 2000, two Vipers and a Corvette finished in front of the Riley & Scott that won overall in '99, and the highest-finishing prototype in 2001 was 11th. Those turn of the century GTS/O cars were no joke.
Great vid Jake, definatley makes sense of things. ALMS was my go to series growing up and i'm glad to see IMSA unified once more, long live sportscars.
Imsa is so enjoyable
WEC, WRC, SUPER GT, and Extreme E all also are enjoyable.
As an imsa fan I had NO idea they were owned nascar. They seem to be doing so much better than them.
Imsa doing better than NASCAR? Not exactly, nascar is still way more popular but imsa is definitely growing faster because it’s more globally recognized.
IMSA is certainly outpacing its expectations, and reaching new heights. Many events had record attendance in 2024. Meanwhile NASCAR continues to struggle to live up to its previous successes
@@joeygold24 you can't lie 2024 nascar has been very good, good racing product even if you don't like oval racing.
@@Noskywyd Ha, scripted garbage. Add the silly left turn only and Laughcar earns it's title.
@@joeygold24especially with the AWFUL 2014 PLAYOFF ELIMINATION format that still intact till after 2024 NASCAR Cup season.
Part of the reason why people don't think of it as much is because it wasn't as nasty/tragic as the open wheel split. CART-IRL was a civil war brought about by incompatible personalities that doomed one of the most popular motorsports on the planet. IMSA meanwhile was already basically dead, and there were two competing visions for its reconstruction. Likewise I think Grand Am and ALMS coexisted better, and when they did merge they quickly advanced their series' profile much more than reunited IndyCar has (honestly modern IndyCar is probably worse off than either of its predecessors were in 2000).
Or because Indycar racing is so much more popular than IMSA/SportsCar Racing has ever been in this country. Sports Car racing is still extremely niche
@@jahs4209 Outside the Indy 500, I don't agree. The TV Numbers and Attendance tell a far bigger story (which is equally powerful given F1's massive Popularity rise in the states). Throw in less then steller decisions like the continuing lack of a 3rd manufacturer, a Non-championship race that no fan asked for, the late incorporation of the Hybrid (Mostly to appease Honda), a still significant lack of ovals and the continued use of a now decade old chassis and I struggle to see what makes it more popular then a series doing so well that not only were they able to have a schedule put together for 2025 before they even started their second race of the season but are having to turn away entries because they can't fit anymore.
Thank you for this video. It brings back a lot of memories of the '80s racing scene for me.
Thank you, this was a great summary.
World Endurance Championship next?
I never realized there was an actual split between ALMS and the Grand-Am Series. I grew up watching ALMS a lot, glad to see it was reunified.
I loved it when both series ran at Mid-Ohio. You’d get Indycar, ALMS, GrandAm, the Vintage GP, and the SCCA Run-Offs. That was a heck of a summer schedule.
The racing is exciting! They can follow and they can pass and they can go back and forth basically what a series should be
We truly are living in a Golden Age of Sports Car racing unlike any we've had before. Long live IMSA!
IMSA in 2024 is a legendary season no doubt.
Thank you for the video. This made me realize I had the luck to see both in the early 2000s, Imsa in Trois-Rivieres and Grand-Am at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
1:52 Carl Shafer and Peter Gregg. What a great series to see two cars like that racing each other. I saw these two at Laguna Seca, that Camaro had an aluminum 454 and it was thunder coming down through the corkscrew.
The GTO era of IMSA will never be matched by any other GT or touring car series.
Change my mind.
200 mph around Daytona banking, Robby Gordon full on power sliding out of that hairpin at Long Beach what more could you want
At one point the glorious IMSA GTP series was truly spectacular and exhilarating. But eventually, the manufacturer's competition was getting waxed by the Toyota Eagle Gurney program and all the others fell off the necessary mark to make the series competitive as it had been just a few years earlier. Even the Jaguar (Cosworth) machine (an F1 car with a shell on it) was struggling to keep pace with that Toyota. The privateers simply lacked the budget to keep up with factory entries. What propelled the WSC directly thereafter was the Ferrari 333SP and while a big lure for spectators, even this fell off. This series has had quite the evolution.
I actually liked the Grand-Am Rolex Series and the only thing I do not like about the present IMSA Weather Tech Series is, it like IndyCar is owned by someone who is also a team owner in the series meaning Jim France. The owner of Action Express Racing
I hated the Daytona Prototypes... They were anything, but prototypes... MK1's had no carbon fiber allowed with spec chassis and steel brakes. They said it was for cost savings... But like NASCAR Cup cars, spec stuff, the part supplier can make the price be whatever they want and teams have to pay or quit.
I liked the Corvette DP. though. I agree with you on the rest. I hated those Riley rectangles.
Funnily enough Daytona Prototypes were basically Gen 4 Busch Cars lol.
@@Dexter037S4 There's massive differences between the DPs and anything NASCAR was running at the time. Among things, the DPs had IRS and rack and pinion steering, meanwhile the Busch series cars ran live axles and recirculating ball steering. NASCAR Busch series used carbureted, OHV V8s connected to a four speed transmission only, DPs could run DOHC, fuel-injected engines and ran either 5 or 6 speed gear boxes.
All they really have in common is using a tube frame.
@@WyldStallion-bs9oo Still it saved the sportscar racing in the US.
I didnt even know american endurance racing had a split 👀
IMSA and ALMS
@@thegreattreon0177 IMSA and Grand Am (ALMS was IMSA)
@@thegreattreon0177IMSA/ALMS (same org) and Grand-Am (NASCAR).
Same. I see ALMS on TV, never Grand Am. Just figured that IMSA morphed.
@@rapid13 i just tough ALMS just folded to become IMSA i didnt knew It was a unification and i know alot about motorsports LOL
Can you make video about history of German Touring Car Racing known as DTM.
He just did. Go to his home page.
@williamford9564 I have already watched the video already and I already saw it already.
Not really a Fan of Endurance Racing or have knowledge of it but Really ? I didn't know IMSA went through a lot like IndyCar
It's had some ups and downs for sure! It’s not quite the same as the split in IndyCar. Several different groups had different ideas on what endurance racing should be like, and there was a power vacuum in the 90s which led to two series.
@@JakeSimRacingEach series was 50% correct about what sports car racing should be. It just them too damn long to realize it.
@@FlashoftheBlades ALMS was the "correct" of the two since modern IMSA is very much ALMS in spirit and regs. Only things that really remain from Grand-Am are the D24 (which used to be an IMSA race before that so even that's not fully Grand-Am) and the 6 hours of the Glen.
@@kartaltoth684 Cost control was one of Grand-Am’s objectives, and there’s still some of that in current IMSA.
what is it with North American racing series and them splitting in the 1990s
Confusing and constant change of regulations after the death of GT1. It even happened in Europe as well where the prototype class was in shambles. No one really knew what to do until the factory efforts for prototype efforts post gt1 interested manufactures. They would start to bring much needed stimulation to the sport.
It was the style at the time, just like tying an onion to your belt. Now, to attend the race cost a nickle and in those days nickles had pictures of bumblebees on them. Give me five bees for a quarter you'd say. Now where were we? The important thing was I had an onion tied to my belt, as was the style at the time. We didn't have white onions because of the war, the only thing you could get were those big yellow ones...
It wasn't a "split". Don Panoz created the ALMS from scratch and adopted the ACOs regulations for his US based racing. The cars in IMSA were ineligible to run in the ACO races like LeMans without significant costly modifications that the car owners and manufacturers were unwilling to do.
@@williamford9564 Yes thank you for the clarification. I’m very rusty on the topic
@@williamford9564 When did IMSA categories stop being allowed to run at Le Mans? _It looks like it was 1995._
The Porsche 961 was entered as an IMSA GTX car in 1987, rather than under FIA Group B.
Sim racing is the #1 reason this series has survived.
This maybe a subtle detail but I prefer the numbers painted on the cars as part of the livery rather than stuck on as an afterthought.
Grand Am sucked. ALMS was the future. Thank god they consolidated into IMSA.
it was originally the tudor imsa championship.
They should take up the old name - could call it the "WeatherTech - IMSA GT Championship"
Only when they replace GT3 with something more like GTO and GTU.
The Ford vs Chevy rivalry in IMSA GTD could possibly more iconic than Ford vs Ferrari...
IMSA finally has succumbed to the nascar FCY… racing this last season were too many cautions for too many laps
I used to love watching IMSA on ESPN as a kid in the 80's, it was great. I wish I could watch it now as they have great racing but they have a horrible TV deal and it's mostly commercials. I've been watching F1 and WEC races for years commercial free and can't stand them.
The FIA did, and is doing, a truly remarkable job rebuilding sports car racing and bringing the top manufacturers in racing to their WEC series. This is the FIA’s success.
IMSA’s only success is in ceding to FIA, hoping some of the manufacturers of WEC come to America (not enough have to say doing a good job here,) and giving IMSA teams opportunity to race in some WEC events.
The sports car resurgence is an FIA success story; not an IMSA one.
Someone should do a video on Andy Evans.
That guy was pretty interesting for sure
@@JakeSimRacing I still come accross Andy Evans sucks shirts on Ebay from time to time hahaha.
Who owns the Pirelli World Challenge? Isn’t that a separate sports car series?
PWC used to be SCCA owned before it went to USAC for a single season before Ratel set his sight on the American market and bought it (after which he reorganized the entire thing leaving bacially nothing of the original PWC setup)
Yes, it is, albeit now named GT World Challenge America.
IMSA is still well behind Indycar in terms of TV ratings and attendance though
That’s what happens when you decide to turn right…
Both are minor series.
Grand-Am had much better racing for many years. Also, their initial concept of DPs being exaggerated versions of GT cars (like the Porsche-Fabcar having 911-esque features) is still a great template that should be way more popular.
The current "hypercars" and "LMDh cars" all look generic AF except maybe the Toyota. You pain them all black, show them to random people and NO ONE will guess the manufacturer correctly. Meanwhile, Grand-Am had the Porsche-Fabcar, Corvette DP and a couple more.
Indycar hasnt seen growth? What
So, basically NASCAR saved IMSA?
IMSA is not the "Greatest Sports Car" series Minor National Series at best.
I truly think WEC and IMSA should merge.
They've aligned the Classes thru Technical Spec's > so they have, aside from the names
No, IMSA is not an endurance series per sé. It has also shorter races. Some races are GT's only (Mosport 2024 afaik). WEC is a world championship. Also to be eligiable for IMSA, the regulations have different rules than to be eligiable for the WEC.
At least the schedules have very little conflict with each other. Personally, I think it would be cool to see WEC teams challenge IMSA’s endurance races. Daytona and Sebring in particular would be excellent warmup acts for WEC teams as they prepare for their upcoming season.
Grand Am was the worst ever.
and now we have crap road racing....chev has heavy pull.... 45 min full course cautions for minor things.... class split restarts all to get that fake "after six hours look how close it is" finish. WWE racing
agreed. Sadly it infects other sports car racing too.