Went to Grand Am race @ Road Atlanta

[FormerFF]

This was my first visit to a Grand Am race. I'd never mustered up the energy to go see them in Birmingham, but since they were at Road Atlanta, I went on up. I saw most of the Continental Tire race, which most of the participants seem to have mistaken for a demolition derby. Not surprisingly, it ended under yellow.

For some reason, I suspect TV scheduling, the Rolex series race didn't start until two and a half hours after the end of the Continental Tire race. I used that time to walk around the paddock and look at the Grand Am cars. From what I'd seen on TV, the Daytona Prototype cars looked overly large, slab sided, and kind of blocky, and the GT cars looked like street cars with small add on fender flares and more spoilers. In person in the paddock, the DPs looked large, slab sided, and blocky, and the GT cars looked like lowered street cars with add on fender flares, and more spoilers. That's not surprising considering they are mostly prepped to GT3 standards.

There were 13 DPs, 12 GTs, and 3 GTX cars, which is an experimental catch-all class. They're also fairly slow, five seconds or so per lap slower than the GT class. Once the race got started, the DPs divided themselves into three groups: Those in front, those who were in the second pace, and two cars that probably deserved to be black flagged for being so far off of the pace. The GT battle was a group of four or five cars, with another gaggle not too far off of the pace, and a couple of stragglers. On this day, the Ganassi car had half a second on the field, which pretty well removed the suspense from that race. The GT race was better, and wasn't really decided until 20 minutes or so from the end when the Brumos car pitted.

Speaking of Brumos, I understand that their season is done. That's rather sad, as they've held a streak of being in every Grand Am race so far, and will diminish a somewhat sparse GT field.

Attendance was probably fairly good for a standalone Grand Am race, with a crowd maybe a third of the size of the one that shows up for the Petit LeMans. I had run a 5K footrace in the morning, and so I bought a parking pass to bring my car in to the infield. I was able to park pretty much at any turn, which would never happen at the PLM. I don't usually bother to get a parking pass for that race since I wouldn't get there early enough to find a parking space. The atmosphere was somewhat lacking. There are no manufacturer displays, and both paddocks seemed a little empty. The track announcer that Grand Am used was terrible, first saying that the race was going to be 3 hours and 40 minutes,and then saying something about today's race at "Road America". MRN handled the race broadcast, and they did a decent job, though they're still a little NASCAR besotted. One of them kept referring to one DP car being right on another's rear bumper, a part that no prototype carries.

Still, it was an enjoyable afternoon, but I can see how it is that Grand Am doesn't have much of a fanbase. There's just nothing there that inspires passion.

[LotusF1]

Funny you'd say that because I am starting to like this series the most. I like race cars that more resemble a car I could have on the street, and Grand Am racing reminds me more of the racing years ago for some reason.

[FormerFF]

Now that you mention it, Grand Am reminds me very much of Camel GT from the 70's. At that time it was mostly lightly modified street cars, and the beginnings of the prototype classes. The prototypes were along the same lines as today's DP class.

[zako85]

What I don't like about Grand Am GT class racing is that rules are very inconsistent. I always view GT racing as the racing based on modified production cars, homologated in some ways. However, in GrandAm, it seems like some cars are based on production cars (Porsche, Ferrari), and then there are some others that have nothing to do with production car. They showed the stripped down chases on Camaros on TV. It's basically a purpose built racing chases based on a tube frame with some body work panels attached to it. Camaro road cards are drag racers that can't compete with Porsches and Ferraris on a track, yet rules are bent and twisted to bring a purpose build "Camaro" racer to compete with real GT cars.

[LotusF1]

Wouldnt that because the Camaros are a different class perhaps?

[zako85]

Wouldnt that because the Camaros are a different class perhaps?

No, that was the GT class Camaro. I also hear it uses Corvette engine. So except for the looks, it has nothing to do with Camaro. It's a silhouette car, they didn't even bother to install headlights. Instead a headlight is painted like on Nascar cars.

[LotusF1]

Thanks for that info. I was not aware.

[Jag_Warrior]

In the beginning, the only series I disliked more than Grand Am was the IRL. Now I've become something of a Grand Am fan. I like the looks of the new DP cars. And I like the new engine configurations. The competition is hot & heavy (and they now keep it clean). So I'm very much looking forward to the next Grand Am race that I can attend. Right now, it's my favorite North American series.

P.S. My greatest hope is that Tata Motors will fund a Jaguar DP in the next year or two. Paulie G., get some space ready in the RocketSports shop!

[LotusF1]

A Jag in the lineup would be great. I owned a beat up XJ 6 years ago. I was a piece of scrap, but the smoothest car I've ever driven.

[FormerFF]

Yeah, usually the DP cars have a good race. On that particular day, the Ganassi car was just faster, and sometimes that happens.