rolex car count

[DavePI2]

Has anyone but myself noticed the car count dropping with the dp's? Does anyone know what the reason is? I know most other series are having the same problem with car counts but it always seemed that the rolex series was the only one that was immune to this. There were only 17 dp's for the Iowa race. At this race there will be more prototypes in ALMS then Rolex before long.

David

[harvick#1]

I've got to think Sponsorship, very few people even know Grand Am exists anymore.

[FormerFF]

I've got to think Sponsorship, very few people even know Grand Am exists anymore.

I don't think it's so much a loss of interest as much as the interest never having been there.

It seems to me that the attrition has been mostly in the teams that were sponsored by their drivers. I think that it is a natural progression whenever a new series is born, that there are a lot of teams that are optimistic about their chances in the new series, then come to realize just how hard it is to be competitive, and eventually drop out. I think the ALMS had that happen a few years ago, but now with Porsche and Acura joining Audi and Corvette as competitors, the teams now entering have a pretty good idea just how tough it is. Will Grand Am see the same upswing in a few years? Not unless they are able to raise the commercial value of the series.

[IMSAFAN1]

Outside of the 24 hour race..car count hasn't really changed. The contenders are still there running a full season. The only car running without any sponsorship is the Jim Mathews car. They've always had around 17 to 20 cars at every event. Just a question here.....who went to the IOWA race? From the looks of it there wasn't any spectators. Also the drivers think that the track was a mickey mouse design. Almost like Phoenix. The transition from the infield to the oval needs to be more gentle.

[grassrootsracer]

I know Finlay Motorsports dropped out, but that wasn't due purely to sponsor issues. That accounts for one or two cars. The entry list for the Porsche 250 at Barber stands at seventeen cars as well. (Hopefully it stays around that number, as I'll be there next weekend)

[grassrootsracer]

Although, I believe that chassis is now in posession of Chip Ganassi, so that should even things out a bit.

[FormerFF]

Last year at the Barber race, there were 23 DP finishers. This year there are 17 starters expected. I'd say that 17 is significantly less than 23.

[Danske]

Things are a little stagnant right now because of the status quo not being static for '08. Grand-Am is allowing all the DP constructors to take a second cut at bodywork for '08, letting in Sabre as a new constructor, and allowing existing constructors to transfer their licenses to other parties. The last has already resulted in Multimatic giving their license to a collaboration between Lola and Krohn, and Doran has been talking with Dallara. They're also allowing engine manufacturers to submit unique bodywork for 08 to be used with one particular chassis; for example, Ford could design (or commission the design of) bodywork for a Ford-powered Lola/Krohn DP and have it be designated as simply the "Ford DP". You can bet any potential new teams are waiting to see how everything shapes up in 08. The usual turnover of some teams leaving and new teams coming in is a little low on the new team end right now. And any change makes existing car owners unhappy, nervous, and tight with money.

The Trans-Am teams that were around last year, Cytosport, Rocketsport, and Derhaag, managed only one top-ten finish, a tenth, among the three of them, and are gone this year; just to touch on the area of teams possibly finding the waters deeper than expected.

Howard motorsports also had their season scuttled by their Rolex 24 package being shot down at the late date of November (the rumors were split whether it was the ALMS or Honda/Acura who insisted that Danica Patrick not drive in the Rolex 24; you can go read DC William's account [1] and Howard-Boss's press release [2] on that subject right on this site), and Crawford is focusing their resources on preparing for '08 right now.

So things will be some different in '08 and everything's a little more uncertain than usual in racing, but a few current one-car teams have been talking about expanding to two cars (and both SunTrust and Sigalsport have expanded their operations), Sabre should also show up with a couple of their new DPs, and a couple engine manufacturers may take advantage of the "engine specific" bodywork option. That's not to be making a hard prediction that things will dramatically pick-up next year, but the reasons things are a little slow this year are also reasons why things could be different next year. (Oh, and I suppose some more teams could drop out before being replaced as everything continues to shake-out after the changes, but back when the DP class was first introduced there were only four regular DP entries throughout the season and they came back from that.)

Oh, regarding Finlay, I believe Rob Finlay himself still owns the car now being run by Ganassi, and he and Valiante are still driving it (finished 2nd at Iowa to the Ganassi car driven by Pruett and Rojas).

[1] http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...392&FS=GRANDAM
[2] http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...831&FS=GRANDAM

[racefanfromnj]

well said sir

[NYCracer]

well just to throw in my two cents you guys can count on one more team in the Rolex GT series for next year as I am contracted to buy a 2008 GT3 Cup car. Anyone looking for a car to sponsor?