The International Motor Sports Association, IMSA, is doing everything right as the racing season kicks into gear across the motorsports world. The racing is outstanding. The finishes are unpredictable, and there is no one dominant team. Add to the fact that it’s not just concentrated to one class. It is the same in all four classes. The race this past weekend in Sebring was that the proof is in the pudding.
IMSA is like no other American motorsport. It doesn’t have a spec chassis or spec motor. It sports multiple chassis/engine combinations and multiple manufacturers. Porsche, Acura, Cadillac, BMW and now Lamborghini are all well represented in the GTP category. Other categories include LMP2, GTD and GTD Pro. For the overall win in the 58 car field of the 72nd 12 Hours of Sebring was the Acura team of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport. It’s driver, Louis Deletraz finished only .891 seconds over Sebastien Bourdais in the Cadillac of Chip Ganassi Racing. Twelve grueling hours on the hot and bumpy 3.74 mile race track. Built at an old military airbase, the track consists of both asphalt and concrete sections. Let’s reiterate that the winning margin was less than one second.
The finishes in the other categories were just as close. The LMP2 division had the largest margin of victory at 1.127 seconds. Seventeen year old phenom Conner Zilisch helped his Era Motorsport team take the class win. Zilisch also won at the Rolex Daytona 24. He is currently under contract with Trackhouse Motorsport & he recently signed a four race deal to drive in the Xfinity Series for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsport.
It was Philip Ellis who took the class win by .646 seconds for Winward Racing in the GTD division. The closest finish of all the divisions was in the GTD Pro category. Former Indycar driver Jack Hawksworth was able to take the class win for Vasser Sullivan.
The IMSA Series also makes sure that race fans get their monies worth over any race weekend. The have a spectacular variety of support series, and they all produce some pretty exciting races; Porsche Carrera Cup, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series, Michelin Pilot Series and the Mazda MX-5 Series were all on the docket at Daytona and Sebring.
What is it that IMSA is doing right? Their first two races were endurance races of 24 and 12 hours respectively and both races reported record crowds. The organization also has manufacturers and car owners from other forms of motorsport looking to join the series. In fact, there are no gimmicks, like stage racing and the manufacturers in the GTP Series are free to create their own original design. Sure Sebring had concerts on Thursday and Friday nights of their event, but it was more of an added bonus for the fans. It wasn’t some marketing ploy to get fans to the racetrack which is what Indycar does at their event at Iowa Speedway.
Maybe IMSA has tapped into a new original idea that the other racing series hasn’t figured out. Give the race fans new cars and multiple manufacturers involved. Let the manufacturers create their own design. Let the drivers race all out till the checkered flag falls. There is no break after so many laps and there is no real fuel strategy instituted. Not only that, once the clock ticks down to zero don’t add time to the end of the race just to ensure that it finishes under green. Also, don’t throw a random red flag if there is any type of incident that occurs near the end of the race.
Overall, IMSA just does it right. They have pure racing from pure racing cars. That formula must be working because the fans are coming out in droves. They also don’t need to add big celebrities to wave the green flag, or bring in popular musical acts. Fans show up at the race track, watch drivers put on a spectacular show, and fans go home happy. It’s a formula that has worked for years. Let’s not water down the event, or make the event play second to some concert. If you have a great racing product you don’t need those distractions. Your product can sustain itself on its own. IMSA has it figured out. Let’s hope those other racing series in America figure that out too.