March 20, 2011
By Brenda Benedict
I am attending the 12 Hours of Sebring Race this week in Sebring, Florida. This is the 59th running at the historic raceway which was begun on Hendricks Field, an Air Force base during World War II that was abandoned and put to use as both a local airport and a racetrack in the early 1950’s.
I can’t help but make constant comparisons between the American Le Mans Series running here and NASCAR which is my first love and where I’ve been writing for the past three years.
There are many drivers who have driven in NASCAR as well as the 12 Hours of Sebring. According to the Sebring International Raceway website “Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte and Joe Nemacheck are some of the NASCAR drivers have competed at Sebring. Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have tested at Sebring. NASCAR legends Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Bobby Allison also raced at Sebring.”
This year Robertson Racing has recruited NASCAR driver Colin Braun to fill out the team for their second car entered in the GT class. Braun was a rising star in NASCAR before having a difficult year in 2010 losing his ride with Roush Racing when a decision was made to focus on other drivers in their Nationwide effort.
This brings me to a major difference between the two series.
In American Le Mans racing at Sebring there are six classes of cars. But the interesting aspect is that all the cars race at the same time. As a member of the Jaguar RSR team explained “This complicates the race for the drivers.” It would be similar to having a race where there are go-carts, souped-up golf carts and bicycles all racing at the same time. This is difficult for the drivers but is a bonus for fans. There is something for everyone.
The main divisions or classes are prototype cars and GT cars. Prototype cars are specially built models for racing while GT cars are moderately modified and share many similarities to the showroom models for each manufacturer. There are also the Challenge class for Prototype and GT in which the drivers share identical cars.
There is an overall winner and also winners in each class.
At the 12 Hours of Sebring, drivers complete a 3.7 mile circuit while fans stand at many vantage points, sometimes far from the voice of the announcer. All cars have lights which indicate the first through third positions. So even if you are out in the back stretch, you know which cars are placing in 1st – 3rd spot by looking at the lights just in front of the rear tire on the right side of the car.
I found it helpful to think in NASCAR terms. The 12 Hours of Sebring has their multiple series champion: their Jimmie Johnson. Tom Kristensen from Denmark has won the race five times. Kristensen is looking to continuing his streak with a win again this year.
There is even a Mark Martin type racer here. Greg Pickett. He took the LMP2 class (Prototype) last year which was 22 years after his first class win at Sebring.
This year they honored a popular driver, Bob Wellek, with a moment of silence in his memory. He was killed 10 years ago this week in a bicycle accident near the Sebring International Raceway.
There did not appear to be the love for the drivers in ALMS that I see in NASCAR. We love our favorite drivers.
Here are other differences that I see.
Lastly and probably least important is my experience as a member of the press at the Sebring International Raceway. There were no free meals offered me as is standard at the NASCAR races I have covered. There was a difference in how media is treated based on their media outlet. This is probably true in most sports but I have never found it to be true in NASCAR. I was treated the same as the ESPN or the Fox Sports writers both in access to facilities, data about the race and the all-important meals that are served for media throughout the days building up to the race.
I know that it is unusual to discuss ALMS in a NASCAR website but I feel that would be value in cooperation between the two series. After all both series have the same basic needs. There are manufactures and other product providers who are trying to showcase their products in an effort to get the public to purchase their products. Then there are the sponsors who want their names shown to as many people as possible. The drivers in each series have the same basic goal: to drive fast and pass all the other drivers. Finally there are the fans. We want to see a good show.
Now that I’ve been to both NASCAR and ALMS, I see that there are some aspects of providing for the needs of all the stakeholders at which each series excels.
What would it hurt to have some synergy between NASCAR and ALMS?
You can follow me at Twitter @nascarfaithful
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
