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Nate1977

Nate1977

UNIMPEACH CHAD
Joined
Sep 12, 2016
Messages
2,527
Location
Lancaster/Lebanon PA
Anyone know what is going on here?
Three different classes it looks like. (P, GTLM and GTD.
Are all classes competing against all classes or are they competing only against their own class?
 
A little from Column A... a little from Column B.

They are all on the track at the same time in an endurance race. There are different classes, as you noted, and each class is contested inside the event. All classes compete for "overall winner", though you can probably count on your scrotum how many times it's been something other than a prototype car in the current series configuration.

Sports Car racing (what this type of auto racing is known as) has been very disoriented the last decade, or so, changing series name, class configuration, title sponsors, rules and pretty much everything else you can think of. IMSA has several different sub-series under its banner, but it was the WeatherTech Sports Car Series on today from Laguna Seca. There are probably less than 15 races a year, ranging from 6 to 24 hour endurance races. In the U.S., the Rolex 24 at Daytona is probably the biggest race of the season for IMSA, but the FIA 24 Hours of Le Mans in France is goal for many of the teams. Some of the teams treat the IMSA season as one big warm up and test session for Le Mans.

I'm not going to pretend to know everything about all the different sub-series within IMSA, but there's actually some really good racing that goes on. I want to make it to the Rolex 24 one of these years, but would have to decide between the Rolex, F1 US Grand Prix, or Indianapolis... and I'm just not ready to make that sort of emotional decision. :D
 
Thank you Kann, Yes was the Weathertech only looked it up cause of Castroneves , since Roger got him over there from Indy.(which both are owners of where my wife works). Helio did say he will be running the Indianapolis 500 going for a 4th Indy 500 win.
Sucked Taylor getting taken out in the last minutes.
 
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I was bummed when Penske replaced JPM in the 2 with Josef Newgarden. Then the kid went and won a championship his first year in the seat. Can't complain. Then I was bummed that The Captain sent Helio to Sports Cars with JPM in order to have names to attract sponsors, though he decided to not enter a 4th car in VICS this season. Hopefully Helio can get number four before he calls it a career. Funny thing (in an unfunny way) is that Helio was never supposed to drive for Roger in any capacity. He only got the call when Greg Moore was killed at Fontana in '99 in his last race for Team Kool Green before moving over to Penske the next season, and Penske test driver Gonzalo Rodriguez was killed in a testing accident --coincidentally to this thread -- at Laguna Seca.
 
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American open wheel racing was incredible in the 80s and early 90s, and then the CART/IRL split happened, and it seemed that along with the teams, fans took sides, as well. Due to living around the world and lack of coverage, I kind of fell out of touch with it for a while, but really got back into IRL (Indy Racing League) around 2006, or so. The series' have merged, and the racing is better than it's been in a long time, though the following will never be what it was. I have been to several IndyCar races at Texas, Nashville (when they used to race there), Iowa, and then finally the Indianapolis 500 in 2016 for the 100th running. Hoping to go back for Indy next year, too. It's really between that and the F1 US Grand Prix at COTA in Austin, TX. We'll see...

I'll have to go and look up who Helio was going to drive for. I think he may have been set for another season in 3000, or Indy Lights, or whatever junior series it was back then. I honestly don't remember. More useless trivia: Greg Moore broke his hand the day before the race in a paddock bike (scooter) accident, and wasn't even supposed to be in the race at Fontana when he was killed. He was advised not to race, but did so, anyway. Doubtful that contributed, but just one of those "what if" things.

I love all forms of auto racing, but really gravitate to IndyCar and Formula 1. I grew up on NASCAR in Pennsylvania where I used to go to Pocono, but I haven't followed that in quite a while.
 
We went to Pocono indy race 2 years ago and again this ,didn't go last year due to wife had surgery. Imagine we will go again next year.
 
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