Racing Journal (This time for sure) 1-27-14

“So why do they race for 24 hours?  Because they can?”  This was the response from a co-worker when I’d mentioned that I was planning on watching the 24 Hours of Daytona race.  Funny.  I’d never actually questioned why people race for 24 hours.  Perhaps this is a unique insight on the human condition.  Perhaps this activity is completely foolish, and I am an even bigger fool for wasting my time watching it. 

Nah.  That girl just needs to watch a race, then she’ll understand.

Yes, here I am, finally getting to it, the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona.  This is the inaugural race of the new Tudor United Sportscar Championship.  USC?  Hmmm.  Or is it called something else?  It’s actually administered under IMSA which runs their website.  Obviously their first problem has to do with multiple acronyms.  At least, they walked away from their initial ISCAR moniker.  The second problem is that I have no idea what IMSA stands for.  I’m not entirely sure what NASCAR stands for, but at least it sounds better.  I also don’t know what the Tudor company sells, so their title sponsorship has been wasted to this point.

67 cars started the race.  There are four classes simultaneously racing out on track: the Prototype class or the ugly cars (formerly called Daytona Prototypes), the Prototype Challenge class or the better-looking prototypes (formerly LMP2), the GT class (err. . . Sportscars), and the GT Daytona class (umm. . . More sportscars).  It probably would have taken the Fox crew about two minutes to comfortably explain each class.  Unfortunately they only took 30 seconds.  I’m not an expert on this form of racing, and after watching the two-hour broadcast, I’m still not one. 

I’m not kidding about the ugly Daytona Prototypes.  Go back and look at that promotional image.  There’s a Viper, an Audi, and an Aston Martin.  There’s no DP’s in that picture for a reason. 

(Shudder.)  I can’t believe Corvette (or any other car brand) actually allows their name to be put on these things.  As hard as it is to believe, the DP’s are actually looking better than used to be.      

The formerly awesome Delta Wing car now has a top over the cockpit.  It looks like the bastard love child of a DP and the Batmobile.  I blame Grand Am’s influence in the newly merged series for this atrocity. 

Before merger.

After merger.

The Le Mans Prototypes seemed to now be limited to a Spec class (everyone running identical cars). 

I did see a very cool-looking Mazda Prototype in the Le Mans fashion out there racing.

 But no Audi R10’s (or whatever number they’re on).

Much less a Bentley Speed 8.

Or a Penske Porsche Spyder.

I’ve read that the DP’s were all significantly upgraded via rules mandate with the merger.  The LMP’s were not, and thus were essentially downgraded as the premier class.  Certainly in the early going of the race the LMP’s didn’t look good.  They were involved in several crashes and spinouts. 

I don’t know where either Prototype class is going at this point.  The DP’s just need to either go away or start looking like LMP’s.  Hey, they don’t race DP’s at Le Mans for a reason.  They don’t want their race to look bad.  Yeah, it’s a race, but on some level it is a beauty contest too.  That’s the selling point of sportscar racing. 

Much of the early coverage unfortunately focused on the DP’s, thus surely scaring away many viewers.  This is too bad, because later on, the coverage wisely started showing off the glamour cars racing.  There were Corvettes, Aston Martins, Ferraris, Porsches, and those beautiful Vipers from the promo images, all racing close and hard against each other. 

If you could get a few more high-end brands and cars together, you could have a series with just them (actually, that’s probably been done).  Maybe some penalty weight or something to equalize the cars a bit, grab a couple of big name drivers (even if they’re past their prime), a good promotional campaign and some decent TV coverage, and I think you’ve got one hell of a racing product.  I don’t think I’m speaking for myself when I say that I get downright giddy seeing these kind of cars race.  F1, IRL, and NASCAR are simply not as relatable and cool as seeing a Corvette out on track.

The coverage included a couple of interviews.  Patrick Dempsey, of course, got some airtime.  He’s definitely the biggest potential draw to people who aren’t racing fans (and he is a serious racer).  They also talked to Dario Franchitti, who’s rehabbing career-ending injuries from an IRL wreck last year.  Now he’s in a “leadership” role with Ganassi.  Not that I know him well, but Dario just seemed like a totally different person.  He was so relaxed and at peace.  I’d hate to say that an accident was good for him, but he seems like a much happier person.  (I’m becoming increasingly afraid Michael Schumacher is unlikely to have similar happy ending.)

As for the Fox race coverage, it was abominable.  Of course this is mostly because Kelli Stavast wasn’t there, but perhaps that’s not the most professional or universal opinion.  There was no pre-race.  The coverage pretty much started with the race.  This is one time where a little extra time would have been useful.  They could have introduced people to the sport and the concept of the multiple classes.  They could have given a little history and talked about the merger.  Introduced some the drivers who were there from other series and the favorites in the field.  Granted over the course of the entire broadcast (I think most of the race was on TV) this stuff would be covered, but in little scattered pieces.  On the Fox broadcast, they should have been selling the series to the curious onlookers, not just the hardcore fans. 

Given the size of the field, following the action was difficult, but that was to be expected.  This may be another tacky opinion, but the commercials were also generally not as classy and cool as the ALMS ones were.  The commentators mentioned the large crowd there.  It might have been a good idea to have shown them, since they were in the infield and most of the shots of the race only showed fairly sparse attendance in the stands.  I’ve been told the crowds for these kind of races and essentially giant all-night parties, another missed opportunity to sell the sport by not showing it. 

I invested two hours in watching the race and however long it took to write this.  Peter De Lorenzo probably put a little more time into it and certainly knows more than I do.  You can read his column for the results and some rather pointed and informed opinions about the race.  (What can I say?  I’m not over the “squee!” factor of watching cool, expensive sportscars hitting each other out on track.)

http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/2014/1/27/the-nascar-ization-of-major-league-sports-car-racing-a-bitte.html

In spite of the complaints, I really hope I’ll get to see some more USC or whatever they’re going to call themselves.  The sportscars are still cool to watch, even with a few ugly vehicular creatures out there with them.  I suspect most of the schedule will be on Fox Sports 1, and I’ll miss those races.  Any further posts on this subject will bear the IMSA tag, I guess, until something better comes up.