ALMS, Grand-Am to Merge for 2014 Season

Jason Siu
by Jason Siu

The biggest news in motorsports this weekend is not the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix or NASCAR, but reports that the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series will merge shortly, combining both series under a single race banner.

The combining of the two storied race series will most likely begin for the 2014 season, though details of the merger are unclear at the moment. It would appear however that Grand-Am will be acting as the sanctioning body of the combined series. Either way, it will be exciting racing as a blend of existing classes between ALMS and the Rolex Series starts to take the track in a couple of years.

Confirmation of the merger is expected to come next week in Daytona, Florida. It’s certainly a huge move by both series and will undoubtedly help general race enthusiasts to easily follow one series rather than two that often have overlaps in both race teams and drivers.

[Source: SPEED]

Jason Siu
Jason Siu

Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.

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  • VADOC VADOC on Sep 04, 2012

    Hi, I will respectively disagree, I think a lot will depend upon the relationship with the ACO. For example, Pratt and Miller builds cars to win LeMans, if the do, GM has a media blitz and more Corvettes are sold, Any wins in the US are just icing on the cake, and the ALMs could be viewed as one long test session. It is unlikely that a US team will build a car for one race, ie LeMans, and spend the rest of the season campaining a car that can only be run in a Grand-Am rules enviornment. For me the attraction of sports car racing is innovation and technology, that translates into improvement of road cars, for example disc brakes and tire pressure sensors. Although spec series are good for cost containment ( and I do run a spec series car in club racing), it does stifle innovation..One of the primary reasons I enjoy Sebring and Petit LeMans is the involvement of European teams, We get to see OAK and Rebellion in the US, although I have heard WEC will not include Sebring next year. As the week progesses we will learn more however i hope the merger does not lead to a downward spiral , with less factory involvement and delay of innovation. Thanks

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