American sports car racing’s premiere series today announced the merger
of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series into a unified
series in '14. The name and branding of the combined series are still
being determined, as are the specifics of its '14 schedule. The first
combined season will open with the Rolex 24 at Daytona followed by 12
Hours of Sebring. The series will be run by a new BOD led by Grand-Am
Founder Jim France, who will serve as Chair, and ALMS Founder Don Panoz,
who will serve as Vice Chair. The two founders began discussing a
merger six months ago and agreed with a handshake during a round of
golf. During a press conference announcing the merger, France read a
quote given by his father, Bill France Sr., the day after NASCAR was
formed, and compared that historic moment to the Grand-Am-ALMS merger.
ALMS CEO Scott Atherton said that the combined series will pull from the
best of what the Grand-Am and ALMS have done well in years past.
Atherton: "You're going to see the best and the brightest. The best
practices, best procedures of both series. ... It’s truly going to be a
best-of-the-best example." Though many of the details of the new series,
from schedule to competitive class structure to technical rules, still
need to be worked out, motorsports marketing experts already were
heralding it as a positive move. JMI CEO Zak Brown said, “This is a
great change for sports car racing. The schedule will get an immediate
bump. They can get a better TV deal. While both were struggling
independently, you mash them together and you’ll have a starting grid
with lots of teams. The manufacturers are excited. There’s still a lot
of work to do, but it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.” Other board
members of the new series include Atherton, NASCAR Vice Chair Lesa
France Kennedy, Grand-Am CEO Ed Bennett and NASCAR VP Karen Leetzow.
Grand-Am and ALMS will run independently in '13.
