Questions?

[spiritone]

When (champcar -Cart, all the same to me) was at it's most popular and expanding to different countries the biggest detractors were the americans on this forum. Having races outside the country still seems to be a problem on this forum. Why is it that many of you american fans are fixated on homegrown races and against expanding your series. It always puzzles me that in a country that has the highest tech military hardware seems to enjoy low tech series and 1 chassis series. The best part about the cart (champcar) series was the diversity of the engines,chassis,tracks,and drivers. Somehow that offended tony and his followers who thought everything should be homegrown. Why was it that chev and ford didn't want to compete against the raising tide of foreign competitors? Why when america was the leader of high tech it didn't want to compete in a growing series that could have competed against F1? Why is it that once again the indy car series has opted to operate as a reltive low tech series? I know everyone will come back with the excuse that there is no money to go high tech. Sorry that doesn't really wash when football, baseball, and even our national game hockey seems to have no problem finding fans and money. So once again it gets down to the fact that maybe its the people that are running the series that are doing a poor job of selling the series and running the series.


Think about this. How long do have before the naturally asperated motor is history. Will open wheel be able to regain it's popularity before the engines are extinct? With the people that are running the show right now the odds are very long. I think the split may have damaged the sport beyond repair. The demise of the champcar series did not gain the fans that tony counted on it only widened the rift. The new vision for the series is struggling to get converts, is it to late?

When you look at F1 now and think that america could have had a series to rival it, what a missed opportunity. Yes i know Nascar is the biggest car racing series in america right now which only reinforces my puzzlement why americans are so insular? Why no teams in F1 where you could show off your grasp of high tech, you can master stealth but can't beat the world in the most high tech series?


Well, there are all my questions. I am sure their will be some interesting answers.

[Easy Drifter]

I am not going to add much to what Starter said.
The Hulman family had always run the Indy 500 the way they wanted. They almost always had some different rules than whatever sanctioning body put on the race wether it was AAA, USAC, or CART.
Tony wanted to expand that control to all major open wheel racing so when he could not gain control of CART he started his own series.
Originally it was supposed to be all oval, all US drivers etc. That did not work and it became basically all non US from engines to chassis. Less and less US or even Cdn. drivers.
Rebuilding is going to be tough and crappy TV packages do not help. Versus in the US. Up here the races are on the CTV network on their TSN stations but the majority are shown on TSN2 which has very limited subscribers. Most people do have TSN in their package but not 2.

[Enjun Pullr]

That's quite a spirited pant load.

IndyCar has been asking overseas manufacurers, hat in hand, to offer suitable turbocharged engines for the past 2 1/2 years. In the case of their sole supplier, IndyCar is only too happy to disrupt their domestic schedule by packing up the whole circus and flying to Japan.

If Vauxhall elected to subsidize the supply of GM Ectotec 2.0L turbo engines,
you think IndyCar would turn them down? I doubt it. And I doubt there would be any reluctance to pack up the circus and fly it to Australia to show off the product.

A pant load of money is what is missing. B.S. we got plenty of, thanks. Most of it is domestic, but we are treated to some fine imported stock on a regular basis.

[beachbum]

If you look at racing as sports entertainment, the only question becomes - what draws people to watch your entertainment? Is it high tech? In today's world, I just don't think that is much of a draw as technology has become mostly "blackbox" technology where the average person doesn't care what in in the box.

ALMS is high tech and while it is very interesting, the cost is too high and the fields in the "tech" classes are very small and dependent on the vagaries of manufacturer's advertising budgets. Fans complain about the big 2 in Indy Car, but in ALMS only Audi and Peugeot have a chance at a win. The privateers pick up the scraps if the "big boys" aren't there or stumble badly. As a "techy" I like watching an Audi or Peugeot, but the real racing is in the production based classes.

IMHO, the key is people. People watch other people doing well. If the choice was between watching McNish in an Audi sedan or some unknown in a prototype, I am more interested in McNish. Look at any stick and ball sport sport. The talk is about how this top player is doing, if they will change the balance of power, and what they are doing off the field (not always laudatory). Will Randy Moss put more butts in a seat or eyes on a screen that some unknown rookie? Sure, because he is a "personality". Look at "Schumi" in F1. A lot of his fans who screamed for him in a red Ferrari still wave the flag at his silver Mercedes. He is the draw - not the car.

Indy car hasn't down a good job of developing "personalities". Mention "Jr" or "Smoke", or heck even "little gator" and many in the general public know who they are and can talk about their latest results. Even car owners and crew chiefs are celebrities in NASCAR. Other than "Danica" and maybe "Helio", many people have no clue who the drivers are in Indy Car. Where are they in advertisements? Except for Danica, no where. The public can't make a personal connection and cheer for their favorite "driver". Of course, with the yearly musical chairs with ride buyers, the members of the play are constantly changing, but it that a cause or a symptom?

IMHO, until the people of Indy Car become more visible and promoted, all of the other stuff isn't going to save the day.

[Mark in Oshawa]

All this talk of Americans not appreciating anything foreign is a misnomer. There is an segment for sure that wants American drivers and would like all the racing on ovals, but as Tony George proved, there wasn't enough of those fans or drivers to support the series.

It is one of the great crimes of marketing and history that the split happened, but it did, and it was made moot when everyone was back in the fold 13 years later. We cannot get that time and momentum that was lost in 95 back by just pointing fingers.....

The reality is racing may be in a general decline in America, or is taking another form. The reality is Indycars have to base their future on a fiscally affordable form of OW racing (one that means you don't need to write 7 figure checks every week just to show up and compete) that has elements of what made Indy great (sleek and powerful cars that pushed technology) and just good racing. It also needs to be visible. The worst disaster of the last decade and a half is the reality that most of the races are on VS now....and the general decline of TV ratings and interest. TV is the only thing now that allows a series to be more than a regional thing.......and it was the one part of the puzzle most left to chance in the last 15 years....

[Chris R]

One of the reasons that CART as so "high tech" for a while is that the 980's and early 1990's saw the emergence of several different really "high tech" technologies at once that are now considered "low-tech".... Carbon Fiber and computer controls came into being in the 1980's and both CART and F1 implemented use almost immediately... While they were expensive, they were not THAT expensive... As many engineers will tell you (and NASCAR surely attests) - the mad money is not so much in new technology as it is in totally optimizing/exploiting existing technology..... There is really very little new under the sun in F-1 that is not in Indy car - it is just developed many stages beyond what is used in Indycar.... Yes, an F1 wing is way more developed - but to the average person it is still kinda cool that a car needs a wing to stay planted on the ground.....

One cannot argue that electronic fuel injection and overhead cam is more "high tech" than a carburetor and push rods - but I believe a sprint cup NASCAR engine probably costs very similar to an Indycar engine because they have invested tons of $$ in getting the last horsepower in a NASCAR motor.....

The other thing that has changed dramatically is that road car are now nearly as high tech as race car and in some cases more so - the bar to be "high tech" has been raised so high that it is really hard for any series to be "high tech" and affordable.....

[Enjun Pullr]

This one here from beachbum is the money line:

"In today's world, I just don't think that is much of a draw as technology has become mostly "blackbox" technology where the average person doesn't care what in in the box."

It speaks directly to one of the subjects that brought me here to chase down EAGLE EYE. Twenty chassis sensors = track data maps = shaker rig simulations = active shock testing = passive shock tuning = improved grip = lower lap times.

To benefit who? If there is greater speed differential between the cars racing at Mid-Ohio, I don't care if the lap times are all 2 seconds slower.

You only need DAGS and telemetry and the enormous costs of this development if you want them. Who needs all that unproductive investment to put on a good race?

[spiritone]

People don't care whats in the "blackbox". i would beg to differ. Check out all the high tech phones being bought. Everyone wants the latest toy. Technology is advancing at a hell of a rate. The fact of the matter is the teams will spend as much money as they have to get an edge.

On the matter of money. The recession didn't just hit america, but it hasn't stopped europeons from building more tracks or adding more series. Motorsport leaders here are just doing a bad job of selling racing.

Funny about the races in japan and brazil, they are two of the most successful races on the schedule. The race they cancelled in australia was almost as big as the indy 500. The point being that maybe expansion to the right markets is more important than trying to sell the product at home.

As far as NA engines being around for the foreseeable future, don't bet on it. If you look around how many hybrids on the road already and how fast that technology is advancing, look out.

[beachbum]

People don't care whats in the "blackbox". i would beg to differ. Check out all the high tech phones being bought. Everyone wants the latest toy. Technology is advancing at a hell of a rate. The fact of the matter is the teams will spend as much money as they have to get an edge.

On the matter of money. The recession didn't just hit america, but it hasn't stopped europeons from building more tracks or adding more series. Motorsport leaders here are just doing a bad job of selling racing.

Funny about the races in japan and brazil, they are two of the most successful races on the schedule. The race they cancelled in australia was almost as big as the indy 500. The point being that maybe expansion to the right markets is more important than trying to sell the product at home.

As far as NA engines being around for the foreseeable future, don't bet on it. If you look around how many hybrids on the road already and how fast that technology is advancing, look out.Your "blackbox" comment proves the point. Everyone wants the latest, but most of the people I know have no brand loyalty and don't care what is inside. Does anyone outside of a few techies know the internal differences between a Droid and an iPhone? They don't care what it "is" just what it "does". To many of my friends (I am in the computer industry) smart phones are an interesting mix of tool and entertainment with the "tool" part being the main attraction. If they didn't do more than old phones, the fact they are "high tech" would be meaningless.

As for Europeans spending money while sponsorship is hard to find in the US, you may be speaking more to cultural differences as well as the fact that there are so many places for companies to put money in the US. In some areas of the world, national pride is very big and governments provide some of the funding. In the US, the current trend is to move government out of funding and rely on private industry that only cares for the ROI. National pride doesn't figure in - just ask the members of US Olympic teams how much public finding is available for national pride. If an entertainment "product" doesn't generate income, not one invests in it.

Having been in racing, I know many of the challenges. "High tech" solves nothing beyond emptying the pockets quicker. The ones with the biggest pockets dominate as they can afford more of the "high tech" available. The end result is lots of money is spent for what result?

For Indy car to advance, it needs to develop a uniqueness - an identity. Technology is one way, but it isn't helping the health of ALMS. Grand-Am is just as healthy and it is relatively low tech. Contrary to the beliefs of some, NASCAR is very high tech, but I think what sells the sport are the people and personalities, not the hardware.

This is an argument that will go one forever as there aren't any good answers. Racing has always struggled to survive and the death of auto racing has been proclaimed many times in the past. Maybe someday all racing will be virtual or use AI (that is the intimate high tech), but will it still be racing? Racing has always been a man against man ("man" in the generic sense) competition. But should it be one engineer against another, or one driver against another? I may be old school, but I want to see driver vs driver.

[Enjun Pullr]

Spirit, NA is an abbreviation for Normally Aspirated. Any engine fitted with a turbocharger, like the 2012 Honda 2.4L V6 Indycar engine, is not an NA engine.

The race in Surfer's Paradise was discontinued primarily because of scheduling conflicts. IndyCar did not want to end their season offshore, or reorganize their other dates to accomodate the options that were offered. There was also some reluctance from the Australian government to subsidize the $20-$25M cost of bringing the circus to town.

Terry Angstadt has been working to secure a date for a race in China. Mainly because they have shown an interest in paying for one.

If cultivating American drivers is viewed as important to some, as it is to the Series management, then domestic sponsorship is imperative. There is far less incentive for companies with primarily U.S. customers to participate in a largely international series.

High tech gadgets are popular as "user interfaces" for their utility, not their circuitry. The utility of race cars is to stage good competition, with or without strain gauges monitoring loads on suspension pull rods.

"Motorsport leaders here are just doing a bad job of selling racing."

I couldn't agree more.

"The fact of the matter is the teams will spend as much money as they have to get an edge."

OK, I agree even more. But that's where limiting technology in certain areas can contain cost without undermining competition. I argue that data acquisition for developing chassis dynamics is a huge expense, but develops no transferrable technology.

It's an example where Penske and Ganassi have the best facilities and personnel to gain small but insurmountable advantages. So what do you do, reposess their shaker rigs?

If you limit the ability to collect telemetry, you cut the reliance on off-track testing and the staff required for the R&D. It has no value to the fans, or in creating technology for the "user interface" you drive to work.

Each team has a mission control center in their pit, and in the paddock. The data is also used to teach the drivers how to drive. A staff of 20 is required for each entry to fly to overseas races. All of this gets us what?

It gets us teams that can't compete if they can't afford the technology to keep up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTx9ECUjHZM

[bblocker68]

Great points!

I'd like to add that the "American Factor" is not prevalent at this forum. I think the majority of us just want to see the best racers, no matter where they are from.

Now if you lurk over to another forum where the majority of posters are from the Mid-west, it's a completely different story.

[spiritone]

Having been in the racing business for 35 years and now having my own race car one thing is true, if the rules allow any high tech trick part, the teams that can, will buy it. No matter what type of racing your involved in the advance of technology never stops. Evan when you outlaw a particular type of high tech the problem is policing it.( which indycar has found out) The parts have gotten so small and so sophisticated they are almost impossible to find. Do these parts work, damn right they do and the price is very competitive because of the competition out there.

Yes, enjun i know NA is normally aspirated, which is what is in indycar right now. Turbo's are coming (not NA)but the fact remains how long are these going to be around? Long enough for indycar to recover?

Beachbum you hit the nail on the head, indycar lacks uniqueness. Whether these aero kits will add that is the big gamble.

OW fans had better hope that tony c and randy b can pull this together for 2012 (and eliminate brian b) The aero kits need to make the car look up to date and hopefully raise some eyebrows in the media to get indycar back on track.

[maximilian]

I believe that the American factor was wrongly identified as being too important for what used to be CART. I quite on the contrary always thought CART had a bright future expanding internationally, especially during the years F1 was dominated by one team (McLaren or Williams) and less than entertaining. I always thought that a second global international open wheel series would be great, and that CART definitely had a market in places like Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, some European countries, and some venues that have been starved of F1 racing, such as perhaps South Africa, Scandinavia, possibly Venezuela, Netherlands, New Zealand, etc. I would have thought that expansion into those markets would STRENGTHEN the series, and widen its fan base to the point where it isn't dependent on any one particular nation (in this case, the US market). It could have been a truly epic mix of drivers, machinery, and race tracks (ovals, street, airport and road courses), including some of the classic tracks of old that have been shunned by F1, and numerous other new classic venues such as Surfer's Paradise, Long Beach, and maybe a new idea such as a race around the Macau circuit... who knows. It could have been great...

[nigelred5]

I can hardly be accused of objecting to foreign drivers, just Bad foreign drivers with rich daddies and fat wallets. Part of the distaste for some of the increasing number of international events on the CART schedule was it removed opportunities for fans in North America to see the events in person. This is a VERY big country, one large enough to swallow an entire race series schedule. Not everyone can afford to jet around to see a race in person, so just about race on a 20 race schedule that went overseas was taking an existing race from a very large domestic market to appease manufacturers like Mercedes and Honda. That alone looses fans. It's been 10 years since CART left Nazareth and I had a race from a series I actually care about within a days drive to attend or on a date I was able to attend. I grew up attending F1 at Watkins Glen and waited a couple decades to see Indycars or F1 return to Glen. Unfortunately, the wrong Indycars went back at the wrong time of the year. F1 is unlikely to ever return and I may never again get to see my preferred type of cars ever race on my favorite track. My dad hasn't watched an Indycar race in that same period of time out of spite.

I've been advocating a race in Baltimore since the day CART left the Middle Atlantic, so It looks like I'll finally get my race. Too bad It's going to be ugly ass spec racing and a sports car series I love to watch but few have ever heard of. Maybe it'll generate enough fan interest that I might actually be able to talk racing at work on Monday mornings again.

With so many sports options in this country in general, there's VERY little interest in anything we have no opportunity to see in person.

[maximilian]

With so many sports options in this country in general, there's VERY little interest in anything we have no opportunity to see in person.
That was kinda the premise of the concept I was talking about... by diversifying internationally, the series would no longer have to compete on a weekly basis with NASCAR and all the other things that constantly go on in the US. Instead, the races would open up new fan bases in different markets, draw in more fans from overseas. As long as there is a pretty good geographical spread of the remaining races in the US (where you'd have a decent chance of seeing a race if you're willing to drive a maximum of, say, 5 hours), everyone here would get their chance to watch it on location. On top of that, the overseas fans would get their chance as well. Anyways, it's a moot point now :p

[maximilian]

And the money would come from?

The companies which need global exposure get in now via F1 and other venues. That leaves you shopping your product one weekend at a time in multiple countries. What is the current market for A1GP, etc.? Nuff said.
A1GP was a dumb concept, as is Superleague, and any of the other "pretenders". CART on the other hand was already widely recognized as a top-level motorsports series with plenty of international drivers, many of them ex-F1. And there didn't seem to be any shortage of sponsors for them... Venezuelan, Brazilian, Dutch, Japanese. Even now, these nationality drivers find ample sponsorship in their respective countries and are able to draw a crowd there (Japan, Brazil, Canada). If the series had been able to establish itself as a real alternative to F1, all that wouldn't have been a problem. And American companies want overseas exposure, too, as can be clearly seen by the many US firms who sponsor F1 even today, when the US economy is in the drain.

[maximilian]

That was 10 to 20 years ago. Those days are long gone. We're not talking about was or could have been. We're talking about the reality now. What we have today is most certainly not "recognized as a top-level motorsport series".
Uuuuh, actually I WAS talking about what was 10 to 20 years ago, my friend! ;)

[garyshell]

Uuuuh, actually I WAS talking about what was 10 to 20 years ago, my friend! ;)


Yes, but what does it have to do with TODAY? I was a huge fan of CART too, but those days are over and we can wring our hands all we want about what should have been, but its a pointless exercise in futility. It, unfortunately, has zero relevance to today.

Gary

[maximilian]

Yes, but what does it have to do with TODAY? I was a huge fan of CART too, but those days are over and we can wring our hands all we want about what should have been, but its a pointless exercise in futility. It, unfortunately, has zero relevance to today.

Gary
Agreed. My train of thought was about what could have been, with the premise that the focus on the American market alone was probably a mistake back in the days. It is largely irrelevant to today, but I still think that there would be a market for a well-executed international open wheel series on a more global level even today, although as we all sadly know, with what we currently have, we couldn't be further away from such a thing.

Instead the best future option probably WOULD be a NASCAR buy-out, and a crossing over of some of the NASCAR stars and manufacturers into the open wheel division. If it's done right, it could be really cool...

[Jag_Warrior]

Agreed. My train of thought was about what could have been, with the premise that the focus on the American market alone was probably a mistake back in the days. It is largely irrelevant to today, but I still think that there would be a market for a well-executed international open wheel series on a more global level even today, although as we all sadly know, with what we currently have, we couldn't be further away from such a thing.

Instead the best future option probably WOULD be a NASCAR buy-out, and a crossing over of some of the NASCAR stars and manufacturers into the open wheel division. If it's done right, it could be really cool...

At one time, I was about 50/50 or 60/40 when it came to viewing F1 and CART. In some seasons, I was probably 60% CART and 40% F1 (+/-, but you know what I mean). I liked the international flavor of CART. But CART's execution wasn't as good as it should have been. If you recall, many of the sponsors started bucking once that international expansion began to take away from the focus on the home market. Arrogant Andy Craig was the President then and I recall the bad marks sponsors began giving the series for its heavy-handed relations with various team (and series) sponsors.

Personally, I liked the idea of racing in Brazil (one of my favorite races), Mexico, Canada, Japan, Australia and Germany. CART made a real enemy in F1/Bernie by going international with the CART IndyCar World Series. Taking F1's sitting WDC and having Senna testing an Indy car didn't help much either. CART was very close to having the World Series championship being seen as an alternate World Driving Championship: Bernie = :eek: But ya know, if they could have done all that they seemed to want to do, let Bernie be unhappy. But if you're being sponsored by say Ford, Honda and Marlboro in North America, those sponsorship budgets are coming out of the accounts of the N.A. operations. When you go heavy international, you're decreasing the ROI of those divisions, even though you might be increasing the ROI for the parent company. Dan Davis (Ford) didn't care so much about what happened in the German or the Brazilian market. He mainly cared about how his outfit looked here. Maybe there was a way to work with the parent companies and make that strategy work. But Andrew Craig was not the guy to handle that. I bet the nurses didn't even like him when he was born.

But yeah, I agree with you that it would have been great to see that play out fully. Unfortunately, once more than a few sponsors began referring to the organization as Championship Arrogant Racing Teams, that $upport likely wasn't going to be there.

I don't guess we have to worry about bumping heads with Bernie Ecclestone anymore though. See, that's one problem that Tony George fixed for us. :dozey:

[glauistean]

At one time, I was about 50/50 or 60/40 when it came to viewing F1 and CART. In some seasons, I was probably 60% CART and 40% F1 (+/-, but you know what I mean). I liked the international flavor of CART. But CART's execution wasn't as good as it should have been. If you recall, many of the sponsors started bucking once that international expansion began to take away from the focus on the home market. Arrogant Andy Craig was the President then and I recall the bad marks sponsors began giving the series for its heavy-handed relations with various team (and series) sponsors.

Personally, I liked the idea of racing in Brazil (one of my favorite races), Mexico, Canada, Japan, Australia and Germany. CART made a real enemy in F1/Bernie by going international with the CART IndyCar World Series. Taking F1's sitting WDC and having Senna testing an Indy car didn't help much either. CART was very close to having the World Series championship being seen as an alternate World Driving Championship: Bernie = :eek: But ya know, if they could have done all that they seemed to want to do, let Bernie be unhappy. But if you're being sponsored by say Ford, Honda and Marlboro in North America, those sponsorship budgets are coming out of the accounts of the N.A. operations. When you go heavy international, you're decreasing the ROI of those divisions, even though you might be increasing the ROI for the parent company. Dan Davis (Ford) didn't care so much about what happened in the German or the Brazilian market. He mainly cared about how his outfit looked here. Maybe there was a way to work with the parent companies and make that strategy work. But Andrew Craig was not the guy to handle that. I bet the nurses didn't even like him when he was born.

But yeah, I agree with you that it would have been great to see that play out fully. Unfortunately, once more than a few sponsors began referring to the organization as Championship Arrogant Racing Teams, that $upport likely wasn't going to be there.

I don't guess we have to worry about bumping heads with Bernie Ecclestone anymore though. See, that's one problem that Tony George fixed for us. :dozey:

He's a tenacious little bugger,Bernie. He has gone up against Mosely (sic) and always seems to win. Recall the barge-boards with Ferrari about ten years ago? Could have cost Schumacher the championship but in stepped Bernie and of course there was no point deduction. Now, if it were Jordan or Arrows or any other mid-pack team they would have lost any points and possibly have to close their doors as points determined travel expenses.

I remember the 90's at least the early parts when I was like you Jag and did not know whom to support. CART was really a great series. Mansell, Letho(sic)
Guglemin,all F1 refugees. However, there was a lot happening in F1 with the Jordan team coming on board and Michael Andretti racing in the series. He was a disaster. Whether it was the team or he could not hack it. Funny thing is that I never really rated him as a driver.

I started going to CART races. The easy access to the drivers and going to the track with a few friends was really entertaining. At that time every car had a sponsor. They looked really great and an effort at designing the car livery was evident.

Unfortunately, along came Anton. Disaster from the start. Killed CART and Champ car.

I often wondered what happened between Gentilozi (sic), Forsyth and KK.

I have this feeling that Forsyth was fed up putting his hand in his pocket to support the series. Racing abroad was taking off if memory serves me right.

We had a race in Holland , Australia, two in Mexico and plans for China and Germany. Although it was going to be tough to survive the ratings were at least as good as the current series and Champcar was on Spike.

Those DP01's were great. Wonder what happened to them. I recall some guy bought them and was going to start a series. Never materialized. Like the race for 5 million in Hawaii. Oh well.

[jimispeed]

10 to 20 years ago and beyond!! Way too many unbelievable moments. So many great drivers. And, cars that had enough power to get away from the drivers. Drivers had to manhandle those cars! And the cars were as sexy as they were agile!

Someday..........but I don't think anytime soon.


I don't post much anymore, it's depressing.

[px400r]

Unfortunately, along came Anton. Disaster from the start. Killed CART and Champ car.



Don't you mean he killed AOW.

[Chris R]

Don't you mean he killed AOW.

I suppose then is no good in crying over spilled milk - but he sure did kill AOWR.....

[anthonyvop]

ALMS is high tech and while it is very interesting, the cost is too high and the fields in the "tech" classes are very small and dependent on the vagaries of manufacturer's advertising budgets. Fans complain about the big 2 in Indy Car, but in ALMS only Audi and Peugeot have a chance at a win. The privateers pick up the scraps if the "big boys" aren't there or stumble badly. As a "techy" I like watching an Audi or Peugeot, but the real racing is in the production based classes.

Audi and Peugeot only compete at Sebring and Petite. The rest of the season was a good mix of Highcroft, Cytosport, Dyson, Intersport and Drayson. All which competed for wins and the title battle lasted until the final race,
The Production classes are also very high tech and full of "Factory" Teams. Corvette, BMW...ect.

The Indy Car Series recently ended their season with an extremely tight and exciting points battle yet more 10 times more people decided to attend the High Tech ALMS final that same weekend.