Amidst the spitting rain at Road Atlanta Friday and in an impromptu pressroom that could’ve doubled as a sauna, the American Le Mans Series officials offered up a “State of the Series” press conference which seemed every bit as much celebration as information.
They celebrated 10 years of Petit Le Mans in the north-Georgia hills. Later in the weekend, a note hidden in the middle of a page of results would read that gate ticket sales exceeded 100,000 for the weekend.
They announced a three-year agreement with Speed that will keep the series on the cable network, which reaches more than 70 million U.S. households, through 2010.
They announced a series schedule of 12 races for 2008 — a schedule with no lost races from this season. The series will be welcomed back in Houston and on the streets of Long Beach, Calif., and at Belle Isle, Mich.
And ALMS CEO Steve Atherton quoted impressive statistics about just who is watching ALMS — a well-to-do bunch with median household incomes of more than $100,000. These are people who have spending power for ALMS and, just as importantly, for ALMS sponsors. They’re techno-savvy types who either own or aspire to own street versions of the Porsches, Corvettes, Ferraris and other makes and models competing in the series.
The series, Atherton said, has made great strides, but cannot sit still in a crowded sports market.
“There’s a vibe in our series now — a level of energy that we haven’t always had,” Atherton said.
Throughout the weekend, that “vibe” was impossible to ignore. The rain finally stopped and people came through the gates, even as Georgia played Tennessee in college football and Clemson hosted Virginia Tech straight up I-85.
If American road racing is going to be healthy again, the ALMS has to provide the band-aids and the crutches.
But, really, no pressure.
The fact that there were no one-and-done races on ALMS is the best sign that the series is not built on shifting sands. While Champ Car, which will share dates in Long Beach, Houston and Salt Lake City with ALMS again in 2008, creates and crosses off dates with alarming regularity, ALMS officials said they are content with 12 races, so as not to overly tax the tenuous budgets of many of their race teams.
Maybe someday soon, the schedule can grow to 14, but just like the drivers in the series, the people who arerunning ALMS have to know when it is prudent to make a move, otherwise it could be disastrous.
The TV contract with Speed, which has come out on the losing end to ESPN’s newfound interest in NASCAR, and a switch to high-definition was also a move in the right direction for both the network and the series.
Not all sports translate well to television — see, hockey — but those which do (see, the NFL) have a tremendous advantage.
ALMS translates well to television because of the cars. Regardless of the course, the look of the race cars make the ALMS must-see TV for the race fan and the curious. Like NASCAR, the GT classes offer cars that can be driven on the street — another selling point.
Atherton said he realizes the series must do more to promote its drivers, while continuing to promote pace-setting its “green,” alternative fuels messages.
ALMS is way behind in that arena, even as NASCAR continues to promote drivers such as Marc Davis and Joey Logano, who haven’t even arrived in Nextel Cup yet.
As the series continues to grow, that is just one of the potential potholes ALMS leaders face.
While Atherton is understandably proud of the demographic studies that proclaim ALMS fans as educated and affluent, he and his lieutenants should be careful of being seduced by those numbers.
If American road racing is ever to graduate from a niche within what has long been a niche sport, it needs to find broader appeal. To do that, it has to lose the appearance that it is elitist, closer to the polo crowd than the racing crowd, sport.
While everyone is sick of some guy yelling, “you da man” as professional golfers tee off, no one with the PGA Tour will say that professional golf — or golf in general — was better off before, first, Arnold Palmer and then, two generations later, Tiger Woods made it more appealing for the masses.
At Road Atlanta, access for fans to drivers and machines all the way up to race time was enough to make NASCAR fans drool with envy.
Indeed, there was a good vibe — hopefully one a lot more people will feel in the future.