IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association . Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.
64-476: The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill France, Sr. Racing began in 1971, and was originally aimed at two of FIA 's stock car categories, running two classes each; the GT ( Groups 3 and 4 ) and touring ( Group 1 and 2 ) classes. The first race was held at Virginia International Raceway ; it was an unexpected success, with both the drivers and the handful of spectators who attended. For
128-597: A Lowenbrau sponsored Porsche 962. In 1988, Holbert realised that the Porsche 962 that had brought him success in his earlier years was becoming outmoded by the newer generation of racers from the likes of the Jaguar XJR-9 and the Electramotive 's Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo . His plan was to build an open top Porsche-engined racer for customer teams. Porsche eventually built such a car nearly a decade later, although
192-416: A Porsche and would turn professional in 1974. He would score his first of his two IMSA titles in 1976 and 1977 in a Dekon Monza . Being a Porsche supporter, Holbert allowed Porsche technicians to inspect his Monza, which would eventually lead to Porsche entering the series with turbocharged cars such as the 934 that led to a Porsche dominance for the following years. During that time Holbert jumped ship to
256-415: A displacement versus minimum weight formula. Turbochargers were taken into account as well as rotary power, fuel injection, and many other engine features. As a result, the new premier class known as GTX (Grand Touring Experimental, which was based on FIA 's Group 5 ), brought on the absolute dominance of the Porsche 935 . The 935 became the most successful car in the series. The most successful driver of
320-587: A popular competitor to the more international ALMS, attracting some pro drivers and teams, featuring large fields, and producing close competition. Much like the split from 1996 to 2008 between Champ Car and the IRL , critics say this split was detrimental to the sport as a whole. Grand AM and ALMS merged in 2014 under IMSA sanction and France family ownership to create the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship . The WeatherTech Championship
384-530: A rectangular IMSA GT decal, which incorporated its logo on the left, followed by a large GT tag, as well as a Joe Camel decal. Starting fields of 30 or more competitors were not unusual during this era. One of the premiere race events was the Paul Revere 250, which started at midnight of the Fourth of July. The race was conducted entirely at night. In 1975 a new category, All American Grand Touring (AAGT),
448-494: A row from 1980 through 1987. The car went on to win more IMSA races in its class than any other model of automobile, with its one hundredth victory on September 2, 1990. In 1981, purpose-built GTP cars (Grand Touring Prototypes) appeared in the championship, and were similar to the new FIA Group C cars which would be introduced to the World Endurance Championship from 1982. The main difference between
512-408: A teenager to make laps in the family Model T Ford at the high-banked 1.5-mile (2.4 km) board track near Laurel, Maryland . He ran laps until there was just enough time to beat his father home. France worked at several jobs before owning and operating his own service station . He built his customer base by waking before dawn and crank-starting customers' cars in the middle of winter. France
576-656: A white O on black. All others had standard IMSA GT decals. One significant change to the rules during the 1980s was the 2.5 liter limit being increased to 3.0 liters, with the maximum 6.0 liter limit still in place. 3.0L cars were required to weigh 1,900 lb (860 kg), whereas 6.0L cars had to weigh no less than 2,700 lb (1,200 kg). In an effort to equalize the competition, two-valve turbocharged cars were required to weigh 15% more, and four-valve turbocharged cars 20% more. Electronic fuel injection became common, while ground effects were still prohibited. Steering, braking, transmission, and suspension were left up to
640-596: Is considered the official continuation. After the series' demise, a U.S.-based historical racing organization, Historic Sportscar Racing, created a new series to put GTP and Group C cars that had been stored away back onto the track. The series was called HSR ThunderSport. Its creation sparked a similar revival series in Europe, as well as another series in the UK called Group C/GTP Racing. Bill France, Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992)
704-574: The 1984 Indianapolis 500 , and led the Porsche IndyCar effort in 1987–1988. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1983, 1986, and 1987, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1986 and 1987 and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1976 and 1981. Holbert was the head of the Porsche North America's Motorsports Division and ran his own racing team, Holbert Racing . He clinched two more IMSA GTP championships back to back in both 1985 and 1986 driving
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#1732800895473768-560: The Bonneville Salt Flats later in 1935 because the track was getting too rutted. Daytona had lost its claim to fame. City officials were determined to keep speed-related events, events which had been a mid-winter source of revenue for area hotels and restaurants. On March 8, 1936, the first stock car race was held on the Daytona Beach Road Course , promoted by local racer Sig Haugdahl . The race
832-677: The Chevrolet Beretta (in the Trans-Am series) and the Mazda MX-6 (in IMSA GTU). The Celica was one of just a few cars that had broken away from its production GT derivatives of the earlier years. With a full spaceframe chassis, they became serious race cars. By 1987, the category became dominated by factory teams, with testing sessions becoming common, and rules tailored to welcome them in rather than turn them away. Otherwise,
896-639: The Eagle Mk III , a car so dominant that it has been blamed for the demise of the class. Along with the GTP cars, the Camel Lights cars, a smaller capacity, non-turbocharged, lower powered prototype category was introduced in 1985. Argo Racing Cars was the first 'Lights' Champions, followed by Spice Engineering. Other well known participants were the Tiga , Royale , Alba , Fabcar, and Kudzu. Starting with
960-571: The Miami Grand Prix with the sole entry of Brent O'Neill. The car finished last among the cars that were still running. After skipping the 12 Hours of Sebring , the category would compete for the remainder of the season in non-Championship rounds, with no more than four cars entering each race. In 1994 Camel was replaced by Exxon as the title sponsor. However, as the WSC cars took over as the leading category, their reliability would be tested at
1024-690: The Trans Am Series . Trans Am would quickly become a support series for IMSA GT. The first champions were Peter H. Gregg and Hurley Haywood , in a Porsche 914-6 GTU. Common winners in these early years of IMSA were the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR , and the Chevrolet Corvette . Camel became the title sponsor during the second season, with the series becoming known as the Camel GT Challenge Series. The sponsor's corporate decal had to be displayed and clearly visible on
1088-698: The WSC-95 would never be built for customer teams as Holbert and Porsche intended. On September 30, 1988, Holbert was at the IMSA Columbus Ford Dealers 500. That evening, Holbert was fatally injured when his privately owned propeller driven Piper PA-60 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff near Columbus, Ohio , when a clamshell door was not closed. At the end of the season, the team was disbanded and IMSA would retire his race number 14. Former Holbert Racing chief mechanic Kevin Doran later became
1152-408: The 1970s was Peter Gregg, who won championships in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979. Twin turbos were outlawed at the end of the 1982 season after John Paul Sr. and John Paul Jr. dominated in a modified 935. In 1984, all GT cars were required to display a large square decal to identify which category the car competed in. A GTU car, for instance, would have a black U on white, and a GTO car,
1216-480: The 1986 season, the GTP category had their own decal, which was similar to the IMSA GT side decal, with a P being added to denote their category. Camel Lights cars also used the same decal There were many other manufacturers in the GTP class, such as URD Rennsport, Spice, Intrepid or Gebhardt , and in the early 1990s, Mazda. Following a successful heart surgery in 1987, Bishop began to rethink his priorities. He
1280-825: The American Le Mans Series, the Star Mazda series, and the Panoz GT Pro series. The ALMS uses regulations based on those of the 24 Hours of Le Mans , but in 2005 the relationship between Panoz and the Le Mans organizers, ACO , became problematic. A breakaway series formed in 1998 involving the Sports Car Club of America , and was running under the name of the United States Road Racing Championship . It
1344-630: The Daytona Boat Works while his wife Anne ran the filling station. Most racing stopped until after the war. Bill met Jim Johnstone Sr. in 1944 when Jim was stationed at Naval Air Station Daytona Beach , where Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is currently located. Johnstone had been an auto mechanic in New Jersey , where his father built Indy car engines. He met France at Bill's filling station and became his race car mechanic. They traveled with their wives and children throughout Florida on
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#17328008954731408-614: The GT series was known commonly as the "IMSA series", as it was the sanctioning body. For legal reasons, both the 1999-2013 ALMS and the current WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are regarded as a continuation of the original IMSA GT Championship. The 1971 season was the first racing season, and lasted six races. The early years of the series featured GT cars, similar to the European Group 2 and Group 4 classes, divided into four groups: In essence, these groups had been absorbed from
1472-634: The GTP class for sports prototypes . In 1989, Bishop sold off his organization. After a period of decline in the early 1990s, the Sports Racer Prototype category was introduced in 1993 to replace the top IMSA GTP category in 1994. In deference to the series deviating from the FIA's naming of the class to Sports Racers and Le Mans Prototypes by the French Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) in Europe for their then separate series,
1536-606: The Stuttgart marque. From 1976 to 1979 Holbert raced 19 career races in NASCAR. In those 19 races, in which he drove primarily for James Hylton , Holbert scored 4 top ten finishes. He also added an IMSA GTP title during 1983 in a Chevrolet and Porsche powered March 83G when Porsche were unable to make their 956 eligible for competition that year. February 27, 1983, he won the Grand Prix of Miami. Holbert finished fourth in
1600-613: The beachfront. On April 4, 1953, he proposed a new superspeedway called Daytona International Speedway . France began building a new 2.5 miles (4.0 km) superspeedway in 1956 to host what would become the new premier event of the series – the Daytona 500 . The event debuted in 1959 and has been the premier event since. He later built the Talladega Superspeedway that opened in 1969. He served as chairman and CEO of NASCAR. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company became
1664-474: The car was converted to rear wheel drive. One outstanding feature of the car was the 4T-GT E engine, from its Safari Rally -winning, Group B predecessor, producing around 475 hp (354 kW). Piloted by the likes of Chris Cord , Willy T. Ribbs , and Dennis Aase , the car was dominant in its class right up until the team's move to GTP. Utilizing the same engine, it became dominant once again. Other teams would follow this example, with notable cars such as
1728-405: The cars were required to closely resemble their showroom counterparts, though fenders could be widened, increasing the track up to 79 inches (2,000 mm). There were no restrictions on body materials, as most teams favored removable, easy to repair fiberglass (meaning one of the only remaining panels from a car's production counterpart was the steel roof structure). Another car that exploited
1792-448: The constructor. Bigger, more powerful engines were permitted under homologation rules. The number of valves, ports, and spark plugs were not allowed to be modified from the original configuration. The AAR Toyota team suddenly encountered a daunting problem with the rules when, with Toyota's introduction of the new, fourth generation, Celica for the US market, and the team's first entry into
1856-532: The early 1980s would innovate race team hospitality, practices which were subsequently adopted by virtually every other team. For those that competed, GTP was recognized for its camaraderie among drivers, especially rivals. But Hans Stuck , commenting in the foreword of the book "Prototypes: The History of the IMSA GTP Series" , sarcastically compared the series' camaraderie to Formula One's lack of such. With rising costs and factory teams walking away from
1920-491: The eleventh lap due to engine failure. Ferrari would help the category score an overall win at the 12 Hours of Sebring , and would take the manufacturer's title. The Ferrari 333 SP and the R&;S cars (Oldsmobile / Ford) were the dominant entries in the series from 1995 until the demise of IMSA at the end of 1998. In 1996, Slater sold the organization to Roberto Muller (ex-CEO of Reebok) and Wall Street financier Andy Evans, who
1984-593: The ends of the track became virtually impassable with stuck and stalled cars. Second and third-place finishers protested the results. France finished fifth. The city lost $ 22,000. Haugdahl talked with France, and together they got the Daytona Beach Elks Club to host another event on Labor Day weekend in September 1937. The event was more successful but still lost money despite its $ 100 purse. Haugdahl didn't promote any more events. France took over
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2048-591: The first Porsche dealerships in the USA). Holbert worked for Roger Penske while studying at Lehigh University , where he graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1968. Holbert began racing Porsches in the northeast division of the SCCA, racing a C-production Porsche 914/6 against, among others, Bob Tullius (Triumph TR6) and Bob Sharp (Datsun 240Z). In 1971, Holbert scored his first race win in
2112-437: The following year, John Bishop brought in sponsor R. J. Reynolds , and in 1975 introduced a new category: All American Grand Touring (AAGT). In 1977, the series went through a series of major changes. IMSA permitted turbocharged cars to compete for the first time, as well as introducing a new category: GTX, based on Group 5 rules. In 1981, after Bishop decided to not follow FIA's newly introduced Group C rules, he introduced
2176-460: The ground due to Holbert's death in an aircraft accident later in the year. For some, much of the blame was on the organization for allowing the Japanese "works" teams to dominate the series. Under Bishop's original vision, privateers and "works teams" were able to race equally. Privateer teams walked away, while the Japanese economy started to go downhill. These factors led Nissan and Mazda to leave
2240-489: The inaugural round for WSC cars at Road Atlanta , the new Ferrari 333 SP would make its debut amongst mass media fanfare, and win its debut race. The car brand regularly achieving podium finishes every round after that, Oldsmobile, won the manufacturer's title over Ferrari by four points. In 1995, a new rival for Ferrari appeared in the Riley & Scott Mk III. The car would make its debut at Daytona, but would retire after
2304-626: The job of running the course in 1938. There were two events in 1938. Danny Murphy beat France in the July event. France beat Lloyd Moody and Pig Ridings to win the Labor Day weekend event. Three races each were held in 1939 and 1940. France finished fourth in March, first in July, and sixth in September 1940. Four events were held in 1941. France was busy planning the 1942 event until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor . France spent World War II working at
2368-636: The late 1980s. He built the International Motorsports Hall of Fame , which inducted France in its first class on July 25, 1990. France also served as campaign manager for George Wallace during the latter's 1972 effort to achieve the Democratic nomination for President of the United States and permitted Wallace to campaign during the Daytona 500 race held in that year. After Wallace ended his campaign, France became
2432-452: The left and right sides of all racecars, and Camel's corporate logo patch was also required to be on the Nomex driver suit's breast area, featuring Joe Camel smiling and smoking a cigarette while driving a race car. Initially, all cars were identified with a category tag, stating which category they competed in, but from the middle of the 1975 season on, all cars within the series had to have
2496-460: The middle of the 1977 season. They were allowed following protests by Porsche's motorsport department, after inspecting Al Holbert 's AAGT winning Chevrolet Monza , which had won two titles. Prior to 1977, Porsche privateers struggled with obsolete 911 Carrera RSRs against the AAGT cars. Engine sizes were determined by IMSA officials, who had devised a set of rules to determine fair competition, using
2560-623: The money before drivers were paid. On December 14, 1947, France began talks with drivers, mechanics, and car owners at the Ebony Bar at the Streamline Hotel at Daytona Beach, Florida , which ended with the formation of NASCAR on February 21, 1948. They discussed uniform rules, insurance coverage, and guaranteed purses. By 1953, France knew it was time for a permanent track to hold the large crowds that were gathering for races at Daytona and elsewhere. Hotels were being constructed along
2624-548: The new class was designated IMSA World Sports Car. After a period of multiple ownerships, the organization, by then owned by Don Panoz , was eventually renamed Professional Sports Car Racing (PSCR). In 1999, PSCR decided to affiliate with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and adopt the sanctioning body's rule book, renaming the series the American Le Mans Series . Despite having various official names,
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2688-465: The opening round at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Two cars started on the front row, with eight WSC cars competing. Two cars finished the race, with the leading WSC car finishing ninth behind GT cars. A WSC car would score its first podium finish at Sebring with a second, and third place behind a Daytona winning GTS class Nissan 300ZX. That led to a rule change for the latter category, as they would be barred from using engines that were originally for GTP cars. At
2752-578: The race in two different rounds, thereby costing them both the manufacturer's and driver's titles, Hans-Joachim Stuck driving. Another manufacturer to experience a run of wins was Mazda. After some success by the Mazda RX-2 and Mazda RX-3 , the Mazda RX-7 won its class in the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona race an amazing ten years in a row, starting in 1982. It also won eight IMSA GTU championships in
2816-593: The rules was the Audi 90 . With its advanced Quattro four-wheel-drive system, the car had the potential to dominate during the 1989 season. The car performed well, but faced heavy competitions from two factory teams; the Roush Racing Mercury Cougar XR7, and Clayton Cunningham Racing's Nissan 300ZX , which took seven wins out of fifteen. Audi stayed away from the early season endurance classics (Daytona and Sebring), and had two cars drop out of
2880-528: The sagging TV ratings. By 1992, there were a number of factors that led to the decline of the GTP category. Porsche concentrated on its IndyCar ( Porsche 2708 ) program when critics stated that the Zuffenhausen marque should have built a followup to its 962 . Back in 1988, Al Holbert realized that the 962 was beginning to feel dated. He proposed a follow-up open-top Porsche powered racer which would also be sold to customer teams. That project never got off
2944-418: The season; and Randy Lanier a year later with Chevrolet power. 1984 also saw the introduction of the Porsche 962 , which dominated the series from '85 to '87. Nissan then took control of the series in 1988, but faced challenges from Jaguar, Porsche, and Toyota throughout the next three years. Toyota was quickest in 1992 and 1993, at the end of the GTP era, as Dan Gurney 's All American Racers team campaigned
3008-530: The series named after its sub-brand of fuel. In 1995, in a bid to move closer to the European BPR Global GT Series , the GT category would undergo another major reformatting. GTS became known as GTS-1, and GTU became known as GTS-2. In 1997, there was another category addition: GTS-2 became GTS-3. The new GTS-2 category was introduced to allow for the existing GT2 cars. Under tremendous pressure from team owners and management, Evans sold
3072-412: The series to PST Holdings, Inc., a group led by Raymond Smith, formerly the chief financial officer of Sports Car. Other owners included Dough Robinson and Tom Milner. In 2001 Don Panoz purchased PSCR to solidify the sanction for Panoz's American Le Mans Series (ALMS) which had been sanctioned by PSCR since 1999. Panoz renamed the sanctioning organization IMSA, and it was the official sanctioning body of
3136-406: The series, which meant diminishing entries and diminishing profit, IMSA introduced a new prototype category for in 1993: World Sport Car (WSC). WSC replaced GTP and Camel Lights' closed-top cars for the following year. The WSC cars were open-top, flat-bottomed sports-prototypes with production engines, as opposed to racing versions of production engines from GTP cars. The WSC cars made their debut at
3200-432: The series. Critics predicted that the decreased variety of cars would disappoint race fans, and in fact, it did finally kill the series in 1993. GTP cars ran their last race on October 2, 1993, at Phoenix International Raceway . The GTP category was credited for many innovations in the U.S., including antilock brakes , traction control , and active suspension . Dave Cowart and Kemper Miller's Red Lobster sponsored team of
3264-407: The title sponsor in 1971, a move that changed the name of the series from "Grand National" to "Winston Cup". Reynolds convinced France to drop all dirt tracks and races under 100 miles (160 km) from the NASCAR schedule in 1972, a move that defined the "modern era" of the sport. Big Bill then turned the reins of NASCAR over to his son Bill France Jr. France kept an office at the headquarters until
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#17328008954733328-405: The top-flight GTO category (despite not having won a single GTU title), the team faced the distinct possibility that they would be required to race a front-wheel-drive car, until they managed to persuade IMSA to change the rules, thereby permitting cars to race with something other than their original drivetrain, and therefore with a redesigned chassis. To AAR's delight, IMSA did change the rules, and
3392-413: The two categories was that the former had no emphasis on fuel consumption which was highlighted by Derek Bell saying "Race fans do not come to races to watch an economy run." Brian Redman was the first GTP champion, driving a Lola T600 with a Chevrolet engine. March also fielded prototypes, with Al Holbert winning the 1983 championship with a Chevrolet powered car, changing to Porsche power later in
3456-648: The vice chairman of John Connally 's Democrats for Nixon that supported Richard Nixon 's re-election; he was also a member of the Motorsports Committee for the Reelection of President Nixon alongside various drivers and racing executives. France died June 7, 1992, at his home in Ormond Beach, Florida , after suffering from Alzheimer's disease , aged 82. Al Holbert Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert (November 11, 1946 – September 30, 1988)
3520-502: The war, France decided to concentrate on promoting instead of driving. In sixteen events at Daytona Beach, France had two victories and six Top-5 finishes. France promoted events at Seminole Speedway immediately after the war. He built the Occoneechee Speedway in 1947. France knew that promoters needed to organize their efforts. Drivers were frequently victimized by unscrupulous promoters who would leave events with all
3584-423: The weekends, racing at many small tracks. On April 6, 1946, Jim and Bill were testing Bill's car on the streets of Cocoa, Florida , when they were stopped for driving 74 mph (119 km/h) in the city limits. Jim was driving and had to pay a $ 25 fine. When the war ended, Jim moved his family back to New Jersey to start an auto parts business but remained close friends with Bill for the rest of his life. After
3648-489: Was 78 laps long (250 mi or 400 km) for street-legal family sedans sanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA) for cars built in 1935 and 1936. The city posted a $ 5000 purse with $ 1700 for the winner. The race was marred by controversial scoring and huge financial losses to the city. Ticket-takers arrived to find thousands of fans already at the beach track. The sandy turns at
3712-529: Was also an IndyCar owner, and owner-driver of the Scandia WSC team. Evans and VP of marketing Kurtis Eide were responsible for the name change to Professional Sports Car Racing. In 1992, the long running category American Challenge stepped into the GT series. It became known as the GTO category when the former GTO category was renamed GTS (Grand Touring Supreme). The move was prompted by sponsor Exxon, who wanted
3776-605: Was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series and the fifth driver to complete the informal triple Crown of endurance racing. He once held the record with the most IMSA race wins at 49. Holbert was born in Abington, Pennsylvania . He was the son of racecar driver Bob Holbert, who also ran a Volkswagen-Porsche dealership in Warrington, PA, near Philadelphia (one of
3840-562: Was an American businessman and racing driver. He was also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill . He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR , a sanctioning body of US-based stock car racing. France was born in Washington, D.C. , the son of Emma Graham, an immigrant from Ireland , and William Henry France. His older brother James is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery , after his death at 11. Big Bill skipped school as
3904-500: Was approached by Mike Cone and Jeff Parker, owners of Tampa Race Circuit . In January 1989, Bishop and France sold the series to Cone and Parker. The new owners relocated the IMSA headquarters from Connecticut to Tampa Bay . Bishop would stand down as president in favor of Mark Raffauf, who was his deputy, and its representative on the ACCUS board. Cone and Parker sold it to businessman Charles Slater. Both lost millions attempting to revive
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#17328008954733968-746: Was familiar with Daytona Beach's land speed record history when he moved his family from Washington D.C. to Daytona in the spring of 1935 to escape the Great Depression . He had less than $ 100 in his pocket when they left D.C. He began painting houses, then worked at a local car dealership. He set up a car repair shop in Daytona at 316 Main Street Station, still in existence today as an event and entertainment venue. Malcolm Campbell and other land speed record competitors decided to stop competing for land speed records at Daytona in favor of
4032-574: Was headed by a group of competitors that wanted to keep the rules within the United States. After failing by 1999, a new U.S.-based series was started with the full support of NASCAR 's France family named the Grand American Road Racing Association , operating the headlining Rolex Sports Car Series . The series struggled early on, but after the introduction of the Daytona Prototype class, proved to be
4096-526: Was introduced to counteract the Porsche dominance in GTO. In 1981, the Bob Sharp Racing team used a loophole in the rules to build a Datsun 280ZX inside the U.S. with a V8 engine from a Nissan President . The car was not a success, however, and it became obsolete when the new GTP category was created. TU would be phased out in 1976, TO the following year. Turbochargers were not permitted until
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