The Grand American Road Racing Association or Grand-Am is an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize endurance road racing competitions in North America. Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, autosport or motorsport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the...

Racing action in the 2005 Grand-Am Road & Track 250

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x631, 84 KB) Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series racing action from the Road & Track 250 race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, May 1, 2005. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x631, 84 KB) Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series racing action from the Road & Track 250 race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, May 1, 2005. ...

Overview

Part-owned by the principals of NASCAR, Grand-Am currently sanctions four separate series. The premier Rolex Sports Car Series featuring Daytona Prototype and GT endurance events, the Grand-Am Cup featuring street-stock production cars, the Cooper Tires Championship Series featuring light formula cars powered by 2.0 litre four-cylinder Ford Zetec engines, and the Ferrari Challenge featuring race versions of the Ferrari 360 and historic Ferrari race cars. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The Ford Zetec is a name used on many inline 4 cylinder automobile engines. ... The Ferrari Gestione Industriale badge on the front of a 330 GTC Ferrari is an Italian manufacturer of high end race cars and high-performance sports cars formed by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. ...

In the Rolex Sports Car Series, two classes compete for victories - Daytona Prototypes and Grand Touring. The Daytona Prototypes are purpose built chassis powered by stock-block production engines from Lexus, Pontiac, Porsche, BMW, Infiniti and Ford, in the interest of keeping operating costs low and attempting to ensure equality through the field. Approved chassis are built by Riley Technologies, Fabcar, Crawford, Doran, Picchio, Multimatic and Chase. The class as a whole by rule has less powerful motors and less aerodynamic designs than Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) built to ACO rules. The rule limitations are a desire to maintain safer speeds at the series' fastest track, Daytona International Speedway, as well as maintain close competition. Daytona International Speedway hosts two premier events in the series, the Rolex 24 At Daytona and a 250 mile sprint on the same weekend as NASCAR's Pepsi 400. Lexus is a Japanese brand name used by the Toyota Motor Corporation for such export markets as North America, Middle East, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Oceania, for luxury automobiles. ... Pontiac is a marque of automobile produced by General Motors and sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1926 to the present. ... Porsche (), (pronounced porsh-uh) is a German manufacturer of sports cars, founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer who created the first Volkswagen. ... BMW AG (an abbreviation for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, or in English, Bavarian Motor Works), is a German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. ... Infiniti is Japanese Nissan Motors, now part of French autogiant Renault, luxury automobile brand in the United States, Canadian, Middle Eastern, South Korean and Taiwanese markets. ... Ford may mean a number of things: A ford is a river crossing. ... A Bentley Speed 8, winner of 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours. ... ACO or Aco can refer to: Aco - J-Pop singer. ...

Another important benefit of the Daytona Prototype class is that the chassis feature less-sophisticated construction (steel tube chassis instead of a carbon fiber tub). Not only does this reduce initial acquisition costs - bare rolling chassis cost in the neighborhood of $375,000 and a ready-to-race example, around $600,000 - but operational costs are also much lower than those for ACO spec LMPs. This relative affordability has sparked tremendous growth in field size, and in 2005 upwards of 20 DPs regularly campaign in the series.

For 2005, the Grand Touring (GT) and Super Grand Sport (SGS) classes were consolidated into a single GT class, which features high-tech sports car models approved by Grand-Am like the Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Ferrari 360 Modena, and BMW M3. However, new rules, commonly referred to as Prep2, introduced in 2005, allow for the introduction of tube-frame, purpose-built cars into the class. The first examples of these are Pontiac GTOs campaigned by Horizon Motorsports and The Racer's Group. C5 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 at the Memphis Motor Speedway, 2004 The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car first manufactured by Chevrolet in 1953 and is built today exclusively at a General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. ... Ferrari 360 is the name given to three models of Ferrari cars: the Ferrari 360 Modena, an enclosed two-door coupe; the Ferrari 360 Spider, a two-door convertible; and the Ferrari Challenge Stradale, the bare-bones version of the 360 Modena. ... 2002 BMW M3 convertible BMW M3 E30 The BMW M3 is a sports version of the popular compact 3-Series automobile made by BMW Motorsport. ... Categories: Redirects from alternate spellings ...

The Grand-Am Cup is a production based racing series, separated into two classes. Grand Sport includes sports cars, and Street Tuner consists of four-door sedans and sport coupes. Grand-Am Cup events are usually support events for Rolex Sports Car events.

The crown jewel of the Rolex Sports Car Series season is the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, which is the first race of the year. The 24 Hours of Daytona is an automotive endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. ...

History

Grand-Am was founded in 1999 out of the ashes of the defunct Sports Car Club of America-sanctioned United States Road Racing Championship, or USRRC, which itself had been formed in 1998 as a competitor protest against perceived corruption and bias in the Professional SportsCar series, formerly known as IMSA, then operated by Andy Evans. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rally, and autocross in the United States It runs many different programs for both amateur and professional racers. ... The IMSA can refer to: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy International Motor Sports Association and its namesake IMSA auto racing series Categories: Disambiguation ...

The sanctioning body was backed by a diverse group of racing businessmen, including Skip Barber, Roger Penske and Rob Dyson, but was primarily owned by Jim France, who also holds a stake in NASCAR. Organizational headquarters were established next door to NASCAR's complex in Daytona Beach, Florida, further cementing in the eyes of many the link between the two groups. Skip Barber (born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1936) was a Formula One driver from the United States. ... Penske PC23 car Roger Penske (born February 20, 1937 in Shaker Heights, Ohio) is the owner of a very successful automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske Corporation, and other automotive related businesses. ... The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... A Daytona Beach Bar Daytona Beach is a city located in Volusia County, Florida, USA. As of 2004, the population estimates recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 64,422. ...

Teams

• SunTrust Racing
• Howard-Boss Motorsports
• Krohn Racing/TRG
• Chip Ganassi Racing
• GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing
• Doran Racing
• Bell Motorsports

SunTrust Racing is a professional sports car racing team competing in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class. ... Howard-Boss Motorsports is a professional sports car racing team competing in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class. ... Krohn Racing/TRG is a professional sports car racing team competing in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class. ... Chip Ganassi Racing is a racing orginization with teams in NASCAR, Champ Cars, and the IRL. It is owned by businessman Chip Ganassi and the Target Corporation. ...

2005 Race Schedule

• Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, Feb. 3-6, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
• Grand Prix of Miami, March 3-5, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida
• Ferrari/Maserati 400, April 1-3, California Speedway, Fontana, California
• Road & Track 250, April 29-May 1, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
• 6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant, May 19-21, Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
• Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York
• Brumos Porsche 250, June 30, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
• Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant, July 29-31, Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama
• CompUSA 200 at the Glen, Aug. 11-12, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York
• EMCO Gears Classic, Aug. 26-27, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
• Phoenix 250, Sept. 8-10, Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, Arizona
• Crown Royal 250 at the Glen, Sept. 22-24, Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York
• VIR 400, Oct. 7-9, Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia
• Mexico City, Nov. 4-5, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City, Mexico

The 24 Hours of Daytona is an automotive endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. ... Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. ... A Daytona Beach Bar Daytona Beach is a city located in Volusia County, Florida, USA. As of 2004, the population estimates recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 64,422. ... Homestead-Miami Speedway is a speedway in Homestead, Florida, USA, southwest of Miami. ... Homestead is a city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA nestled between Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. ... The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. ... Fontana is a city located in San Bernardino County, California. ... Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, was built in the 1950s near Monterey, California. ... Nickname: The Cradle of History, Californias First City Motto: {{{motto}}} Official website: http://www. ... Watkins Glen International (nicknamed The Glen) is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. ... Watkins Glen is a village located in Schuyler County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2,149. ... The Barber Motorsports Park is a large mult-faceted facility that features a 2. ... Birmingham is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Jefferson County. ... Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Lexington, Ohio. ... Lexington is a village located in Richland County, Ohio. ... Phoenix International Raceway is a one mile tri-oval race track located in Avondale, AZ. It opened in 1964, but wasnt used by NASCAR until 1988, with the first race won by the late Alan Kulwicki. ... Phoenix was incorporated as a city on February 5, 1881. ... The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is a 4. ... Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México) is the federal capital of and largest city in Mexico. ...

External links

• Official Site
• The-Paddock.net daily Grand-AM news