American Le Mans Series starts strong, shows early gains in 2008
Written by Scott Keller · March 21, 2008
The American Le Mans Series kicked off their 2008 season with the Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring last weekend. Today the ALMS reported strong attendance and televisions numbers. Combine the ALMS’s increased momentum with a multitude of stranded Champ Car road racing fans, and this could be a big year for the young series. Perhaps Champ Car’s fold will be a boon for the American Le Mans Series.
Link: Series momentum continues with record Sebring attendance and tv, web viewership
Champ Car fans are the perfect demographic for ALMS to draw from. They are typically young males, affluent, and loyal (sometimes to an extreme nature). And with the Champ Car World series totally decimated and left for dead, the pinnacle of American road racing is now firmly grasped by ALMS. A good portion of Champ Car fans are not going to follow the merged Indy Car series. Indy Car has a lower performance car formula in comparison with Champ Car’s Lolas and DP01’s, and many Champ Car fans aren’t interested in Indy Car’s heavy dose of oval tracks.
This fact leaves the door wide open for the ALMS to cherry pick a lot of fans. Their top two classes are practically equal in performance on road courses to the Indy Car formula, and a whole lot sexier. The diversity in classes, chassis, and engine packages make for a lot of passing, and lot of fan interest in the cars themselves.
With an excellent TV package, website, a presence at North America’s top tracks, and a clear vision for the future, ALMS seems poised to capitalize on open-wheel’s loss.
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