2015 TUDOR United Sportscar Championship

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IforceV8
When 26 of the 28 cars entered for Mosport and Detroit in GT and GT-A are GT3 cars, the class is GT3. Regarding the TC I think the issue with the GT3 cars is the lack of a launch control system which required the tweaking of the TC.
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Its still "GT" and "GT-A" according to the WC, regardless that its 90% GT3 now (Due to the Acuras competing under the "GT Legacy" Regs.

As for Launch control, well it was rather Hit & Miss when they tried it. Seemed like it took most of the race (assuming Cautions didn't come out) before they were actually able to challenge the Cadillac.



IforceV8
Removed no, but car count could be a issue for GTLM next year. Falken,Porsche,and BMW are all question marks next year. We think Ford will run 2 cars but to my knowledge that has not been confirmed by Ford or Ganassi. I would bet that Chip and Ford are at Le Mans announcing the 2016 Ford GT program.
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Seriously doubt Porsche will be gone. There is supposedly word that Falken is leaving but even so, that team can still go on and just find another sponsor (at least Derek Walker is confident about that). Corvettes, well when is there ever a thread of them leaving? As for BMW, They'll be here. Might not be with RLL but they will be (just a question of whether it'll be with the same Z4 or with a GTLM spec M6). As for Ford, I'm very sure their program isn't too far away from being announced. Whether it'll be at Le Mans (or even with Ganassi) is the big question. Either way, I don't think Ford is gonna miss the opportunity to challenge their good ole rivals at Chevy.
 
I wouldn't worry about GTLM. It's a class that could have 20 cars tomorrow and 2 cars the next day. Same with any class based on factory entrants. It never sustains itself
 
cnd01
No surprise there. Track was built in the middle of nowhere. Plus, there's no good viewing areas. I always liked the track; however, it was not planned well
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No surprise? Did you read the article? I can think of plenty of road courses in the US that are in the "middle of nowhere": Watkins Glen, VIR, Road America, Lime Rock, NJMSP, Summit Point, even Road Atlanta. Miller Motorsports park is as close or closer to a major population center as any of them--it's less than 45 minutes from downtown SLC. They are having on going financial difficulties because The Miller Group spent a lot of money to build the facility and simply haven't been able to attract enough interest from their own regional population. And they currently have no marque event on the calendar to bring in the kind of money they need to avoid continuing losses. At any rate, there is some hope that somebody else will take over the lease rather than simply shut it down.
 
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mustafur
According do the link the County will Run the track as Normal and have no plans to shut it down.
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Actually, that's not what it says. The track will continue to be run by the LHR group through October, presumably when the lease expires. The county is NOT interested in running the track, as stated very clearly by Shawn Milne, the Toole County commissioner. They are trying to find somebody to either run the track or simply do something with the land. But as of right now, it's up in the air.
 
jjaisli
No surprise? Did you read the article? I can think of plenty of road courses in the US that are in the "middle of nowhere": Watkins Glen, VIR, Road America, Lime Rock, NJMSP, Summit Point, even Road Atlanta. Miller Motorsports park is as close or closer to a major population center as any of them--it's less than 45 minutes from downtown SLC. They are having on going financial difficulties because The Miller Group spent a lot of money to build the facility and simply haven't been able to attract enough interest from their own regional population. And they currently have no marque event on the calendar to bring in the kind of money they need to avoid continuing losses. At any rate, there is some hope that somebody else will take over the lease rather than simply shut it down.
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Yea because half the year it's 110 degrees out there and spectators have nowhere to sit and watch. Most racing series aren't racing in the months the weather isn't brutally hot there.

I can vouch that Road Atlanta is not in the middle of nowhere. Braselton is metro Atlanta. All of those other tracks with the exception of NJMSP are older facilities that have a strong local following because of the history of the track and everyone knows it's there. Miller is a new facility without a strong local following.

jjaisli
Actually, that's not what it says. The track will continue to be run by the LHR group through October, presumably when the lease expires. The county is NOT interested in running the track, as stated very clearly by Shawn Milne, the Toole County commissioner. They are trying to find somebody to either run the track or simply do something with the land. But as of right now, it's up in the air.
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I saw an article where there are potential plans to build a prison on the adjacent land. If that happens, the Greg Loles, Scott Tuckers(even though he's not in jail), and Henry Zogaibs of the world have a place to be in prison now :lol:
 
cnd01
Yea because half the year it's 110 degrees out there and spectators have nowhere to sit and watch. Most racing series aren't racing in the months the weather isn't brutally hot there.

I can vouch that Road Atlanta is not in the middle of nowhere. Braselton is metro Atlanta. All of those other tracks with the exception of NJMSP are older facilities that have a strong local following because of the history of the track and everyone knows it's there. Miller is a new facility without a strong local following.


I saw an article where there are potential plans to build a prison on the adjacent land. If that happens, the Greg Loles, Scott Tuckers(even though he's not in jail), and Henry Zogaibs of the world have a place to be in prison now :lol:
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http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/tooele/utah/united-states/usut0254

The link above shows the historical highs and lows. If you compare that with say, Circuit of the Americas near Austin TX, you'll find the summer temperatures at Miller to be decidedly comfortable by comparison. And a lot less humid.

I don't know where you come up with these numbers or if you're just trying to hyperbolize, but to set the record straight, no, it's not 110 degrees in Tooele half the year. Or even for a month out of the year. And probably not even for a week out of the year. Yes it CAN get over 100*F in July or August, although it's a bit unusual. For the record, it can get over 100*F in July or August at Watkins Glen too. Although that would also be unusual. I know it's only mid May, but the 10 day forecast for Miller Motorsports Park shows highs in the high 60s to low 70s. And we're already comfortably into the racing season. It would be PERFECT weather for a race out there in May. Or June. Or September. Or October. But what's on Miller's calendar? No Tudor. No PWC. No Indycar. There's nothing to draw the crowds.

There isn't a single 'stadium' seat at Lime Rock Park and yet during ALMS or Grand Am or even their yearly historical events, they're jam packed with 20,000, even 30,000 people. Have you been to Lime Rock? I have and let's just say it's REALLY tiny and space is at a premium. You're literally jammed in. People bring their own chairs and fit in wherever they can. We can argue back and forth, but in it's near 10 year history, I don't think Miller ever had what could be called a 'sold out' crowd. But they have plenty of space. The lack of hills makes viewing decidedly more difficult. But if they weren't selling tickets as it was, I doubt they were going to invest in a spread of grand stands.

Fair enough, Road Atlanta is not in the middle of nowhere, but to say it's Metro Atlanta is overstating things. It's country out there and it's over an hour from downtown Atlanta--more with traffic. It's even a good hop and a skip from northern suburbs like Alpharetta or Norcross. It's out there. And it's further away from Atlanta is than MMSP is from SLC.
 
jjaisli
http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/tooele/utah/united-states/usut0254

The link above shows the historical highs and lows. If you compare that with say, Circuit of the Americas near Austin TX, you'll find the summer temperatures at Miller to be decidedly comfortable by comparison. And a lot less humid.

I don't know where you come up with these numbers or if you're just trying to hyperbolize, but to set the record straight, no, it's not 110 degrees in Tooele half the year. Or even for a month out of the year. And probably not even for a week out of the year. Yes it CAN get over 100*F in July or August, although it's a bit unusual. For the record, it can get over 100*F in July or August at Watkins Glen too. Although that would also be unusual. I know it's only mid May, but the 10 day forecast for Miller Motorsports Park shows highs in the high 60s to low 70s. And we're already comfortably into the racing season. It would be PERFECT weather for a race out there in May. Or June. Or September. Or October. But what's on Miller's calendar? No Tudor. No PWC. No Indycar. There's nothing to draw the crowds.

There isn't a single 'stadium' seat at Lime Rock Park and yet during ALMS or Grand Am or even their yearly historical events, they're jam packed with 20,000, even 30,000 people. Have you been to Lime Rock? I have and let's just say it's REALLY tiny and space is at a premium. You're literally jammed in. People bring their own chairs and fit in wherever they can. We can argue back and forth, but in it's near 10 year history, I don't think Miller ever had what could be called a 'sold out' crowd. But they have plenty of space. The lack of hills makes viewing decidedly more difficult. But if they weren't selling tickets as it was, I doubt they were going to invest in a spread of grand stands.

Fair enough, Road Atlanta is not in the middle of nowhere, but to say it's Metro Atlanta is overstating things. It's country out there and it's over an hour from downtown Atlanta--more with traffic. It's even a good hop and a skip from northern suburbs like Alpharetta or Norcross. It's out there. And it's further away from Atlanta is than MMSP is from SLC.
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The weather numbers were just a number. My point on that one was that it's hot in Utah most of the year. Didn't say other tracks didn't have hot climates and had the same problems. COTA has all kinds of events and it's drawing horrible numbers too. ;)

Lime Rock has a local following because it's been a part of that area for a long time. If the locals know about the place and know when the events are, they'll go because it's what they do every year. Same with the Glen and all the other places you have stated. Miller doesn't have the tradition of having events. That's what makes it different from all those other places you keep mentioning.
 
cnd01
The weather numbers were just a number. My point on that one was that it's hot in Utah most of the year. Didn't say other tracks didn't have hot climates and had the same problems. COTA has all kinds of events and it's drawing horrible numbers too. ;)

Lime Rock has a local following because it's been a part of that area for a long time. If the locals know about the place and know when the events are, they'll go because it's what they do every year. Same with the Glen and all the other places you have stated. Miller doesn't have the tradition of having events. That's what makes it different from all those other places you keep mentioning.
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It's actually not hot in Utah most of the year. In fact, it's pretty cold during the winter months.

But I'll tell you something else. If it was up to the 'the locals' they would have had Lime Rock shut down and shut up many years ago already. And they're still trying. Hard. The track owner, just like original owner and founder Jim Vale, has had an on going battle with people from the surrounding area for more than 50 years. And I don't just mean their next door neighbors but people from the general surrounding area, as far away as the NY State border. They've managed to halt any activity at all on Sundays. They have all but a few days per year muffled to 86 dB or less and they've been known to show up with recording equipment to test those limits during HPDE or club track events. There have been a non-stop round of lawsuits filed by people who don't like the noise or the traffic or the helicopters or the crowds, or the campers or the TV crews or anything to do with the track or cars or racing, year after year after year for decades. I'm sure Lime Rock attracts a good crowd from northwestern Connecticut. There's a lot of old money there and a lot of motor heads. But the majority of the fans who show up on race day spend quite a bit of time getting there. They come from NY or Boston or Hartford and the surrounding suburbs. And suffice to say, most of the locals would rather see the place bulldozed than ever host another event. (At least until they see their next property tax bill not offset by the track's profits). The locals are a lot less nostalgic about Lime Rock than you'd imagine. But somehow, the park has managed to hang on. Barely.

And they're not alone. Watkins Glen has been flirting with bankruptcy just about every other year for the past three decades. And except for VIR, most of the tracks I mentioned have hopelessly outdated facilities and little money to update or expand them. It's just a shame to think that Miller was really an FIA accredited, world class track, one of only 3 in the country(?) and they likely won't be around much longer. I'd LIKE to think if they hosted a round of Tudor and a round of PWC, it would change. But if the people from the greater SLC area don't show up and don't have much interest, it's not going to make a difference.
 
jjaisli
I'd LIKE to think if they hosted a round of Tudor and a round of PWC, it would change. But if the people from the greater SLC area don't show up and don't have much interest, it's not going to make a difference.
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This right here is what I'm saying. F1 could come 3 times a year but if no one comes to watch it really doesn't matter
 
jjaisli
http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/tooele/utah/united-states/usut0254
The link above shows the historical highs and lows. If you compare that with say, Circuit of the Americas near Austin TX, you'll find the summer temperatures at Miller to be decidedly comfortable by comparison. And a lot less humid.
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CotA's within an easy drive of four major markets: Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth. Miller's within an easy drive of one: SLC (which is smaller than any of the previous four).
 
MrWednesday
CotA's within an easy drive of four major markets: Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth. Miller's within an easy drive of one: SLC (which is smaller than any of the previous four).
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True, which is probably the root of the problem. To be fair, baring traffic, the track is within an hour's drive of the entire valley, from Ogden in the north to Provo in the south, and everything in between. Added up, it's well over a million people. Just not that high a percentage of them are race fans it seems.
 
So that (combined with another AMR exit) brings us down to:

Corvette (2)
Porsche (2)
BMW (2)
Ferrari (1)
Ford (1?)

So 8 GTLM cars next year...maybe 9 if Ganassi has 2. Wish we could attract some more GTE teams...
 
Walker said last week he would try to continue but I doubt many people are lined up to sponsor a car in a series that only draws 120k on FS1.
 
IforceV8
Walker said last week he would try to continue but I doubt many people are lined up to sponsor a car in a series that only draws 120k on FS1.
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I hope, that somebody, anybody, finds some extra money to sponsor these guys so they can continue.
 
catamount39
So that (combined with another AMR exit) brings us down to:

Corvette (2)
Porsche (2)
BMW (2)
Ferrari (1)
Ford (1?)

So 8 GTLM cars next year...maybe 9 if Ganassi has 2. Wish we could attract some more GTE teams...
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AMR never were coming for the full season so they hardly count.
 

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