SPEED World Challenge explained in one photo

[RacinM3]

http://www.johnthawley.com/gallery/albuo50/aar
Photo copyright John Thawley. Other great photos here: http://www.johnthawley.com/gallery/albuo50?&page=1

[Sean O'Gorman]

I didn't get to watch the races, but I saw the Memo ended up third in the Touring race. :thumbup: :thumbup: :cool:

[4wheeldrifter]

Rubbin' is racin' :thumbup:

[RichK]

Damn BMW drivers think they own the road. :mad:

[Winston Wolfe]

I thoroughly enjoy the SPEED racing, and am going to ask a question which may have been asked previously, but.....

Why in the heck arent these races run as support races for CART \ Champcar \ OWRS on all of the street & permanent road courses ?

Ford, Mazda, BMW, Audi, Acura would all get some good exposure to the "real racing, real sport" fans, and I'll wager the TV ratings for the Speed Cup is comprable to what OWRS is getting now, on Spike!, so what have we got to lose ?????

Help a brutha out, and understand !

[Sean O'Gorman]

From another forum (can't show the image, have to link):

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wNjA5MTk5NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg

How did this happen?

[Sean O'Gorman]

I thoroughly enjoy the SPEED racing, and am going to ask a question which may have been asked previously, but.....

Why in the heck arent these races run as support races for CART \ Champcar \ OWRS on all of the street & permanent road courses ?

Ford, Mazda, BMW, Audi, Acura would all get some good exposure to the "real racing, real sport" fans, and I'll wager the TV ratings for the Speed Cup is comprable to what OWRS is getting now, on Spike!, so what have we got to lose ?????

Help a brutha out, and understand !

My guess is that the GT & Touring teams can't afford to fly out to China and Argentina for SCCA races.

[RacinM3]

SPEED WC will be a support race for Champ Car next year at Denver. Here's a link to the just-released schedule: http://www.world-challenge.com/news/04press165.html

SPEED WC has a multi-year deal to support ALMS at their events for the most part, which is why you won't see them at many Champ Car events. Most people feel the TC and GT races fit better with a 'sports car' weekend anyway.

Sean - That car was driven by Mike Davis. He and Andrew Monterrubio got into each other at the end of the front straight right after the start, resulting in a solid hit to the wall by Davis. Here's a link to another photo of the incident (damn, that John Thawley is everywhere!).: http://www.johnthawley.com/gallery/albuo50/aac

Also, I ran into Memo after the race, needless to say he and his team were extremely happy with their "newfound" competitiveness.

[rabbit]

Love the Speed WC... :thumbup:

[theunions]

I didn't get to watch the races, but I saw the Memo ended up third in the Touring race.

Finally, a race this season (in any series) worth re-watching. :)

The feature they did was also a highlight, but I could've done without the gratuitous shot of Chip. :gomer:

BTW, it reruns something like 4 am Eastern Friday on Speed...will definitely need to retape it as the live feed I got on my DVR was horrible...

Anyone know where I can find actual podium photos??? No photo coverage at all at motorsport.com yet, and WC site only has on-track stuff...

[KLang]

SPEED WC has a multi-year deal to support ALMS at their events for the most part, which is why you won't see them at many Champ Car events.


Did they have a similar arrangement with Trans Am back in the 90's?

They used to run at the Des Moines Grand Prix with Trans Am. They were at RA with Cart back then as well.

[RacinM3]

Finally, a race this season (in any series) worth re-watching.

Cool! I watched much of the live feed from pit lane at the ALMS Audi pit - they were nice enough to leave their monitors up for us even though they were breaking down their equipment around us (I moved away when the guy was taking apart the fuel rig and was being watched closely by a fireman with extinguisher :eek: ).

It looked like a good TC race, with lots of action. Unfortunately my TiVo commited suicide last Thurs. right before I left for the track, so thanks for the heads-up on the re-air! :thumbup:

[oddlycalm]

Great pic M3. You're right, it does pretty much sum up Speed WC. Both races were good this week. Seemed like a fitting season ender, and I agree that these two races were among the best this season in any series with four wheels.

oc