Champ Car Umbrella

[Mike Lawler]

INDIANAPOLIS (July 5, 2005) — The following is an official statement from the Champ Car World Series about the future of the Trans-Am Series. The Trans-Am Series is operating under the Champ Car umbrella for the second consecutive year in 2005. "The Trans-Am Series is a valued and vital component of the Champ Car family and is very popular with fans at all of our venues. Champ Car and the Trans-Am Series have built a strong relationship over the years and will continue to work together in order to provide great racing action to all of our fans."




I wonder what brought this on and who stired the pot?

[KLang]

According to a thread at gomerville the rumor was started by Autoweak.

While Trans Am isn't quite what it used to be, I would be disappointed not to have them running at the Champ Car events I attend.

[devilmaster]

I have been hearing some rumblings that SCCA's contract for the name 'Trans-Am' is up at the end of the season, and that they won't be agreeing to a new deal for the name.....

Beyond that, I don't know what has brought that statement up....

Steve

[extramundane]

I have been hearing some rumblings that SCCA's contract for the name 'Trans-Am' is up at the end of the season, and that they won't be agreeing to a new deal for the name.....

Beyond that, I don't know what has brought that statement up....

Steve

Word on the street is that SCCA will rename SWC GT to Trans-Am.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Trans-Am needs some serious retooling. They either should move the name over to SPEED GT as extramundane mentioned, or drop the specs back down to the more affordable GT-1 rules.

Right now, Trans-Am is little more than a tiny, semi-public racing series for Gentilozzi and his friends to race in. Panoz really screwed up things with the series, and Gentilozzi made it worse by making it so that his cars were so dominant.

[FCYTravis]

Suffice to say that the members of the SCCA Board of Directors I've talked to have been rather underwhelmed by the current management of the Trans-Am Series, and are interested in taking the name in a different direction.

[cameraman]

Suffice to say that the members of the SCCA Board of Directors I've talked to have been rather underwhelmed by the current management of the Trans-Am Series, and are interested in taking the name in a different direction.
It sure took them long enough to figure it out...

[Easy]

I think it would be quite stupid to change the name of SPEED GT, which has really been built over a long time into a very good series. However, this is US road racing, I'm sure they'll find a way to **** up a good thing.

[Steve99]

The Trans Am name should probably be "rested" for a while. I think SWC GT is best fitting of the name, but I think it would be a mistake to change the name of that series.

[Mike Lawler]

Suffice to say that the members of the SCCA Board of Directors I've talked to have been rather underwhelmed by the current management of the Trans-Am Series, and are interested in taking the name in a different direction.



Which members of SCCA Board of Directors are you refering?
If you are speaking of San Fran Region (A.J., Meeker, Vodden, Pitts) then I question their comments.
If you are speaking of Topeka ( Steve, Mitch,Brian and the gang) then I would say your statment is of value. At this point "mum" is the word from the Kansas camp.

[FCYTravis]

I'm speaking of neither group. Of those you listed, only Pitts and Brian (Holtz) are on the BoD and I haven't spoken to either of them.

[The Doctor]

I think Trans-Am should just be allowed to slip away gracefully into the past. It had its glory days but has been run into the ground. SWC GT will naturally fill the small void that will be left with its own fantastic product of racing.

[Insomniac]

Doesn't Gentilozzi own Trans-Am?

[rjohnson999]

No. He leases it from SCCA.


Doesn't Gentilozzi own Trans-Am?

[Mike Lawler]

Doesn't Gentilozzi own Trans-Am?


I believe that SCCA owns the name and rights thus Gentilozzi contracts for its use.

[Easy]

Gentilozzi owns a racing series for tube framed V-8 racecars. He has a contract with the SCCA for the right to name that series, Trans-Am.

The name should probably be allowed to pass while people still remember it for its glory days and not as a hobby series with a field that is overall, lesser than an SCCA national weekend. Maybe it can be revived in a few years a la DTM.

[Insomniac]

So was this rumor about someone else getting the name or Gentilozzi going elsewhere. The latter makes no sense.

[Mike Lawler]

So was this rumor about someone else getting the name or Gentilozzi going elsewhere. The latter makes no sense.


Per Pauls comments today.....
He also said he will keep fighting to continue Trans-Am’s legacy as the North America’s premiere sedan road racing series.
“Over the last seven or eight years a lot of people have talked about Trans-Am being dead, and it’s this or it’s that, but it’s still here—in its 40th year, and that was a significant task,” added Gentilozzi, who won his first Trans-Am race in 1988 at Long Beach. “We’ve fought this battle and we want to continue to fight the battle. We want Trans-Am to continue to be a great Series, and as long as we continue to have great drivers like we do today, we’ll keep having a series.”

I guess ( my take) is what does SCCA want? Gentilozzi was the only one who stepped forward a few years ago to save the series from a known death. I believe it is still in a rebuilding stage thus adding the GTA series was an excellent idea except,those teams are based on the West Coast. Maybe reducing the entry fees and tweaking the rules for local SCCA GT1 cars would increase the car count. Not much fun watching 12 or 13 cars on track.
Just my thoughts.

[FCYTravis]

"Great drivers like we do today?" Who is Gentilozzi kidding? What great drivers?

I think the SCCA wants more than the embarassment that Trans-Am has become. 10 cars with some ASA filler and Rocketsports winning every race is a bad joke. :shakehead