Gloves Came off at IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Result Was Strong Ratings
Fans need to see the competitive passion if IMSA wants to hit top dead center with some real torque.
When Sebastien Bourdais lambasted IMSA for its post-race demotion of Tower Motorsports from first place in LMP2 over a skid-plate violation, he broke ranks.
There's no racing show like one with passion, whether it's participants talking about the rules, the competition, beating the other guy or the other company.
It's time to welcome IMSA back to the big leagues thanks to a raucous Rolex 24 at Daytona and some TV ratings to match.
At the year's biggest WeatherTech Championship race, some drivers, teams and manufacturers spoke their minds afterward instead of kowtowing to IMSA's one-for-all party line. Instead of corporate speak, they let their opinions fly, which is what happens in Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar.
Whether it's throwing punches, verbal jousting or a manufacturer like Ford not taking the usual line, fans need to see the competitive passion if a series wants to hit top dead center with some real torque.
It was not enough to have a deep, high-tech field, with drivers and teams to match at the Rolex. When Tommy Milner called out BMW and its driver Augusto Farfus for questionable team tactics that stank, well, you could see the fumes as well as Milner's single finger salute.
When Sebastien Bourdais lambasted IMSA for its post-race demotion of Tower Motorsports from first place in LMP2 over a skid-plate violation, he broke ranks. The Porsche Penske Motorsport team was demoted from victory for a similar violation at Watkins Glen in 2023, but that was followed by a carefully worded media release.
The Rolex had an impressive fan turnout, international viewing numbers topping two million on YouTube and more-than-respectable TV ratings that averaged 901,000 viewers on NBC despite catawampus jumps between the main channel and Peacock as race fans got the usual pitch designed to generate paid streaming.
Including a long-running online radio show, if the numbers in all these electronic realms are to go up, the more passion from participants the better.
The biggest breach of protocol came from the biggest announcement. Ford is back in play at the top level of sports prototype racing with its first major commitment in decades. But the folks at the Blue Oval, led by Chairman Bill Ford, skipped the usual niceties.
Instead, Ford's new chairman is beginning to sound like the second coming of The Deuce, the incomparable Henry Ford II, whose leadership led to the GT40, Mk II and Mk IV.
'We're coming back to beat Ferrari at Le Mans,' said the current chairman. He not only broke protocol by tweaking a competitor. There was not even a car or team in the room. He did not mention IMSA or the Rolex 24, much less an LMDh.
The leadership at IMSA by Jim France, the board chairman, and John Doonan, the president, can understand Ford's point of view. After all, the current WeatherTech Championship that they have expertly built relies in no small part on a strong relationship with Le Mans. That sounds a bit like the preceding American Le Mans Series, does it not?
There's a deeper historical precedent between the current GTP and the version that put IMSA on the worldwide map in the 1980s. Inarguably, the original GTP cars were as technically sophisticated as the machinery in any other major series in the world. The current LMDh hybrids can stake a similar claim to technical sophistication. The only remaining step is to beat the custom-built Hypercars such as the Ferrari 499P at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The emergence of a rivalry between Chevy's Corvette and Ford's Mustang in GTD is a tribute to IMSA growing its GT classes, albeit the GT3 category is not exactly home-grown. That rivalry is now augmented with some blood in the water around BMW and Milner's new t-shirt featuring a single digit salute that is being sold for charity. Combined with the hybrid prototypes, IMSA stands with any other major series in the world when it comes to competition, especially at the major endurance events, which comprise half the schedule.
But there's no racing show like one with passion, whether it's participants talking about the rules, the competition, beating the other guy or the other company. The new developments at Daytona and the following Ford announcement in Charlotte are a refreshing break from a cozy relationship that exists between the sanctioning body and its competing manufacturers, which all pay a pretty penny to participate. This 'pay-to-play' partnership has sometimes made IMSA seem like Mr. Rogers neighborhood.
Let's hope the cardigan sweater and the gloves continue to come off as a promising season and future continues to unfold.
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