- 26,911
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
A few times, I've actually discussed how I got into motorsports. I never got a chance to tell the complete story. I figured that now is the time to tell my story and why I loved sportscar racing for as long as I've known racing. I wanted to share this part in honor of the upcoming 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans, and another part just to actually let you know how I got into racing and why I love sportscar racing so much. I wasn't planning this, but this is going to be a long story! So here goes:
- MY SPORTSCAR RACING CONFESSION -
It was about 1998 or so. I didn't have satellite TV. I had a liking for Fox Sports Net for one reason- Speedvision. I really feel like Speedvision offered up racing that I had to have a special channel just to see racing that I'm pretty much missing out on. The inaugural Petit Le Mans was in 1998, and I was watching FOX Sports Net when they had aired a tape-delay of the Petit Le Mans. I noticed my favorite race car of all-time, the Momo-sponsored Ferrari 333SP, win the race outright. Afterwards, I grown a love of sportscar racing that stations like ABC/ESPN, CBS, NBC, or whatever wasn't showing all that much. Only major road racing sanction I could recall in my inexperienced time was the United States Road Racing Championship. I look back at games like "Sports Car GT" and just realize what it was I actually missed out on. I wasn't able to see awesome automobiles like the Panoz Esperante GT1, the Porsche 911 GT1 (even its Le Mans 1998 winner), the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR, or just about any awesome sportscar between 1995 and 2000. That even includes the Toyota GT-One, Nissan R390 GT1, and the BMW V12 LMR at least. NBC networks shown off the American Le Mans Series, and I was in love as I seen these cars in action that I've missed for some time. I've loved the series and probably still wished I had Speedvision to see some of the other races not shown on the NBC networks at the time.
It wasn't until about early 2001 when my parents' Dish service picked up Speedvision as a preview. We'd get it for real about April or May 2001. My first Le Mans I seen on TV was 2001. And many of us know how much of a washout that year's race was. I didn't see it at the start, but since then, I've seen the Le Mans endurance from the start since 2001. I was so pleased in watching high-quality sportscar racing from the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-American Road Racing Association (pre-Daytona Prototype). These were the cars I've loved and still love today. This was the racing I've loved and still love today.
In February 2002, Speedvision was dead and later re-launched as the Speed Channel. From what Greg Creamer (Speed Channel announcer) mentioned, Speed Channel would have increased effort in providing quality racing for all fans. I've seen Speedvision as a break from NASCAR because the channel was about more than just a silly NASCAR race. But as it turned out, it's a channel all or mostly devoted to NASCAR and most forms of Americana racing. Now I really began to feel like I've missed out on the mid and late 1990s. There was nothing I loved more than exotic race cars zooming around road courses in America and around the world. It seemed like the racing I've longed to keep seeing on TV was really being taken away and replaced by oval racing and cheap thrills racing. Le Mans has been the centerpiece of racing. It's the racing I live for and loved for many years. I even love video games for featuring these exotic and powerful cars. It still gives me the chills and sweet, momentary dreams of cars like the Audi R8 and all the different exotic race cars all battling in their respective classes at once.
One year later, word of the GARRA came that Daytona Prototypes were going to be a new wave in American sportscar racing. I was actually interested, but also concerned. I thought open-top prototypes and varying degrees of GT cars meant for fun sportscar racing. This is where I began to have tension of the GARRA dropping many of the elements I've loved about Le Mans and the ALMS. The GARRA wanted to be a seperate, almost all-American formula of sportscar racing and not have any ties to Le Mans. The Columbia Space Shuttle disaster occured a few days ago as I seen the 2003 Rolex 24. The winner of the race was The Racer's Group Porsche. That's right. A lowly Porsche 911 RSR defeated the Daytona Prototypes at Daytona! I wasn't too fond of the Daytona Prototype styling or some of the action. But they have caught on as an affordable way to enjoy great sportscar racing in America. Meanwhile, I took glance of the beautiful Bentleys circling Le Mans and winning it all. The GARRA tried to make sportscar racing simple with just two classes- DP and GT. Gone were American GT, SportsRacer, and all the other different classes. Either you DP race, or GT race. I began to just not really like DP racing much I thought they were becoming more of "take NASCAR oval racing action, and combine it with quality unadultered road racing." End result (after a while)- I don't like it all that much.
Now fast forward to today. I still love the ALMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, even if my pro-American counterparts tend to disagree. This was the racing I've loved and still love. Like a loving wife or beautiful children, this is something I wouldn't want to let go of for as long as I live. I share extreme passion in seeing and playing (in video games) these powerful and exotic race cars in competitive road racing. I've loved this racing for a long while and will pridefully defend it with every working intricacy in my heart and brain. This was my escape from most forms of racing I didn't care much for. I felt a positive rhythm in my heart just to see any form of sportscar racing, but especially if it was of GT or prototype racing. I've grown a love for sportscar racing in which I've shown a dedication and greed of more road racing and less of stuff like a Saturday Night at the short track or dirt track. Not to say that I hate it altogether, but this is just what I've grown to love and kind of still think about the awesome racing I've missed out on when I was still inexperienced with racing. I still am amazed when a Porsche brakes into a turn just to set himself/herself up for the next corner or set of corners. There's nothing like watching the full prowess of an open-top prototype exhibit its pure speed and control with world-class talent behind the wheel. Then think of all the disparity among car types and car manufacturers... this is the racing I live for and loved for a long time. But I'm among a non-mainstream bunch who love sportscar racing and tend to get overshadowed by the oval racing and pro-American crowd of race fans. This may be a long story, but it describes just how much I personally love sportscar racing over any other. I'm a devoted road racing guy. It's a love affair that really warms my heart when I see sportscar racing the way I remembered when I first seen it before my eyes.
-end
Again, I wasn't planning on a VERY long story, but that's the story. What do you think about all this? Or do you have any questions/comments relating to this love of sportscar racing of mine?
- MY SPORTSCAR RACING CONFESSION -
It was about 1998 or so. I didn't have satellite TV. I had a liking for Fox Sports Net for one reason- Speedvision. I really feel like Speedvision offered up racing that I had to have a special channel just to see racing that I'm pretty much missing out on. The inaugural Petit Le Mans was in 1998, and I was watching FOX Sports Net when they had aired a tape-delay of the Petit Le Mans. I noticed my favorite race car of all-time, the Momo-sponsored Ferrari 333SP, win the race outright. Afterwards, I grown a love of sportscar racing that stations like ABC/ESPN, CBS, NBC, or whatever wasn't showing all that much. Only major road racing sanction I could recall in my inexperienced time was the United States Road Racing Championship. I look back at games like "Sports Car GT" and just realize what it was I actually missed out on. I wasn't able to see awesome automobiles like the Panoz Esperante GT1, the Porsche 911 GT1 (even its Le Mans 1998 winner), the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR, or just about any awesome sportscar between 1995 and 2000. That even includes the Toyota GT-One, Nissan R390 GT1, and the BMW V12 LMR at least. NBC networks shown off the American Le Mans Series, and I was in love as I seen these cars in action that I've missed for some time. I've loved the series and probably still wished I had Speedvision to see some of the other races not shown on the NBC networks at the time.
It wasn't until about early 2001 when my parents' Dish service picked up Speedvision as a preview. We'd get it for real about April or May 2001. My first Le Mans I seen on TV was 2001. And many of us know how much of a washout that year's race was. I didn't see it at the start, but since then, I've seen the Le Mans endurance from the start since 2001. I was so pleased in watching high-quality sportscar racing from the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-American Road Racing Association (pre-Daytona Prototype). These were the cars I've loved and still love today. This was the racing I've loved and still love today.
In February 2002, Speedvision was dead and later re-launched as the Speed Channel. From what Greg Creamer (Speed Channel announcer) mentioned, Speed Channel would have increased effort in providing quality racing for all fans. I've seen Speedvision as a break from NASCAR because the channel was about more than just a silly NASCAR race. But as it turned out, it's a channel all or mostly devoted to NASCAR and most forms of Americana racing. Now I really began to feel like I've missed out on the mid and late 1990s. There was nothing I loved more than exotic race cars zooming around road courses in America and around the world. It seemed like the racing I've longed to keep seeing on TV was really being taken away and replaced by oval racing and cheap thrills racing. Le Mans has been the centerpiece of racing. It's the racing I live for and loved for many years. I even love video games for featuring these exotic and powerful cars. It still gives me the chills and sweet, momentary dreams of cars like the Audi R8 and all the different exotic race cars all battling in their respective classes at once.
One year later, word of the GARRA came that Daytona Prototypes were going to be a new wave in American sportscar racing. I was actually interested, but also concerned. I thought open-top prototypes and varying degrees of GT cars meant for fun sportscar racing. This is where I began to have tension of the GARRA dropping many of the elements I've loved about Le Mans and the ALMS. The GARRA wanted to be a seperate, almost all-American formula of sportscar racing and not have any ties to Le Mans. The Columbia Space Shuttle disaster occured a few days ago as I seen the 2003 Rolex 24. The winner of the race was The Racer's Group Porsche. That's right. A lowly Porsche 911 RSR defeated the Daytona Prototypes at Daytona! I wasn't too fond of the Daytona Prototype styling or some of the action. But they have caught on as an affordable way to enjoy great sportscar racing in America. Meanwhile, I took glance of the beautiful Bentleys circling Le Mans and winning it all. The GARRA tried to make sportscar racing simple with just two classes- DP and GT. Gone were American GT, SportsRacer, and all the other different classes. Either you DP race, or GT race. I began to just not really like DP racing much I thought they were becoming more of "take NASCAR oval racing action, and combine it with quality unadultered road racing." End result (after a while)- I don't like it all that much.
Now fast forward to today. I still love the ALMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, even if my pro-American counterparts tend to disagree. This was the racing I've loved and still love. Like a loving wife or beautiful children, this is something I wouldn't want to let go of for as long as I live. I share extreme passion in seeing and playing (in video games) these powerful and exotic race cars in competitive road racing. I've loved this racing for a long while and will pridefully defend it with every working intricacy in my heart and brain. This was my escape from most forms of racing I didn't care much for. I felt a positive rhythm in my heart just to see any form of sportscar racing, but especially if it was of GT or prototype racing. I've grown a love for sportscar racing in which I've shown a dedication and greed of more road racing and less of stuff like a Saturday Night at the short track or dirt track. Not to say that I hate it altogether, but this is just what I've grown to love and kind of still think about the awesome racing I've missed out on when I was still inexperienced with racing. I still am amazed when a Porsche brakes into a turn just to set himself/herself up for the next corner or set of corners. There's nothing like watching the full prowess of an open-top prototype exhibit its pure speed and control with world-class talent behind the wheel. Then think of all the disparity among car types and car manufacturers... this is the racing I live for and loved for a long time. But I'm among a non-mainstream bunch who love sportscar racing and tend to get overshadowed by the oval racing and pro-American crowd of race fans. This may be a long story, but it describes just how much I personally love sportscar racing over any other. I'm a devoted road racing guy. It's a love affair that really warms my heart when I see sportscar racing the way I remembered when I first seen it before my eyes.
-end
Again, I wasn't planning on a VERY long story, but that's the story. What do you think about all this? Or do you have any questions/comments relating to this love of sportscar racing of mine?
So you are saying that you don't like ovals?
