2014 United SportsCar Racing schedule - which circuits to drop?

[fieldodreams79]

4 to remove took me less than 10 secs:
Barber
Houston
Indy
Jersey

Anyone who wants to remove Mosport needs to take a serious look in the mirror.

[Scooter185]

i really want Baltimore to stay. I've gone done to the inner harbor many times for baseball games and really want to get down there for a race.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Mosport has one of the largest attendances so far, so it needs to stay. I'm not a fan of street circuits or rovals... outside of Daytona. I left Indy for now because of the name... but meh.

Completely agree .

[wheelz22]

Originally Posted by Scooter185

i really want Baltimore to stay. I've gone done to the inner harbor many times for baseball games and really want to get down there for a race.

I could live without Baltimore...too many fans jammed into an asphalt jungle.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Anyone who wants to remove Mosport needs to take a serious look in the mirror.

Before Chuck Norris performs a roundhouse kick!

Originally Posted by wheelz22

I could live without Baltimore...too many fans jammed into an asphalt jungle.

Yeah, why would anyone want a USR race like that?

[Nick6]

How did Houston get on this list in the first place?

[Purist]

And how did Kansas not get on this list?

I guess the one who started the poll thought Houston was a potential venue, but if that's the case, Montreal, Sears Point, and maybe a few others, should be on there as well.

Street circuits look spectacular on TV, especially from the onboard shots. Also, they allow you to get closer to the action, even if it is a limited portion of it, than you can at just about any other venue. If you have a convention center, or similar, to use for the paddock, that can be a great thing for the fans who come out, especially if the weather is less than ideal.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Purist

And how did Kansas not get on this list?

I guess the one who started the poll thought Houston was a potential venue, but if that's the case, Montreal, Sears Point, and maybe a few others, should be on there as well.

The one who started the pol thought very little, we can agree on that

[The Happy Track Fan]

In order to have a North American Championship, you have to have a race in Canada.

To drop Mosport would be insane. It gets the largest attendance of any stand alone ALMS outside of Sebring or Petit. It has so much history and tradition and will continue to draw huge fan support with a United Series.

Plus, with all of the work that has gone on to the track, the amenities and the new Media Centre, the facility is becoming absolutely top notch again, so letting Mosport go would be simply nuts.

[wheelz22]

Originally Posted by The Happy Track Fan

In order to have a North American Championship, you have to have a race in Canada.

To drop Mosport would be insane. It gets the largest attendance of any stand alone ALMS outside of Sebring or Petit. It has so much history and tradition and will continue to draw huge fan support with a United Series.

Plus, with all of the work that has gone on to the track, the amenities and the new Media Centre, the facility is becoming absolutely top notch again, so letting Mosport go would be simply nuts.

All makes great sense.....too bad Mosport is in Canada though....no personal offense.

[HJJ]

Daytona - Jan (with Roar preview early in the month)
Sebring - March (with Spring training test in Feb to keep media buzz going)
Long Beach - April (2 races, split field P & PC/GTLM & GTD. No PWC race)
Laguna - May - 6 hr.
Detroit - w/Indy car GTLM & GTD only
(break for LM24 test & race)
Watkins Glen - July 6 hr.
Mosport - July
Road America - August
Mid-Ohio - August w/Nationwide
TBD - Labor day event (Lime Rock w/split field, maybe Indy 3 hr. endro but two past races were already in the Mid-west).
COTA - September w/WEC
VIR - Oct
Road Atlanta - Oct

[abruzzifan]

So, the top two tracks to be removed are tracks which aren't on either series' schedule.

Good poll guys.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by abruzzifan

So, the top two tracks to be removed are tracks which aren't on either series' schedule.

Good poll guys.

Fair point. Which tracks would you drop?

[The Happy Track Fan]

Originally Posted by wheelz22

All makes great sense.....too bad Mosport is in Canada though....no personal offense.

How the heck can you make a statement like that, and then say no personal offense.

What the heck do you have against Canada? Or Canadians? We have pretty much always been allies and friends with the U.S. and supported U.S. endeavours.

If your comment is just simply because you would like a circuit like Mosport to be in the U.S.A. then great. Otherwise, I do take offense to it.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Canada and that area of Ontario is one of the most beautiful and friendly places Grand Am and ALMS visit.

Never had a bad experience there, can't say the same about certain locations in the United States and Europe.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Daytona - Jan (with Roar preview early in the month)
Sebring - March (with Spring training test in Feb to keep media buzz going)
Long Beach - April (2 races, split field P & PC/GTLM & GTD. No PWC race)
Laguna - May - 6 hr.
Detroit - w/Indy car GTLM & GTD only
(break for LM24 test & race)
Watkins Glen - July 6 hr.
Mosport - July
Road America - August
Mid-Ohio - August w/Nationwide
TBD - Labor day event (Lime Rock w/split field, maybe Indy 3 hr. endro but two past races were already in the Mid-west).
COTA - September w/WEC
VIR - Oct
Road Atlanta - Oct

IMO; As a combined series with the traditional timing of Daytona and Sebring there needs to be a race in Feb. Barber, NOLA...(something in the south for weather, mainly temp, consideration) The USCR does not need to do any combined weekends were they take hind teet!!! No Indycar or WEC mixed events. Not at all a fan of 'split' races, no LB or LRP. I chose Mid O. for the July 4th weekend race as those going to Le Mans will be hard pressed to make it.

Daytona 24 hr (Jan.)
Barber 2:45 (Feb.)
Sebring 12 hr (Mar.)
COTA 2:45 (April)
Laguna Seca 4 hr (May)
Road America 2:45 (May 31)
> Le Mans break <
Mid Ohio 2:45 (July 5th)
Belle Isle 2:45(July)
Mosport (CTMP) 2:45 (Aug.)
Watkins Glen 6 hr (Sept)
VIR 2:45 (Sept./Oct.)
Road Atlanta-PLM 1000miles / 10 hr (Oct.)
　
　
Alternate/later when races added wish list.
　
Daytona 24 hr (Jan.)
NOLA Motorsports Park 2:45 (Feb.)
Sebring 12 hr (Mar.)
Barber 2:45 (April)
COTA 2:45 (April)
Sonoma 2:45 (May)
Portland <>or <> MMP (ISC buy Salt Lake) 3:45 (May 31)
> Le Mans break <
VIR 2:45 (July 5th)
Belle Isle 2:45 (July)
Road America 2:45 (Aug.)
Mosport (CTMP) 2:45 (Aug.)
Watkins Glen 6 hr (Sept)
Laguna Seca 3:45 (Sept./Oct.)
Road Atlanta-PLM 1000miles / 10 hr (Oct.)






L.P.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Daytona - Jan (with Roar preview early in the month)
Sebring - March (with Spring training test in Feb to keep media buzz going)
Long Beach - April (2 races, split field P & PC/GTLM & GTD. No PWC race)
Laguna - May - 6 hr.
Detroit - w/Indy car GTLM & GTD only
(break for LM24 test & race)
Watkins Glen - July 6 hr.
Mosport - July
Road America - August
Mid-Ohio - August w/Nationwide
TBD - Labor day event (Lime Rock w/split field, maybe Indy 3 hr. endro but two past races were already in the Mid-west).
COTA - September w/WEC
VIR - Oct
Road Atlanta - Oct

This... Only scrap Detroit. I don't want to offend any Detroit natives but the city is one of the most dangerous in the world, never mind the USA. It has fallen on hard times and there's no reason to waste valuable Le Mans testing time on it.

Also, July Lime Rock please...

[johntt]

Heres my latest stab at a schedule

1) Daytona 24 Hours - January
2) Sebring 12 Hours - March
3) Austin - April
4) Laguna Seca 6 Hours - April
5) Watkins Glen 6 Hours - Memorial Day Weekend
6) Detroit Belle Isle - June (with Indycar)
7) Lime Rock - Independence Day Weekend
8) Willow Springs - late July
9) Portland - August
10) Mosport - August
11) Road America 4 Hours - Labo(u)r Day Weekend
12) Petit Le Mans 10 Hours/1000 miles

All races 2 Hours 45 minutes unless noted.

[Duff_44]

I voted for the last 4. I hate street circuits for sports cars.

Since I think I may have at least stirred this discussion in the "USCR" topic (here: http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....&postcount=180), I'll repost what I said there.

1/25 Daytona
3/15 Sebring
4/19 Kansas (with NASCAR)
5/17 Laguna Seca
7/5 Lime Rock
7/12 Watkins Glen (moved back 2 weeks to avoid LM car shipping/travel conflict)
7/26 Indianpolis (with NASCAR)
8/9 Road America
8/23 Mid-Ohio
9/6 Mosport
9/20 Austin (with WEC)
10/11 Road Atlanta (Petit Le Mans)

Nothing against Barber or VIR. You could in theory add both pretty easily (Barber 4/5 with Indycar, VIR 10/4 and push Petit back one or two weeks) if you wanted 14 races. On the other hand... I hate street circuits, so any excuse to ditch them is fine with me.

I left Kansas on there because I don't think ISC would have built the road course planning a one-shot deal. Also, If Le Mans moves to it's normal weekend, Watkins Glen could be moved to the weekend before Lime Rock instead of after.

[nevertrustamidget]

Originally Posted by Purist

That had occurred to me as well, though I would imagine keeping the FIA off their backs was Priority #1 when they initially went to this duration. The TV thing just turned out to be a convenient side-effect.

DJ, if they leave the Pratt Street chicane in indefinitely, I might just agree with you. However, if they find a way to deal with that issue of the tracks, and thus can remove the chicane, then I don't see Baltimore being any worse than Long Beach or Detroit.

(The Baltimore circuit is wide (3-5 lanes for the entire lap), and has 4-5 decent, high-speed stretches (helped by moving Turns 5/6 down further), and doesn't have really awful traffic bottlenecks. The Turn 5/6/7 complex is slow enough that there isn't a huge variation in theoretical apex speeds between the different classes, which reduces the desperation factor for Prototype drivers to get past GTs right there.. Conversely, dealing with traffic fomr Turn 1 to Turn 5 at Long Beach is a very tricky proposition.)

I seem to recall 1/4 of the field taken out in a single turn at Baltimore last year. Without the run off alt turn it could have been half the field. Sorry but it is a absolute no go.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by The Happy Track Fan

How the heck can you make a statement like that, and then say no personal offense.

What the heck do you have against Canada? Or Canadians? We have pretty much always been allies and friends with the U.S. and supported U.S. endeavours.

If your comment is just simply because you would like a circuit like Mosport to be in the U.S.A. then great. Otherwise, I do take offense to it.

I think he meant for some Americans, it is an inconveniently long journey to Canada, especially for southerners. Do I care about if it is a longer journey? No.

Here's my stab at the schedule...

Round 1 : January : Daytona International Speedway : 24:00
Round 2 : March : Sebring International Raceway : 12:00
Round 3 : April : Barber Motorsports Park : 2:45
Round 4 : May : Watkins Glen International : 6:00
<<LE MANS BREAK >>
Round 5 : July : Lime Rock Park : 2:45
Round 6 : July : Canadian Tire Motorsports Park : 2:45
Round 7 : August : Road America : 2:45
Round 8 : August : Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course : 2:45
Round 9 : September : Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca : 6:00
Round 10 : September : Circuit of the Americas : 2:45
Round 11 : October : Virginia International Raceway : 2:45
Round 12 : October : Road Atlanta : 10:00

[BrentJackson]

Daytona, Sebring, Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen - will never go off for a variety of reasons, namely they are the series' flagship events.

Mosport (aka CTMP) - attendance has always been very good and the new track owners have dumped a mountain of money into the place over the last 18 months. Bailing on it now would be idiotic. Aside from the above, its the most obvious one to remain.

Laguna Seca, Road America. Virginia International Raceway - three of the best road courses in the Americas, full stop, and both have excellent facilities and proud fanbases. Keep all three.

Barber Park - another case of good track with enthusiastic promoter and good local fanbase. Keep.

Circuit of the Americas - great place to race at, Grand-Am kicked off the history of sports cars there with a bang. I'd say this one should be on deck for a couple years to see how it works.

Detroit - this one is gonna be controversial I'm sure, but the Motor City should be a place for sports car racing. Yes, the city itself is something of a dump, but I don't see it remaining that way forever, and it would probably be a good bone to toss to the Big Three.

Mid-Ohio - some of the greatest battles in IMSA history have happened here, and the track has great fans. It stays for the same reason as Mosport does.

Indianapolis - I really do think that the Brickyard should be an enduro, or at least a 1000-km or 6-Hour event. The Brickyard is one of the most famous racing facilities in the world, and I also think this one can be a real financial success for the teams. Make this a 1000-mile event and be glad you did.

Long Beach - of two minds on this one. Long Beach isn't the greatest of circuits and you'd have to split races, which I would hope that USCR would try as much as possible to avoid. On the other hand, Indycar is a rolling trainwreck right now, and it might allow us to take over the track for real at some date, which would be good. I'm debating this one.

I'd preferably use this for a 2014 schedule:

Jan. 25-26 - Daytona (24 Hours)
Feb. 23 - Laguna Seca (6 Hours)
Mar. 15 - Sebring (12 Hours)
Apr. 12 - Long Beach (2 Hours 30 Minutes, split P/PC and GTLM/GTD races)
May 4 - Virginia (3 Hours)
Jul. 6 - Watkins Glen (6 Hours)
Jul. 20 - Mosport (3 Hours)
Aug. 3 - Detroit (2 Hours 30 Minutes, split P/PC and GTLM/GTD races)
Aug. 17 - Mid-Ohio (3 Hours)
Aug. 31 - Road America (500 Miles)
Sep. 14 - Indianapolis (6 Hours)
Sep. 28 - COTA (4 Hours, with WEC)
Oct. 11 - Road Atlanta (1000 Miles / 10 Hours)

Now, once the series is established and well-operational, we can advance to this by 2016 or so:

Jan. 30-31 - Daytona (24 Hours)
Feb. 14 - Barber Park (500 Miles)
Mar. 12 - Sebring (12 Hours)
Mar. 27 - Virginia (4 Hours)
Apr. 16 - Long Beach (2 Hours 30 Minutes) [2]
May 1 - COTA (6 Hours) [1]
May 15 - Miller Park (4 Hours)
Jun. 5 - Zandvoort (4 Hours)
Jun. 18-19 (Le Mans - no points race for USCR, but many teams go)
Jul. 3 - Watkins Glen (6 Hours)
Jul. 17 - Mont-Tremblant (4 Hours)
Jul. 24 - Mosport (1000 Kilometers) [1]
Aug. 6 - Detroit (2 Hours 30 Minutes) [2]
Aug. 14 - Mid-Ohio (4 Hours)
Aug. 28 - Pacific Raceways (4 Hours)
Sep. 11 - Road America (500 Miles)
Sep. 25 - Indianapolis (8 Hours)
Oct. 8 - Road Atlanta (1000 Miles / 10 Hours)
Oct. 22 - Laguna Seca (6 Hours)

[1] Joint USCR-WEC events, all cars for both series legal

[2] Events split into P/PC and GTLM/GTD races

[nevertrustamidget]

Originally Posted by Beetle

I think he meant for some Americans, it is an inconveniently long journey to Canada, especially for southerners. Do I care about if it is a longer journey? No.

Here's my stab at the schedule...

Round 1 : January : Daytona International Speedway : 24:00
Round 2 : March : Sebring International Raceway : 12:00
Round 3 : April : Barber Motorsports Park : 2:45
Round 4 : May : Watkins Glen International : 6:00
<<LE MANS BREAK >>
Round 5 : July : Lime Rock Park : 2:45
Round 6 : July : Canadian Tire Motorsports Park : 2:45
Round 7 : August : Road America : 2:45
Round 8 : August : Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course : 2:45
Round 9 : September : Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca : 6:00
Round 10 : September : Circuit of the Americas : 2:45
Round 11 : October : Virginia International Raceway : 2:45
Round 12 : October : Road Atlanta : 10:00

Like most of it but would make several changes. Lime Rock is a nice little track but is just that, a little track. Would be forced to run split events at Lime Rock due to size. Would move either Road America or Mid Ohio to the July 4th weekend. COTA has to be in the spring. Football is king in Texas in the fall and too hot in summer. Not a big fan of taking a break for Lemans so 4 or 5 out of 160-170 cars can compete at Lemans. With USCR and Continental Tire series you can easly have 160+ cars sitting dead for a month so 4 or 5 cars can go to Lemans. June is major vacation time for families in US.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by nevertrustamidget

Like most of it but would make several changes. Lime Rock is a nice little track but is just that, a little track. Would be forced to run split events at Lime Rock due to size. Would move either Road America or Mid Ohio to the July 4th weekend. COTA has to be in the spring. Football is king in Texas in the fall and too hot in summer. Not a big fan of taking a break for Lemans so 4 or 5 out of 160-170 cars can compete at Lemans. With USCR and Continental Tire series you can easly have 160+ cars sitting dead for a month so 4 or 5 cars can go to Lemans. June is major vacation time for families in US.

If you want the USCR to have a connection with Le Mans, then a Le Mans Break needs to be there.

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by Salamus

If you want the USCR to have a connection with Le Mans, then a Le Mans Break needs to be there.

Yes, and let the support series take shine too!