{"id":75578,"date":"2024-08-08T14:00:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T14:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racer.com\/?p=363484"},"modified":"2024-08-08T14:00:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T14:00:14","slug":"road-america-confirms-new-attendance-record-for-imsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/road-america-confirms-new-attendance-record-for-imsa\/","title":{"rendered":"Road America confirms new attendance record for IMSA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As IMSA SportsCar Weekend activities were getting underway Thursday at Road America, IMSA president John Doonan drove a golf cart around the 640-acre property.<\/p>\n

Immediately, he felt it. Something was happening. Something profoundly positive.<\/p>\n

Campgrounds were quickly filling. Hungry, thirsty fans gathered at concession stands. Golf carts, scooters and e-bikes whirled around him. Three days before the green flag was scheduled to wave for the featured race, Road America was buzzing with activity.<\/p>\n

A lifelong attendee of \u201cAmerica\u2019s National Park of Speed,\u201d Doonan knew the enthusiasm at the Wisconsin racetrack had reached new levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was blown away,\u201d Doonan said. \u201cI\u2019ve been coming to this racetrack since I was 6 weeks old. I have not seen a crowd like this during that entire time. That\u2019s 54 years. I\u2019ve been a fan of endurance sports car racing all my life. I\u2019ve been a fan of IMSA since its inception. I\u2019ve never seen the momentum we\u2019re experiencing now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Kertscher, Road America\u2019s president and general manager, saw it, too. Dozens of campers lined up at the gate at 7 a.m. Thursday, nearly 80 hours before Sunday\u2019s main event. He joked with Doonan about the need to get cars on track immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an old-school promoter at heart, so I got after him a bit,\u201d Kertscher said with a laugh. \u201cI said, \u2018John, we have to have some activity, bud. We have to get something rolling out there.\u2019 With social media now, people start taking pictures of it on Thursday, and they\u2019re trying to get their friends to come. It\u2019s a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Indeed, this visit of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and three additional IMSA-sanctioned race series to Road America was beyond any other since IMSA first raced at the iconic circuit in 1979, surpassing the previous attendance record set last year by 10 percent, Kertscher said.<\/p>\n

In the minutes before the race, the size of the crowd became noticeable in the paddock and midway areas of the facility. Fans lined up to buy brats and beers at The Gearbox on the midway, one of several popular establishments that give the Elkhart Lake track a reputation for excellent dining.<\/p>\n

Drivers took notice as well. Doonan broke the news about the record-breaking crowd to drivers and team members during a pre-race meeting Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy to see the strength of the series at the moment — to see it get bigger and bigger every year,\u201d said Dane Cameron, who teamed with Felipe Nasr to finish second Sunday in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. \u201cWe had some great news from Doonan about the\u00a0increase in our crowds and rivaling the IndyCar attendance, which is huge and special for us. We\u2019ve been considered a niche motorsport, especially in America, so it\u2019s super cool to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cool as well to see that Road America isn\u2019t the only track experiencing the IMSA renaissance. Seven of the WeatherTech Championship\u2019s eight races this season have set attendance records, according to Doonan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trajectory that we\u2019re on is incredibly positive for the sport,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of these elements are starting to hit their stride. That\u2019s a compliment to everyone who\u2019s investing, from team stakeholders to corporate partners to every man and woman on the IMSA staff. We\u2019ve got it all rolling in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that move in the right direction is the consistency of the event\u2019s date. For the past eight years, the IMSA SportsCar Weekend has been held on the first weekend in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cDate equity is something that, for us, is a must have,\u201d Kertscher said. \u201cWe\u2019re working every year for next year. We\u2019re already selling tickets for next year. Any ticket you sell at the event or right after it, those folks now become your ambassador for a year. They\u2019re out there walking the beat, convincing their family and friends to come with them. Early ticket sales are some of the most important sales we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The task now is to keep it all rolling in the right direction. Doonan points to cost control for participants and easy access for fans as primary ways to continue the expansion. Long-term car homologations and regulations designed to keep the cost of racing under control are beneficial to teams, while a TV and streaming package with broadcast partner NBC will extend for future seasons.<\/p>\n

Another factor in the increased attention, Doonan says, is parity among manufacturers. Sixteen of the 18 manufacturers involved in IMSA have won races this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of stat is why we do it,\u201d Doonan said. \u201cWithout sounding clich\u00e9, the cars are the stars. I appreciate it when fans line up to see their favorite manufacturer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The combination of close racing and accessibility for fans, both on-site and off-site, offers promise for 2025 and beyond. In fact, it\u2019s already happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re probably plus-20 in terms of conversations with interested parties for (competing in) the Rolex 24 in January,\u201d Doonan said. \u201cThere\u2019s tons of interest in being part of IMSA. The North American market is the most important market for manufacturers and race teams bringing corporate partners to IMSA. We\u2019re proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span> A packed house for the fan grid walk at Road America. \u00a0Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

Satisfaction was the theme at Road America, from both sanctioning body and track promoter, with the focus on continued improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something special, right?\u201d Kertscher said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got two iconic brands working together to deliver a first-class product at a first-class venue. Fans are receptive. It\u2019s pretty cool. We\u2019re attracting new fans. It isn\u2019t necessarily people who are diehard motorsports fans. We\u2019re really working hard to attract new fans.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As IMSA SportsCar Weekend activities were getting underway Thursday at Road America, IMSA president John Doonan drove a golf cart around the 640-acre property. Immediately, he felt it. Something was happening. Something profoundly positive. Campgrounds were quickly filling. Hungry, thirsty fans gathered at concession stands. Golf carts, scooters and e-bikes whirled around him. Three days …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","has-thumb","has-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}