ALMS notes: Smaller car counts on the way

SEBRING, Fla.— Car count has been a big topic of conversation at Sebring International Raceway this week, with the very real prospect of seeing much smaller fields than the 28 cars that started Saturday’s 12-hour American Le Mans Series opener.

The starting lineup had only four fewer cars than last year’s race and the most exciting battle on the 3.7-mile, 17-turn Sebring circuit was waged in the elite LMP1 class, with two Acuras, two Audis and two Peugeots competing for the overall title. But only the Acuras will be on hand in two weeks when the ALMS moves on to the streets of St. Petersburg, with the other two manufacturers leaving the series to concentrate on European sports car racing’s biggest event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

Audi and Peugeot may or may not return later this year for the ALMS Petit Le Mans and the season finale in Monterey, Calif. In the meantime, ALMS president Scott Atherton acknowledged things could get a little sparse on the race grids.

“Our expectation right now for the next three races (at St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Calif., and Salt Lake City, Utah) would be high teens with the potential for maybe low 20s,” Atherton said. “If everything that’s available in all of these hoped-for expectations come into place, it could easily be low 20s. I think that St. Pete will definitely be the most challenging event we have just because of the timing of it. The other cars that are planning to compete are simply not going to be available for that race.

“And there is also some reluctance by some teams to place themselves into a street racing environment simply because they can’t afford the potential for the crash damage that goes with it. You can make a big mistake in the Utah desert and live to fight another day, whereas that same mistake can ruin the rest of your season on a street course.”

Atherton said the ALMS has no minimum field in its TV contract with Speed or with its race promoters. And Atherton insists he is neither discouraged nor embarrassed by the situation.

“We have some entries that will become viable for St. Pete and Long Beach and Salt Lake that actually aren’t here today,” he said. “We know of at least a handful, three, four or five cars that are certainly capable of racing in the series … that could easily be activated to race. And I know of at least two right now that will be on the grid there that are not here today.

“As we go through the season, we’re actually going to be adding to our car count. There will be teams that will start competing with us after Le Mans. We know that because they’ve made their intentions known to us. (24 Hours of Le Mans) is their focus and until they get that behind them, we’re not going to see them.”

Atherton pointed out some positives, including the crowd of about 80,000 here Saturday and several corporate announcements this week, including Mobil 1 re-upping as the Sebring race sponsor for three more years.

“We’re not teetering on the brink of survival or no survival,” he said. “The car counts are going to be down, that’s a given. It’s something that I am literally spending the majority of my time on. I’m talking on a daily basis to team owners, drivers, manufacturers.

“I think you’ll see some of our teams start to run incremental cars — teams that are a one-car team become a two-car team, teams that are a two-car team become a three. … There are examples like that that are in place. It’s remarkable for me, and actually very heartening to see the response that our paddock has had and the willingness to go the extra mile to assist.”

UNLUCKY START: Rahal Letterman Racing’s debut in ALMS with a pair of redesigned BMW M3s did not go as planned.

Just past the halfway point, one of the cars had withdrawn after a series of mechanical problems, and the second entry was in the paddock and in danger of being done for the day.

“It’s a heck of race to come to for our first race,” said team co-owner Bobby Rahal, a longtime driving star. “Sebring is a tough race to start at.”