Times are interesting right now in international (and regional) motorsport. With a somewhat rebounding international economy, we are seeing some of the biggest grids ever, there is almost unprecidented manufacturer involvement, and a lot of series are getting a lot of attention. There are a few series, like the SCCA’s Trans-American Challenge that are working hard to find their former glory. After a few years of horrible obscurity, including a handful of hiatus years, the Trans Am is starting to gain momentum. So how should the SCCA capitalize on that momentum? I think it’s about damn time for a complete revamp of the series in order to capture the nation’s attention. How you say? Click the jump, and I’ll tell you!

Trans Am was once a world-class category of sports car racing, drawing some of the best drivers, teams, and cars in the world to compete on some of the best tracks in the world. The class gradually became an also-ran, until it died off in the mid-2000s, then was resurrected in 2009. In 2011, the SCCA transferred control of the series effectively to the series itself, and the grids have grown dramatically since then. That said, the racing isn’t exactly what it was in the ‘good old days’, because the talent attracted isn’t exactly top shelf, and the cars themselves are considered low-tech in comparison to a WWII army JEEP. That’s not exactly a great basis for gaining a fanbase. Racing fans like to see fast cars, close racing, and intriguing technology [see also: the FIA WEC’s LMP1 class], and as of right now, Trans Am has none of these things.
Much like Yoda’s ‘fear is the path to the dark side’ soliloquy, I have a similarly prophetic statement for the SCCA and Trans Am Race Company, LLC. Better cars leads to better racing, better racing leads to more viewers, more viewers leads to your drivers and teams being able to sell more sponsorship space on the cars, more sponsorship money means drivers and teams that invest in the series, and drivers and teams investing in the series leads to better everything. You want better everything. That’s the goal. There are three steps to making things better, and here’s the fun part, I’m going to help you recognize them and give you some tips on how to move forward. Step 1: Recognize when “the good old days” were, and why they were so good. Step 2: Recognize what the SCCA in general, and Trans Am specifically, is doing right. Step 3: Recognize where you want your package to be in the marketplace, in terms of attracting drivers and teams, attracting butts to the seats, attracting series sponsors and partners, and potentially attracting manufacturers. Once all of that is figured out, it’s just implementation.

Repeating History

So, let’s start with a history lesson. The SCCA’s Trans American Challenge class began in 1966 with a dual tier classification with the higher category being for sedans with a maximum displacement of 5 liters, and the lower category being for sedans with a maximum displacement of 2 liters (later expanded to 2.5 liters in 1971). Cars of the first few years were mostly stock cars primarily run by privateer racers, but it only took a short time for the manufacturers to get involved with back-door sponsorship, special engineering and parts, and de-facto support. The teams of this era were some of the best known in American racing, and the series attracted some really big name drivers out of open wheel and European-style sports car racing. As the sport gained in popularity, the rulebook went from mild to wild, and the cars got more and more complex. Ford left, Chevy left, Dodge left, and eventually even AMC left. in the early 1970s, the sub 2.5 category was much more interesting than the all but forgotten ground pounder V8s, pitting Alfa Romeo against Datsun. The cars got too expensive for privateers to compete, and the series relied too heavily on manufacturer support, effectively killing itself.

After the mass exodus of manufacturer support, Trans Am morphed into essentially the SCCA’s carbon copy of IMSA GT and FIA Group 5/Group 4. They’d completely thrown out the idea of this being sedan racing, and cars like Porsche’s 935 and the weird-yet-successful Monza proliferated. The racing was exciting again, but it wasn’t really in keeping with what Trans Am was. Moving away from FIA specs, Trans Am then experienced another period of massive growth and renewed interest from fans. In the 1980s, Trans Am changed formula again, and became a silhouette racing series with tube frame cars and some really massive power levels. While the cars weren’t exactly direct successors to the original Trans-Am, they certainly were something you might call a sedan again, featuring Mustangs, Merkur XR4-Tis, Camaros, Audi 200s, and others. Again, the series brought big name drivers, and big name teams, and big support from manufacturers. In the late 1990s, though, the series had the same problem they had 25 years earlier, the manufacturers started dropping like flies. By 2000, the series was again a farce, and the champion that year was a Qvale Mangusta. I don’t think anything else needs to be said.
So what can we learn from this? My first takeaway is that major manufacturer support is a double edged sword. Sure the highs are really high, and you are emboldened with large grids, exciting drivers, and huge crowds/TV numbers, but the lows are so low it hurts. Manufacturers are finicky when it comes to racing, and can drop a successful program with no warning (I’m looking at you Viper GTE/GTLM Program and Peugeot LMP1 Program!) and massive repercussions. Secondly, the American race-fan populous seems to like front-engine, loud, raucous, race cars that look at least vaguely like something they can pop down to a dealership and purchase. If you can get a stock appearing car without too much manufacturer dependence, then you might have something. The late 60s were cool and all, but personally I prefer the 80s and 90s, and would like to see Trans Am return to a more modern interpretation of that kind of racing. When technological innovation and power reigned supreme. There’s your golden era.

You’ve Got A Good Thing Going

If you look at the SCCA’s Pro Racing segment right now, you’ll see a lot of good. The grids are huge, the circuits are world class, and they’ve got some half-decent TV deals going. So how do you use those existing assets to further the Trans Am cause?
For starters, grid sizes are phenomenal right now. Trans Am’s season opener at Sebring is going to have 70 cars, and Pirelli World Challenge have made it public that they have an even 100 cars lined up for their season opening event at the Circuit of the Americas.
Check out that season schedule. I don’t think you could find a better grouping of circuits for this series if you tried. Trans Am races at places like Sebring, Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio, Road America, VIR, COTA, and Daytona. That’s amazing if you ask me.
TV deals aren’t exactly dime-a-dozen. Getting Trans Am and its racers on television was likely a very difficult prospect, and somehow the management of the series got it to happen. No mention has been made as to how detailed the programming will be, and whether it will be live broadcasts, tape delayed, or highlights packages, but chances are it won’t be the highest quality production ever. It’ll do. The worst part about this deal, however, is that CBS Sports is only available in about 10% of US homes. We’ll see how much of a boon this is for the series.
Pros: Excellent circuits, full grids, just signed a deal with CBS Sports for TV coverage
Cons: No-name drivers, outdated car tech, overshadowed by World Challenge

How do we package the series?

So, the SCCA already has a hit on its hands with the World Challenge series. So where should Trans Am slot in? My personal opinion is that Trans Am needs to return to a state of being a harbinger of technological advancement that it was in the 80s and 90s. Back then, the Trans Am cars were practically IMSA GTP cars in silhouette sedan packages. There were turbo four cylinders pumping out four digit horsepower levels, the tires were advancing at a massive rate, drivelines had to be strong yet light to be able to handle all of that power, and all of this was happening still in the relative early days of fuel injection, engine management, and turbocharger tech. Just imagine what could be produced with current technology. Trans Am shouldn’t be an also-ran series, it should be the absolute peak of tin-top racing, attracting the best drivers and teams like it once did.
So, Trans Am should be, in my eyes, the absolute pinnacle of tin top racing, at the very least on par with DTM and JGTC, and a couple of steps above GT3 and V8 Supercars. How do you get that level of innovative tech while still remaining relevant to the public? Here it comes, my ‘big idea’.

Specifications

1. Eligible base design cars will include any current production front-engine two-door sedan with seating for at least four.
2. In order to parse out ‘sports cars’ from ‘sedans’, no cars are eligible with a wheelbase shorter than that of the 2015 Ford Mustang (ie. 107.1 inches)
3. Race cars may feature either rear wheel drive or all wheel drive, assuming the model in question is available equipped as such.
4. Engines must use an randomly chosen assembly line engine block used in the model desired, and cannot be modified (including cooling jackets, bore sizing, bearing journals, etc). Eligible engines cannot exceed 3 liters in displacement if forced induction is used, or 6 liters if naturally aspirated. If displacement must be modified from stock, it will need to have been accomplished by changing piston stroke, rather than bore.
5. Rear wheel drive cars will be given a minimum race-finishing weight of 2500 pounds less driver. All wheel drive cars will be given a minimum race-finishing weight of 2750 pounds less driver.
6. Chassis will be custom built per application using tube-frames. Wheelbase and track width cannot be modified from stock.
7. Bodywork must be stock appearing, and must conform to the same maximum dimensions in height, width, and length, based on the original showroom car your design and engine are lifted from.
8. Tires will be open-formula.
9. No ‘wings’ will be allowed, though otherwise aero is unrestricted.
10. Fuel used must be series provided “pump gas” of any readily available octane.

This formula allows for a relatively inexpensive way to race cars with horsepower in the several hundred, while allowing great variety in the types of eligible cars. I could see a field filled with Mustangs, Camaros, and Challengers, but equally relevant, could bring in BMW’s M4, Mercedes’ S Coupe, Audi’s RS5, Lexus RC-F, or maybe even a Ferrari F12, Maserati GranTurismo, Aston Martin DB9, Nissan GT-R, or something that hasn’t even been built yet. The cornerstone of this category is innovation, including advanced suspension tech.
A second tier category would be introduced below the 6/3T class. Here are the basic rules for that class.

1. Eligible base design cars will include any current production front-engine sedan with seating for at least four. In this class, 4-door or 2-door cars would be allowed.
2. Engines must use an randomly chosen assembly line engine block used in the model desired, and cannot be modified (including cooling jackets, bore sizing, bearing journals, etc). Eligible engines cannot exceed 2 liters, and no forced induction is allowed. If displacement must be modified from stock, it will need to have been accomplished by changing piston stroke, rather than bore.
3. Race cars may have any drive configuration, so long as the engine is front mounted, and the base car is sold with that drive configuration.
4. Rear and front wheel driven cars will be given a minimum race-finishing weight of 2100 pounds less driver. All wheel drive cars will be given a minimum race-finishing weight of 2400 pounds less driver.
5. Chassis will be custom built per application using tube-frames. Wheelbase and track width cannot be modified from stock.
6. Cars in this category must be equipped with rearward facing camera systems similar to those used on GM’s United SportsCar Championship Corvette GTLM cars.
7. Bodywork must be stock appearing, and must conform to the same maximum dimensions in height, width, and length, based on the original showroom car your design and engine are lifted from.
8. Tires will be open-formula.
9. No ‘wings’ will be allowed, though otherwise aero is unrestricted.
10. Fuel used must be series provided “pump gas” of any readily available octane.

For this category, I envision things like Honda Accords, Cadillac’s ATS, Volkswagen Jettas, Audi A3s, Volvos, Mazda6, etc. Could be fun!
So what do you think? Would this improve on the existing Trans Am formula? Would you watch it? How would you change things?