What an awesome race - not just for overall winner Johnny O'Connell, who scored the victory on his birthday - but for the other class winners as well. I'd love to see more early '90s IMSA GTS, GTO, and GTU events - keep these classic races coming!
+mermaltim68 , that might be the most brilliant idea I've heard today. PC Games do this kind of thing all the time (I'm thinking of GT Legends, with all those cars from the '70s). Some console company should do something like that for this era of IMSA and SCCA Trans-Am.
+oldSCCAguy yah Exactly it's like this era of race car has been left out for some reason, when really it was one of the fastest racing series (Horsepower and Top speed wise)
* jumps in like a spaz to reply to a 5-year-old comment * A team called 'Advanced Automotive' brought an IMSA Camaro to the 1997 Fuji race. The organizers took one look at it and immediately bolted about 300lbs of ballast to it and restricted about 250 horsepower ot of the engine. Thus neutered, the car and team did poorly and abandoned their lightweight, tube-frame IMSA car in favor of something the local race organizers wouldn't handicap.
@@andxx0r_the_second671 Thanks for the response. It kinda sucks to hear that the Japanese touring car series wasn't welcoming to a US GT car, I always that as long as the car was balanced it be no problem (I guess not). But it makes me wonder, how was the McLaren F1 GTR, NOMAD Diablo, and even RAIN-X Lamborghini Countach able to race with less restrictions (P.S. you're not a spaz, it's nice to see GT style car enthusiasts instead of the insanely mainstream Drift/JDM only or Drag/Max HP in a straight line fanboys😅 )
@@tankgayle I think after the Goh/Lark McLaren’s dominance in 1996, the sanctioning body was a lot less interested in seeing high-dollar foreign customer cars in their championship. Especially after the collapse of the bubble and the amount of resources Honda, Toyota, and Nissan had spent on GT500, seeing McLaren come in and flatten everyone wasn’t what they wanted. By 1997 they had imposed enough rules and restrictions on the McLaren to ensure it wouldn’t win anymore and every Lambo, Porsche, Viper, Ferrari, Maserati, and IMSA GTO Camaro entered in GT500 since has been a non-starter due to the same applications of rules and performance scales that benefit the Japanese makes most.
+oldSCCAguy yah class vid, as well as the Trans Am series I love these GTS cars. I love Les Lindley's Mustang, he took it to Suzuka for the 1000km race later that year and won the GT class. They looked, sounded and went even better. More of this racing if you have them. 😎👍
oldSCCAguy yah, I haven't any vids (yet) and unfortunately I don't know much about why some of the IMSA guys competed in the 1993 Suzuka 1000km that year. There is a small piece in one of my books that I have but what I put before is about all there is, sorry. Parker Johnstone in his Camel Lights Acura and won his category. That's a I know!!
The funny part is Lindley was only racing IMSA in 1993 because he got tired of the "factory" teams getting preferential treatment in Trans-Am when Dodge came back with the Archer Brothers. At least that's what I heard; the purse for IMSA GTO (formerly AAC) must have been tiny compared to Trans-Am of the same vintage. I believe several IMSA cars went over to Suzuka in 1993 simply because the local field was tiny and they needed field fillers. The local Group C and fledgeling JGTC teams weren't enough I guess. This makes me want to dig up my old On Track magazines!
Speaking of GTS cars, look closely at the red #77 of RJ Gottlieb which was lapped several times. A very beautiful-in-person and unique Pontiac Trans-Am. At least the body was purpose built for the Toyota Super Production series at Willow Springs...one of a kind I think. I'd love to see some static shots of it.
I went to the Sebring race in the mid 90's. Although the Nissan, Jag, and Masda teams were nice, what I remember were the 2 black Olds Cutlasses. I was parked at a hair-pin turn where everyone had to gear down. The Oldsmobiles literally shook the ground! To cool mean thumpers!
+chobeeboy44. Yeah! IIRC, the teams running Oldsmobiles could run either the V8 or the V6 (at different weights) in T/A..don't know what IMSA let them do. But I'll bet the V8 was the choice for a place with straights as long as Sebring has. Oh, man..that sound! And yeah, I could feel it in my chest when one went by the corner station.
It's funny you mentioned at the beginning about the similar rules package between Trans-Am and GTS, considering that three of the main GTS points contenders in this race (Paul Gentilozzi, Tom Kendall, and Scott Pruett) would 'defect' to Trans-Am the following year, with TK and Scooter battling for the points title in that series that would eventually go to Scotty. Anyway, great UL, thanks!
Randy Dubin, not similar in the technical rules..but similar in concept. Tube-frame silhouettes, etc. IMSA allowed more downforce, IIRC, SCCA at the time wanted to 'compete' with NASCAR for fans. Only allowed air dams up front and lips at the back, instead of wings. The thing I recall most about those days was how many drivers competed in both series. To me, it was like the '60s & '70s when any driver would drive *anything* as long as there was a paycheck. Last example of that kind of stuff, I guess.
What people tend to forget about that overturn of Rocketsports' DQ at Mid-Ohio that if the ruling would had held, not only would it have given Tommy Kendall his only sprint race win of the year (he only won Daytona and Sebring en route to the drivers' title that year), but more than likely would had given Ford the manufacturers' title as well, considering how the rest of the season, starting with this race, played out.
These are all tube-framed race cars. Like NASCAR, they don't even share a nut or bolt with a car at a dealer. Where they're different from NASCAR is that they made right turns all the time, and had a larger variety of engines.
10:18 will you look at that, man oh man that fox Mustang GTO absolutely humiliated that Porsche , and it even happened in one of the most notorious bends in all of racing, the famed corkscrew. amazing !
floydfanTN, old SCCA club racer, got some rides with privateers in various Pro series. Can-Am, Trans-Am, IMSA, and probably a lot more. He was one of those guys that had the talent..but not the money. www.motorsport.com/grandam/news/celebrating-milt-minter/
Milt Minter was driving one of Dieter Oest's Porsche 911/930 Turbos for this race. He was there just to have fun. That would be my guess since the car had a tiny chance of being anything but a rolling chicane (so slow it was booed at Long Beach by spectators a few years before with Dieter at the wheel!).
Man I really miss the IMSA GT and GTP series. Racing today just isn't the same!
Those Oldsmobiles tho😍😍😍
It is weird Olds pulled to the front the way they did, while Pontiac (which was once the sportiest GM division, arguably) was way down in points.
The Oldsmobile team had a fitting name - Rocketsports, a tribute to the brand's heyday in the 50s and 60s.
Just too awesome. Back when Olds was something.
I'm disappointed it's taken me 2 years to find this channel but it's the best on TH-cam. thanks so much for uploading all of these great races!
What an awesome race - not just for overall winner Johnny O'Connell, who scored the victory on his birthday - but for the other class winners as well. I'd love to see more early '90s IMSA GTS, GTO, and GTU events - keep these classic races coming!
EVERY IMSA GTO and GTP car should be in Gran Turismo by now.
IMSA GTO vs Super GT
+mermaltim68 , that might be the most brilliant idea I've heard today. PC Games do this kind of thing all the time (I'm thinking of GT Legends, with all those cars from the '70s). Some console company should do something like that for this era of IMSA and SCCA Trans-Am.
+oldSCCAguy yah Exactly it's like this era of race car has been left out for some reason, when really it was one of the fastest racing series
(Horsepower and Top speed wise)
* jumps in like a spaz to reply to a 5-year-old comment *
A team called 'Advanced Automotive' brought an IMSA Camaro to the 1997 Fuji race. The organizers took one look at it and immediately bolted about 300lbs of ballast to it and restricted about 250 horsepower ot of the engine. Thus neutered, the car and team did poorly and abandoned their lightweight, tube-frame IMSA car in favor of something the local race organizers wouldn't handicap.
@@andxx0r_the_second671 Thanks for the response. It kinda sucks to hear that the Japanese touring car series wasn't welcoming to a US GT car, I always that as long as the car was balanced it be no problem (I guess not). But it makes me wonder, how was the McLaren F1 GTR, NOMAD Diablo, and even RAIN-X Lamborghini Countach able to race with less restrictions
(P.S. you're not a spaz, it's nice to see GT style car enthusiasts instead of the insanely mainstream Drift/JDM only or Drag/Max HP in a straight line fanboys😅 )
@@tankgayle I think after the Goh/Lark McLaren’s dominance in 1996, the sanctioning body was a lot less interested in seeing high-dollar foreign customer cars in their championship. Especially after the collapse of the bubble and the amount of resources Honda, Toyota, and Nissan had spent on GT500, seeing McLaren come in and flatten everyone wasn’t what they wanted. By 1997 they had imposed enough rules and restrictions on the McLaren to ensure it wouldn’t win anymore and every Lambo, Porsche, Viper, Ferrari, Maserati, and IMSA GTO Camaro entered in GT500 since has been a non-starter due to the same applications of rules and performance scales that benefit the Japanese makes most.
+oldSCCAguy yah class vid, as well as the Trans Am series I love these GTS cars. I love Les Lindley's Mustang, he took it to Suzuka for the 1000km race later that year and won the GT class. They looked, sounded and went even better. More of this racing if you have them.
😎👍
King Greeny, Lindley went to Suzuka?!? Oh, man..you gotta tell me about that. Extra 'internet points' if you've found video, bro! :D
oldSCCAguy yah, I haven't any vids (yet) and unfortunately I don't know much about why some of the IMSA guys competed in the 1993 Suzuka 1000km that year. There is a small piece in one of my books that I have but what I put before is about all there is, sorry. Parker Johnstone in his Camel Lights Acura and won his category. That's a I know!!
The funny part is Lindley was only racing IMSA in 1993 because he got tired of the "factory" teams getting preferential treatment in Trans-Am when Dodge came back with the Archer Brothers. At least that's what I heard; the purse for IMSA GTO (formerly AAC) must have been tiny compared to Trans-Am of the same vintage.
I believe several IMSA cars went over to Suzuka in 1993 simply because the local field was tiny and they needed field fillers. The local Group C and fledgeling JGTC teams weren't enough I guess. This makes me want to dig up my old On Track magazines!
Speaking of GTS cars, look closely at the red #77 of RJ Gottlieb which was lapped several times. A very beautiful-in-person and unique Pontiac Trans-Am. At least the body was purpose built for the Toyota Super Production series at Willow Springs...one of a kind I think. I'd love to see some static shots of it.
I went to the Sebring race in the mid 90's. Although the Nissan, Jag, and Masda teams were nice, what I remember were the 2 black Olds Cutlasses. I was parked at a hair-pin turn where everyone had to gear down. The Oldsmobiles literally shook the ground! To cool mean thumpers!
+chobeeboy44. Yeah! IIRC, the teams running Oldsmobiles could run either the V8 or the V6 (at different weights) in T/A..don't know what IMSA let them do. But I'll bet the V8 was the choice for a place with straights as long as Sebring has. Oh, man..that sound! And yeah, I could feel it in my chest when one went by the corner station.
It's funny you mentioned at the beginning about the similar rules package between Trans-Am and GTS, considering that three of the main GTS points contenders in this race (Paul Gentilozzi, Tom Kendall, and Scott Pruett) would 'defect' to Trans-Am the following year, with TK and Scooter battling for the points title in that series that would eventually go to Scotty. Anyway, great UL, thanks!
Randy Dubin, not similar in the technical rules..but similar in concept. Tube-frame silhouettes, etc. IMSA allowed more downforce, IIRC, SCCA at the time wanted to 'compete' with NASCAR for fans. Only allowed air dams up front and lips at the back, instead of wings. The thing I recall most about those days was how many drivers competed in both series. To me, it was like the '60s & '70s when any driver would drive *anything* as long as there was a paycheck. Last example of that kind of stuff, I guess.
What people tend to forget about that overturn of Rocketsports' DQ at Mid-Ohio that if the ruling would had held, not only would it have given Tommy Kendall his only sprint race win of the year (he only won Daytona and Sebring en route to the drivers' title that year), but more than likely would had given Ford the manufacturers' title as well, considering how the rest of the season, starting with this race, played out.
This is how racing should be today.
Beautiful circuit and great surroundings even though it`s in Cali.
2020 and the pace car is worth more than the race cars.
The racing is great but I really love the commercials too. 😈
Back then the racing classes was the greatest.
Bill Auberlen 👍
yess yess!
The compression ration of the Nascar is special.
It's similar to Nascar and skirts and wings.
The Mustang looks like a Nascar.
These are all tube-framed race cars. Like NASCAR, they don't even share a nut or bolt with a car at a dealer. Where they're different from NASCAR is that they made right turns all the time, and had a larger variety of engines.
The engine sound is different from Nascar.
Rick De *BRUH sound effect noises* L
10:18 will you look at that, man oh man that fox Mustang GTO absolutely humiliated that Porsche , and it even happened in one of the most notorious bends in all of racing, the famed corkscrew. amazing !
Those cars are in different classes.
That "fox Mustang" is a tube-framed race car, and didn't even share a nut or bolt with a Mustang at a dealer. It *better* be fast.
whats the deal about Milt Minter?
floydfanTN, old SCCA club racer, got some rides with privateers in various Pro series. Can-Am, Trans-Am, IMSA, and probably a lot more. He was one of those guys that had the talent..but not the money. www.motorsport.com/grandam/news/celebrating-milt-minter/
Milt Minter was driving one of Dieter Oest's Porsche 911/930 Turbos for this race. He was there just to have fun. That would be my guess since the car had a tiny chance of being anything but a rolling chicane (so slow it was booed at Long Beach by spectators a few years before with Dieter at the wheel!).
The weight of the pilot changes the centrifugal force of the motorcycle.