New Race Series with ALMS- Unlimited Racing Championships

I have to disagree. Of course, the sliding economy effected the series, but the root of their problems are deeply fundamental. They do nothing to help minimize the costs of the teams and more importantly do nothing to help fill the coffers of the entrants. As the article mentioned, the ALMS doesn't pay prize money to factory efforts. So, lets say the GuyIcognito Motorsports LMP1 takes 5th place at Sebring behind the Audis & Pugs - do you get the 1st place money? Nope. The good Doctor P. will begrudgingly cut you a check for 5th place & the 1st-4th prize money remains with him. How much prize money am I competing for, you might ask? Well at Baltimore, the purse was just under $150K...FOR THE ENTIRE FIELD! Total purse for the season through Baltimore is ~$1.5 million. The prize money isn't enough to cover the cost of your tires for the weekend. The teams are nothing more than an ATM machine for the series & they only care about them insofar as they can feed the ALMS.

Second, as mentioned earlier, the Green nonsense was nothing more than another revenue stream for the series which didn't benefit the teams or the racing product in any way.

Third, TV package they chose is horrible for the fans, would-be fans, teams & sponsors. Try pitching a major corporation on the ALMS. "Uh...the races can only be viewed live via the internet - if your service provider makes ESPN3 available, that is. They can, however, be seen on tape delay unless preempted by a World's Strongest Man rerun. By the way, pay no attention to that three month break between Long Beach and Lime Rock". Believe me, it ain't easy trying to sell it.

Next, the ALMS treats its sponsors...not so well. I'm not talking about manufacturers who keep the series afloat, but rather their second tier partners. Without being too specific, a few seasons back they had a sponsor which paid a good amount of money and supplied a pretty expensive luxury product. The guy who ran the company was/is a huge fan of racing and loved the ALMS. You couldn't ask for a better partner. So instead of leaving well enough alone for the next season the ALMS wants a substantial increase in dollars and the same amount of product in addition to being able to purchase the product from the sponsor at his cost & sell it through ALMS channels - obviously undercutting his business. I keep the ALMS's proposal in my filing cabinet as evidence of their greed & stupidity. Well, the sponsor said F-U & the ALMS went two full seasons without filling that void. I have other similar first hand stories.

I could go on. In the end, the question is what benefit is there to racing in the ALMS? No prize money, no exposure, preferential rules waivers given to manufacturers,etc. For privateers the answer is "not much".

As to BartonWorkmans comments about the parade of dolts working in their marketing/PR department - I coulnd't agree more. Not only are they being shown the door, but the likes of Dickenson & Evenson (both nice guys) wised up and left. The rats are fleeing the ship.

 

Sounds like there are dozens of stories of sponsorship
opportunites lost and others basically turned away.

Two such instances include a colleague who was in
a position to bring the ALMS a major international
title sponsor going back to 2004 or 2005.

My colleague arranged for a meetnng to take place
between himself, his potential sponsor client and ALMS
staff at Mid-Ohio. They were promised to be on the guest
list at the office and they'd be ushered into the meeting
by ALMS staff.

However, on arriving at the track, their names could not
be found on any guest lists so the track would not issue
them VIP passes. No one from ALMS would come down
to meet them.


My colleague and his client were incensed and ended up
buying general admission tickets having to watch the racing
action from a viewing berm. Opportunity lost.

Moving forward to 2008 while promoting the Palm Beach
Supercar Weekend, it was agreed that it would be a great
idea to have a few ALMS teams set up a makeshift paddock
at the venue complete with transporters, cars on display
and drivers shaking hands and signing autographs. It was
further agreed they could do this gratis.

I set about contacting my friends in the ALMS marketing
and promotions department to tell them about the plan
and to let them know we would fly them from Atlanta to
West Palm Beach, have a limo pick them up at the airport
and be brought to the venue to see the layout, meet and
discuss over lunch and back home to Atlanta. Again, the
whole trip on the event's dime.

This would have been a perfect promotional vehicle as
the event was the weekend before the Sebring Winter
Test started and teams would be in the area, West Palm
Beach being an hour and a half from Sebring.

On contacting my colleagues from ALMS, I was told "We
have no budget for this". Again, I told them everything
was gratis, the initial meeting flight down and set up at the
venue was on us. And again, I was told "No budget".

This was difficult to imagine as coming up during the
Camel GT days when IMSA was strongly promoted at
events like this, it was impossible to compute how an
opportunity to promote at a well attended event in the
heart of West Palm Beach could be ignored but it was.

BHW

 

Mr. Hack, I'm not defending the ALMS, I agree with you that they made a ton of mistakes and that you have to want to be a participant as there's no financial incentive to be there; but that's not what has put the series onthe brink of disaster right now...it's the FIA/WEC/ACO that is going to be their downfall.

If the ALMS had a title sponsor, good TV package, full grids and prize money they might have a bit more clout with the powers that be and they might be more accommodating, but even then I don't think ALMS's situation would be significantly improved.

 

A well placed source close to the ALMS situation
informs me that BMW and Corvette are set to pull
out of ALMS at the end of the season in favor of
(gulp) GrandAM.

Sad.

BHW

 

Whoa...

 

Bummer.

 

Yikes.

I didn't realize ALMS was such a cluster**** until reading this thread.

 

More uplifting news/history about a particular ALMS team owner.
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/09/26/6605/payday-lending-bankrolls-auto-racers-fortune

Sportscar racing is filled with scumbags (and plenty of great guys as well)- the list is long and undistinguished, but Tucker is a real piece of work. He also claimed to be Ferrari test driver at one point.

 

The Tucker article deserves its own thread, Ill start one if you don't want to. Absolutely fantastic find.

I have met the best people I know through racing.

 

Makes you long for the good ol' days when a driver
came out of nowhere to top flight sports car racing,
it was financed by a few boat loads of pot or coke.

BHW

 

Ah the good ol' days of IMSA...

 

Indeed. Admittedly, I've not watched racing like I used to, but did see Tucker during one of the racers and wondered who he was.

 

Wow, I knew he was awful but not THAT awful! They have a special rule for him in ALMS, the tucker rule. Not kidding.

 

Part 2: http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/09/28/6656/race-car-driver-scott-tucker-drew-elaborate-facade-around-his-payday-loan-businesses

 

I see nothing wrong with Tucker and his business. No one is forcing these people to take payday loans with him. He clearly has a product that has a demand. He's not stealing or committing fraud. It may be an unsavory business for most people that would never need to use such a loan, but he is selling a product to people that need/want it.

Pawn shops are guilty of making exorbitant interest loans against tangible collateral or even your car title, but they've been around for decades. There are even title loan companies now alongside the check cashing places that take up to 20% of your paycheck just to cash it. Then there are the Rent-a-centers and Aaron Rents of the world that rent furniture with ridiculous payments.

Fact is, these companies didn't put their customers in their sub-par financial situations. I'm sure most of these people are glad someone is willing to take the risk to give them credit, loans, cash their checks, and rent them furniture.

 

I think the issue with Tucker is the affiliations with tribes, which allows him to circumvent laws. shady, if not outright illegal.

there's always been something about Tucker that bothers me, and this adds fuel to the fire.

given that, it is interesting that he is sponsored by Microsoft...you would think they (or their marketing agents) would have done a bit more due diligence on the guy.

 

Seriously?

If predatory lending at rates of 800% is kosher in your book, then God bless you. It seems as though in today's world everything, no matter how shady can be justified and explained away by a "nuanced" answer. I believe everyone knows the difference between right and wrong as soon as they see it. If you have character and integrity you do the right thing. If you're a scumbag you lend money at 800%, plunder your business behind your partner's back, write bad checks, serve time in Leavenworth, hide behind Indian tribes and shell companies while constantly looking over your shoulder for the law. Part 2 of the article certainly doesn't paint a flattering picture.

I'll be at Petit tomorrow. I look forward to seeing how Tucker acts around the paddock now that his sordid history is out in the open. Everyone knew about his loan business and that he was sketchy character but that article is brutal.

 

It is indeed ironic or perhaps intentional that Mr. Tucker has so named his racing efforts "Level 5 Motorsports" as Level 5 is often used to classify SuperMax prison inmates. Leavenworth Penitentiary does indeed have a Level 5 superMax population.

http://level5motorsports.com/

Prisons are rated levels 1 through 5. Level 1 is known as an honor camp with inmates who work with minimum supervision outside the walls.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is level 5, or SuperMax. In a supermax, there is no attempt to perform any type of rehabilitative work. They are simply warehousing extremely dangerous, violent inmates who are housed in a 23 hour lock down facility. During their one hour out of the cell, their hands and feet are shackled and they are watched by 3 guards.

 

I'm not judging, as you are. Your holistic approach to business is very one sided. Let's talk about sub-prime mortgages and interest only mortgages or even better, the mass fraud that existed in the mortgage industry. As you so eloquently put it, if you're a scumbag you lend money to someone for a home that can't make the payments. PEOPLE/CONSUMERS should know right from wrong. Don't bash the companies that offer products to meet a demand. Without demand, there is no business! Next, you'll be bashing Starbucks for making a $6 profit on a $7 Venti Latte.

 

Level 5 is an enterprise business process model.

I don't recall seeing an article referencing Scott Tucker to a violent crime that placed him in a maximum security prison.

 

For the most part, I agree with you. However, this guy is scum - it's beyond the point of consumers knowing right from wrong. He's openly flouted subpoenas and taken advantage of a ridiculous loophole in the law that prevents authorities from going after him.

He's one step removed from out and out loansharking.

 

Tucker's explanation of the team name....FWIW.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDwDdqgCZ38&feature=related[/ame]

 

I am not accusing him of any violence. I simply found the name ironic given someone who has been in a Federal penitentiary. Certainly he would not have been a level 5 inmate during his year at Leavenworth in 91/92, but he would have known about the level designations. It is indeed also a level measurement for executive performance in business so it has a double meaning. I can tell you that the work that goes into a race team while at the track can sometimes seem like a prison sentence, generally with people watching you when under the most pressure to get a car ready.

 

That's not the part the courts are going after him for.

 

Can't wait to hear about it ...