01. Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels race reflection.

This years Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Service Department Utah (and Surrounding District) Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Medium and Little America Hotels was one to remember.

Challenge Class: Speed bumps looking better than orange cones

It marked the first appearance of the ALMS Challenge class cars from the Patron GT3 Challenge series. 5 cars showed up in this class... and had Farnbacher Loles not had to run 18 different cars in 7 different series that weekend... it would have been 6. Pretty good numbers compared to the the numbers had they not been there. And for all of the nay-sayers who labeled the class as "moving speed bumps"... digest this: There were more lead exchanges in this class than in all other classes combined. And how many collisions did they cause? Far less than the Ultimate Driving Machines and one Lola. Expect the F. Loles car at the next Challenge-inclusive race.

LMP1: Keeping it simple

Drama in LMP1 continues with Acura vs: Acura. Which one will win? Some might argue that the other cars in the class are not competative, and that a two car race is boring... but "Pinks" on SPEED TV got an entire Sunday dedicated to the Show in February. What does that tell you? Besides, too many different cars up front gets difficult for some viewers to follow. If we are to break into the untapped market that is NASCAR, we need to keep things as simple as possible. Some people have never heard of Audi, let alone Peugeot... lets keep those makes out of it. Lets hope the rumors of further makes joining in the near future do not hold true. Lets keep the ALMS "World Class"(TM) and "Exclusive." Exclusive is very marketable these days.

Hybrid Power, or lack there of...

The zytec hybrid was big news on the grid... and they even held their own racing. My sources tell me that the car is being courted by a MAJOR sponsor currently. Other sources say that big oil will block such sponsorship, and ensure that the hybrid drive remains glorified ballast (to proove their point that good old petrolium is the only viable long term option unless you live in a tree and wear hemp).

LMP2: elevated competition

Pretty exciting at the end of the race. The new Mazda Lolas are showing just how much high elevation can balance competition and keep racing exciting (without resorting to cheap performance restrictions). Hats off to the under appreceated wizards of the ALMS and IMSA. (who are clearly showing that less is more these days). Sources tell me that the big wigs were so impressed with the level of competition that thay plan elevation increases for all remaining races this year. Watch out Acura.

GT2: Risi snubbed again

GT2 remains the core of the series as of late. Always great racing especially if you are a Flying Lizards fan. Risi continues to impress with their ability to fall behind early on, and then work their way back to the podium. If only more TV focus were put on their climbs in recient races. BMW continues their string of hard luck, and F.Loles finally lives up to their potential (ironically, on a weekend when they were snubbed for their GA counterparts by the powers that be).

Stay tuned for the Serpent's Le Mans predictions.

You are welcome.